What to put on medical history forms

[immascared]

Hi all

Just wondering what you all think is the correct info to put on a medical history form at the dentist office or any other place.

The reason i ask is because lets say, you were tested 30 years ago and were told you had had Hep-C as antibodys were found.
You took a treatment and were told that you were Ok (undtectable amounts > .0 ). and year after year it is still less then .0.
So do you still have it and should you still say you have it on the forms.


TIA

Immascared

[Pancho and Lefty]

Welcome to the forum.

You don't have to tell anyone anything. . . ever. I had it forty years and didn't know it. I'm surely not going to tell anyone I had it, treated, and cleared. I will most certainly tell the dentist nothing. Their procedures assume every patient may have something that can be transmitted. Acting otherwise puts everyone at risk.

Someone said the question on insurance forms is, "have you ever been treated for hepatitis?"

Others will be along to offer their opinions. . . . I haven't been faced with the issue.

[DougV]

I quit smoking over two years ago.  I no longer check yes when asked if I am a smoker.

I'd feel pretty well the same way about checking the yes to hep box if I had treated and remained clear.

Doug

[emkins1]

I put "yes" on the dentist form.  I want to be sure he is careful with me!  I've been undetectable for three years, but my antibodies last forever.

Em

[MissyMouse]

I disclose everything to medical professionals and clarify where needed ... for example ...

I check the Hep C/Hep box and if I happened to be a-viremic when I check the box, I do write down right next to it "currently a-viremic".

I also check that I am a non-smoker and write down next to that "quit 3/4/07" 

I like Em am very careful.  If all of the sudden I turn up with a spot on my liver or my lung I think it's important that medical professionals know.  Also, people like dentists may want to use a different medication or drug when taking these things into consideration.  Just my 4 cents.

Mouse

[19Dragon52]

{{{Immascared}}}

I think this is an excellent question!  From the time I was diagnosed to before my SVR I let everyone know that was dealing with me that would stand the chance of infecting themselves and could consequently infect others:  Hairdressers; Lab Technicians; Friends, Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Medical Students, Hospitals, etc.  Being 2 years SVR I still inform Doctors, Dentists, close friends and anyone around me that may at somtime have to deal with coming into contact with my blood.  At times I have considered putting it on a medical bracelet  I myself never quite knew how to put it down on medical history records and I believe Missy Mouse has given us a sane option of recording it.

Morally I have always thought it an obligation towards others to inform them; I don't feel responsible for the many years before I was diagnosed.  For myself I would hope that doctors in particular would use the information as a guide to prescribing me drugs that might be easier on my Liver and be more intuned to issues such as Missy mentioned.  Emkins makes a good point, also.

Ultimately it is your decision.  I hope you get enough good imput here on this Thread to make a decision that you are comfortable with. 

Many "Thanks" for Asking!.....

P.S.  (It might also be wise to state how you contracted it if you know, especially if it wasn't due to drug use.  I find that even     professionals tend to assume it's from drug usage and that opens up a whole other can of worms.)
 

[immascared]

Thank for the replys

Good to see i am not alone in making this call when filling out the forms. I mean just because the antibodys are always detecable don't mean you have it  now or that its active. If you test clean then why should you still clam you have it.

The real reason i asked this question is because i took the combo treatment the first week it came out of trials. I think it was in 1993 and have been tested many times since and never had anything detectable since. Thank God.

So when i check that box for Hep and write in "C", i find some people look at me funny and think i have the plage or something.
and the main reason
I just pased 50 years old a few years back, and it seem i may be getting laid off. I may need to get my own insurance and i have been hearing stories that no one will insure you if you take a drug like Lipator, so i wonder what they would do if they think i currently have Hep-C. I guess i would have to say pre 1980 before they even knew how to test for Hep-C and was treated and clean since 1993, maybe that would let me get insurance.

Like pancho said the insurance question is "Have you ever been treated" i guess i have to anwser that one correctly.


Rainey

[emkins1]

That insurance question bothered me so much I've opted to stay married just for my husband's insurance.  He's retired, but the company allows retirees to keep it if they pay for it themselves.  I'm paying for it but couldn't have it at all if I got a divorce.

Emkins

[OZ]

I think it is a difficult question to answer.  I might tell a dentist IF I was going to hae a procedure that required blood exposure.  It depends on the situation.  If I was going for a pre-empoyement physical I would say no. They may be afraid that it would negatively ippact therir premiums or have so little knowledge, I may be treated negatively because of it.  People in the medical professions practice standard precautions. They treat everyone as if they have a blood borne illnes such as hep c or HIV.  If i am having a procedure, I might be the last patient of the day, becuase of the Hep C diagnosis. 

There is a stigma attached to it unfortunately.   I once had a s bad reaction when I said I do not drink on an pre-employment health questionaire.  The nurse doing the physical wanted to know why.  I told her I was in a program and ever day made the decision to not drink  Aparently she did not have a lot of information about AA and insisted that I bring in a letter from my sponsor saying how long it was since I had drank or meet with their alcohol couselor eben through it had been sober about 10 year at that time.  I found the experience an insult and decided not to work there.  I met with their counselor because I did not want to negatively impact someone else's reputtion or ask them to give up their anonymity by doing this.  The alcohol counselor was very nice and apologized profusely about the actions of the employee health nurse.  Because of this experience I did not accept the job.  The question was removed from the employee  health evaluation.  I became cautious about what answers I gave on one screening exams after that experience.