Sex after HCV

[jme]

How many use protection with your wife or girlfriend?

After being married for 10 years, 2 kids, no one has gotten it from me.

I found out by accident I had it. I trace it back about 30 years but yet no one in my family got it.

I am divorced now and have a stedy girlfriend.

I am healthy....feel fine !

Do I really need to wear protection with my girlfriend now?

[willy]

Hi...... It's a good question...... the odds are slight that you can transmit the virus sexually....... between 1 and 5 % is thought to be transmitted between couples.  This is an area though that statistics can  be interpreted many ways.

         First of all..... if you are positive for Hep...... you CAN transmit the disease.  It makes absolutely no difference how well you feel....other than someone that feels "great" may not be as careful.  Someone that is really sick may not feel so much like sex, or may realize that the disease is serious and communicable.

         Second...... the odds of contracting the disease sexually are very slight.  On the other hand...... I would venture that the frequency and jubilation of sex might possibly be greater in a new relationship than in an old or failing marriage.  So the odds may be greater there than the norm.

        Third....... I've not seen data on it....but wouldn't you think that simply knowing that one has HEP would help prevent the transmission?  In many of the cases of transmission no doubt some of them were due to infections from mates that didn't know they had the disease.  Knowlege can aid in prevention.  In my case... no one was infected......to my knowlege.  (My ex-wife has not gotten tested after a year of knowlege of my infection....she feels "fine".)

         Fourth........ just because 1-5% experience infecting from the spouse.....that does not prove that it is due to sexual transmission.  It could be from any number of other methods; shared toothbrushes, razors, or toenail clippers, bloody noses or many other posibilities....... 30% of us with this disease do not know how we got it.

         Condum or no, there are other ways that you could give her HEP.  I would help her to understand the disease so that she can also make her own informed choice about it.  

Best wishes,
Willy

[OZ]

Current medical recommendations include NOT changing sexual practices if you have one partner.  A condom is not required.  They say if you have had one partner and hep C  for years and not passed it one  at this point, chances are you won't  Generally requires blood to blood contact.  I would use protection with a new partner.  Why take a chance?

I would venture that the frequency and jubilation of sex might possibly be greater in a new relationship than in an old and failing marriage.  So the odds may be greater there than the norm

Great wording Willy !  

Donna

[willy]

Thanks Donna...... I'm just writing from eperience...... although sadly.....not recent experience .

         On that subject..... if jubilation (in having sex) progressed to gusto..... or even vehemence...... the odds of transmission could go up.  Realize that when they give an average that all folks don't have the same sexual experience.  If the core group experiences say three percent...... there could be some "overacheivers" that may experience a 20% infection rate but when averaged in with others that seldom have sex or that is very gentle...... the average could be low....... but would not accurately reflect the actual danger in newer or more dynamic sexual relationships.

My..... is it getting warm in here?  

Best,
Willy

(an editorial aside...... that 20% is just a number that I pulled out of the air for example.  Statisticaly speaking...if you mix in an unsafe or risky practice with a large pool of people using safe sexual practices....or practicing no sex...... you can still end up with a very low average of transmission.  
         When I search sites the possible causes of transmission are often describes as having multiple sexual partners.  When describing how safe sex is for partners they often mention when it is in a monogamous relationship.  This leads me to suspect that there may be a distiction between those two groups, although I've never seen a study.)  
Willy 8/20/04

[todd]

The nurse over at the hood is always referencing a study done on this subject. Something like a thousand couples were studied, don't remember the time frame, but only like 2 or 3 spouses contracted hcv. ALL of them contracted a DIFFERENT genotype than their hcv positive spouses. So obviously they got it elsewhere. None of these couples actually passed hcv to their spouse.

Still, I worry about it constantly.

[little_juan]

Hmmm..
An understandable concern... However, I tend to balk at these studies, and go by experience.
I "knew" that I was sick in 1986. I met my husband in 1985, and we had sex daily until we seperated in 2003.
We did not use condoms. He has been tested regularily (yearly), and does not have HCV.

HCV is spread through blood to blood contact.
This means that "both" partners would need to be bleeding/and or, the infected bleeding and uninfected has a open wound or other entry point, in order to spread the virus. (...just one scenario)
The odds of this are so very slim, even while engaging in very active sex.

I think that it should be discussed between sexual partners so as to give the option of protection to the uninfected.
But, I think you have more of a chance spreading HCV through other methods such as nail clippers/files, tooth brushes, ect...

Seriously folks...
You know, I used to be so "beyond paranoid" about transmitting HCV to my family...  I was well known to throw out entire meals because I accidentally cut my finger while slicing tomatoes or what have you.... I would bleach EVERYTHING.... As the years went by, I learned more, and lightened up and started living again....
I have discussed this topic with at least 9 different specialists, including a very prominant Infectious Disease specialist in Seattle. I was told that you could drink the blood of an infected person, and not contract the virus. It is not easy to get. This is a misconception.

I would never suggest that it absolutely cannot be contracted through sex. But I do believe it to be a very unlikely means of transmission.


Good luck to you in your new relationship!

L.

[willy]

I did a search at the hood on "sexual transmission".
The number that they are using over there is 1% chance.  There was even one source stating  less.  I believe this source is more current than some other sources, but you may still find some sites stating up to 5%.  I think that it is important for people to understand that this is not easily spread.

          Sexual practices vary.   I've also read that oral sex (bleeding of gums, bleeding from herpes eruptions, vaginal tearing, menses, bloody noses) or can be sources of potential infection which can either provide or receive the HCV virus.  I'm not trying to dwell on the unusual or unlikely, but simply to offer a range of possiblities.  My point was to say that a 1% chance of transmission (or whatever rate one could agree on) does not mean that all couples will have that same rate (whether sexually, or from other sources).

Best,
Willy

[zero]

Hmmm..... "I met my husband in 1985, and we had sex daily
until we separated in 2003" !   Wow!  While i realize that's probably not a record, I'm still impressed. Did your ex survive ok?                                                                            How did you come by that nickname Too Tall?   ~*~
               

[little_juan]

Well Zero...
No. I'm sure it's not a record.
I was only trying to make a point...

And yes, he survived just fine.

And my nick name is a treasured secret...

L.

[willy]

Hi all....... I found this on our own site....on the HCVanonymous home page, on the top header where you can access the latest medical news about HEP.  It doesn't answer all questions but does suggest that the threat of transmission is low to non-existant under the group of people that they tested.  (monogamous, no anal sex, no sex during menses, etc.)

http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/2004/062104_c.html

Best,
Willy

[dee]

Thanks Willy once again for the great info you find.

Lately I have been re-worrying about transmitting the Hep to my Husband. ( Probably due to mine coming back )

We have been married 21 years, he has been tested in the past and was negative. We have not been living any differently in fact I have been more careful in recent years.

I was going to push him to get re-tested, but will not worry about it now. ( he never was worried)
If he ever gets elevated liver panels, will do it then.

Thanks again, it has eased my brain.
Dee

[willy]

We often find information that doesn't exactly agree.  Some of can be old information, some of the way that we interpret it (ha ha or want to interpret it).
         So far as sex or the dangers of living with another infected person, there are variables that will affect us all.  For instance, in my household I was very subject to bloody noses.  I have had that propensity since I was in kindergarden.  MY household had a lot more spilled blood in it, which means we were half way there very often.  Particularly since I stopped eating asprin (I used to take about 1 per day as a blood thinner) I've had very few.  My KNOWLEDGE that I have HEP is bound to help lots too.  It may be 20 times less likely to contract it in my house now.  Now if I have a bloody nose I can "quarenteen myself, clean up thoughly, and use disinfecting protocols for clean-up and disposal.  Knowledge is power.

         No one has mentioned it..... but viral load comes into this too.  There are menbers here, that thanks to treatment, have no viral load. (or unmeasurable amounts).  These people have a practically impossible chance of spreading HEP, since they have no or virtually no hep in their systems.

         So far as sex...... the odds are vary slight.  Other risks in the house probably pose a higher threat.  

Best,
Willy

[todd]

What about bleeding gums? I always seem to brush my teeth too hard, sometimes have a little blood. If I was just then to kiss my wife, could she get it?

[willy]

I think I've read the virus in blood is killed by digestive enzymes in the salivary glands.  Of course, if it is swallowed it is destroyed by stomache acid.  It is possible to even cause gums to bleed from heavy duty kissing.

        Also don't forget sharing toothbrushes or dental floss is a no-no.

Willy

[little_juan]

Todd,

(Please note that I am NOT a doctor, and that this is just my VERY STRONG opinion concerning the  matter of sexual transmission of HCV).

Your wife would have to have bleeding gums, as well... Or... an open wound of some sort...
A portal, so to speak, for the infected blood to enter the noninfected blood...

Very, very unlikely to contract through kissing...

HCV is HARD to get, (why is that so hard to get?)
Minus, of course, the sharing of needles, be it tattoo's, drugs, blood transfusions, or what have you...



Please Todd... KISS YOUR WIFE!!!!!! ( ...and often...)

Life here is short, and love NEEDS nourishing...


Respectfully,

L.