the Dog-ter,
I was part of a study where they tested my blood for all kinds of stuff. They told me I was HIV positive. I knew this already (for six years). The woman also told me I have hepatitis C. HIV was bad enough—now this. She gave me some information but I lost it. She also told me some stuff but I wasn't too clear-headed at the time. I'm worried. What's going to happen to me? I hear a lot of different things from a couple of friends who have hepatitis C and HIV. Is there anything I can do to help keep healthier? I'm not going to stop shooting meth—at least for now—but I might in the future. I know shooters mostly get hepatitis C from sharing dirty works. Since I switched to IV speed four years ago, I've been real careful. Except for one accident, I never used anything that belonged to anybody else.

Once I was too geeked and mixed a hit with my ex-lover's dirty rinse water. I also used his old cotton and spoon. He was HIV positive but so am I. Did I get hepatitis C through just this one time?!! Maybe I got it through sex but I've been pretty careful on that score. I need some direction and advice.
“Donnie” (not my real name)

Dear Donnie,

Don't panic. You are not alone. It causes 60-70% of the chronic liver disease in the US and is the reason for most liver transplants.

Hepatitis C is a virus that is not related to hepatitis B or hepatitis A viruses. The damage from infection can vary from person to person. About 15% of people who get HCV clear the infection and do not develop permanent problems. But people who also have HIV are less likely to clear the infection. How your body responds to HCV infection depends on things like how damaged your liver is from alcohol and other drug use, the presence of other hepatitis viruses and bacterial infections, and the health of your immune system. Common symptoms of hepatitis C include fatigue, mild fever, nausea, loss of appetite and pain just beneath your ribs on the right side of the body. Most relatively healthy HIV negative folks do not have any symptoms for at least 20 or more years.

Being HIV positive or having AIDS might cause HCV-related liver disease to progress more rapidly but this is not known with certainty.

On the other hand, it does not appear that HCV makes HIV progress any faster.

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