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The Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL) caught up for a yarn with Esha, a Peer Harm Reduction Coordinator at QuIHN. QuIHN is a service that supports people who use drugs and alcohol in Queensland. Esha is also on the Board of the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League. A peer is someone who has experience with drugs or alcohol and uses their experiences to inform their work.
It’s been a while since I was inside – maybe 20 years. My first experience of prison was being sent to Boggo Road Gaol. And that was a dead-set jail, just like in the movies, I thought.
I was young, and I thought it was cool. Thinking back on it now, it wasn’t cool.
What was it like for you?
I just had to get through it, you know.
I remember when I first arrived, in reception, I had to get full bloods done. It was compulsory back then.
They couldn't get blood from me. It was quite an issue, it was a massive issue, you know, because I had no veins. Then they asked me, “Do you have epatitis C or anything?”
I said, “No.”
I was in there on drug charges, and they were like, “How don’t you have hepatitis C if you’re here on drug charges and you’re an injecting drug user?”
And I was like, “I just don’t, I don’t think so.”
Because they couldn't get blood from me that day, I had to keep going back to get tested until they could get blood from me, which was quite a mission, a really awful one.
Eventually, I got out of Boggo Road. Then, later in life I went back to prison again and didn't get tested that time. Hepatitis C testing wasn't compulsory and so I refused the optional test this time around because I didn't want to go through those blood tests again.
Anyway, after I got out of prison that time, I found out I did have hepatitis C.
Getting tested this time was much easier, it was a simple finger prick test and I found out my result quickly.
I don't know if I caught hepatitis C between Boggo Road and my second time going into Brisbane Women's, I'm not sure exactly when I did catch it, but I did.
When you were in prison, was hepatitis C something people talked about?
Not really. It wasn’t spoken about like it is now. There was no conversation about hepatitis C, no one saying, “Oh, you could catch hep C.” The inmates weren’t talking about it, the prison guards weren’t talking about it, no one. Not that I can remember.
Before you got tested, did you think you had any symptoms of hepatitis C?
Nope, not at all. No symptoms whatsoever. Not that I knew of because I didn't even really know much about it.
And when you got tested and began treatment, did you notice a difference?
A hundred percent. I had no energy when I had hepatitis C.
I must have had hepatitis C for 20 years before I got tested. I didn't know my tiredness was a symptom of hepatitis C. I just thought that was me because I woke up every day feeling that way. I had to sleep most of the day, I also had brain fog and I reckon I was depressed too.
I never would have realised these were all symptoms from hepatitis C, unless I did the treatment – which is so easy these days by the way. All it takes is one to three pills a day for 8-12 weeks. Most people don't have any side effects from treatment either.
It wasn't like I did the treatment and I was a brand new person though. It was a process of realising: Oh, I don't feel tired all day, I have energy to do stuff, I
feel good.
There's no way in the world I could work full time or even a job when I had hepatitis C because I'd have to have nana naps all the time.
We know hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through sharing injecting equipment. Do you have any tips to prevent hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus, meaning it is transmitted through blood-to-blood contact. This can happen if you are using someone else's injecting equipment, sharing their needles, their water for injecting, anything that can contain blood. It's safest to use new, sterile equipment each time.
When you are living in the community you can get free injecting equipment from a Needle and Syringe Program near you. You can also visit a peer-based harm reduction service. Most of these services have a Needle and Syringe Program, give out Naloxone, a medication that anyone can use to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, and provide harm reduction and safe injecting advice.
Esha, thank you for sharing your experience so openly. Your story highlights how important it is to get tested and treated for hepatitis C, even if you don’t think you have any symptoms. It’s also great to hear how far we have come and that testing and treatment are much easier these days. Thanks, Esha, ya legend!
The Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL) caught up for a yarn with Esha, a Peer Harm Reduction Coordinator at QuIHN. QuIHN is a service that supports people who use drugs and alcohol in Queensland. Esha is also on the Board of the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League. A peer is someone who has experience with drugs or alcohol and uses their experiences to inform their work.
It’s been a while since I was inside – maybe 20 years. My first experience of prison was being sent to Boggo Road Gaol. And that was a dead-set jail, just like in the movies, I thought.
I was young, and I thought it was cool. Thinking back on it now, it wasn’t cool.
What was it like for you?
I just had to get through it, you know.
I remember when I first arrived, in reception, I had to get full bloods done. It was compulsory back then.
They couldn't get blood from me. It was quite an issue, it was a massive issue, you know, because I had no veins. Then they asked me, “Do you have epatitis C or anything?”
I said, “No.”
I was in there on drug charges, and they were like, “How don’t you have hepatitis C if you’re here on drug charges and you’re an injecting drug user?”
And I was like, “I just don’t, I don’t think so.”
Because they couldn't get blood from me that day, I had to keep going back to get tested until they could get blood from me, which was quite a mission, a really awful one.
Eventually, I got out of Boggo Road. Then, later in life I went back to prison again and didn't get tested that time. Hepatitis C testing wasn't compulsory and so I refused the optional test this time around because I didn't want to go through those blood tests again.
Anyway, after I got out of prison that time, I found out I did have hepatitis C.
Getting tested this time was much easier, it was a simple finger prick test and I found out my result quickly.
I don't know if I caught hepatitis C between Boggo Road and my second time going into Brisbane Women's, I'm not sure exactly when I did catch it, but I did.
When you were in prison, was hepatitis C something people talked about?
Not really. It wasn’t spoken about like it is now. There was no conversation about hepatitis C, no one saying, “Oh, you could catch hep C.” The inmates weren’t talking about it, the prison guards weren’t talking about it, no one. Not that I can remember.
Before you got tested, did you think you had any symptoms of hepatitis C?
Nope, not at all. No symptoms whatsoever. Not that I knew of because I didn't even really know much about it.
And when you got tested and began treatment, did you notice a difference?
A hundred percent. I had no energy when I had hepatitis C.
I must have had hepatitis C for 20 years before I got tested. I didn't know my tiredness was a symptom of hepatitis C. I just thought that was me because I woke up every day feeling that way. I had to sleep most of the day, I also had brain fog and I reckon I was depressed too.
I never would have realised these were all symptoms from hepatitis C, unless I did the treatment – which is so easy these days by the way. All it takes is one to three pills a day for 8-12 weeks. Most people don't have any side effects from treatment either.
It wasn't like I did the treatment and I was a brand new person though. It was a process of realising: Oh, I don't feel tired all day, I have energy to do stuff, I
feel good.
There's no way in the world I could work full time or even a job when I had hepatitis C because I'd have to have nana naps all the time.
We know hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through sharing injecting equipment. Do you have any tips to prevent hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus, meaning it is transmitted through blood-to-blood contact. This can happen if you are using someone else's injecting equipment, sharing their needles, their water for injecting, anything that can contain blood. It's safest to use new, sterile equipment each time.
When you are living in the community you can get free injecting equipment from a Needle and Syringe Program near you. You can also visit a peer-based harm reduction service. Most of these services have a Needle and Syringe Program, give out Naloxone, a medication that anyone can use to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, and provide harm reduction and safe injecting advice.
Esha, thank you for sharing your experience so openly. Your story highlights how important it is to get tested and treated for hepatitis C, even if you don’t think you have any symptoms. It’s also great to hear how far we have come and that testing and treatment are much easier these days. Thanks, Esha, ya legend!
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Two delicious recipes from inside.
Help us get About Time off the ground. All donations are tax deductible and will be vital in providing an essential resource for people in prison and their loved ones.
Help us get About Time off the ground. All donations are tax deductible and will be vital in providing an essential resource for people in prison and their loved ones.
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