SYMPTOMS

People with Hepatitis C often experience no symptoms and may feel quite healthy. In the early years of the infection, they may but rarely develop fatigue, nausea and occasionally jaundice. Since most people have no symptoms, they don't know they have the Hepatitis C virus.

Other people may have a brief illness, usually appearing six to nine weeks after they have been infected with the virus, but attribute it to the flu. As time goes on, symptoms of acute HCV may increase to: fever, tiredness, abdominal pain, joint and muscle pain, dark urine, insomnia, confusion and memory loss, depression, loss of appetite, nausea, and mood swings.

But once again many people diagnosed with HCV have only mild symptoms or none at all. Once symptoms appear, severe liver problems such as cirrhosis may have already developed. Of those with acute illness, fatigue and jaundice occur in less than 30%. Once HCV is established, mild chronic infection takes place in more than 80% of cases.

The progression of HCV is largely silent. It can take up to 30 years for signs of liver damage to emerge. Fibrosis or the formation of scar tissue in the liver from on going injury to the organ leads to cirrhosis in up to 20% of patients. Up to 15% of those with cirrhosis will develop liver cancer.

When HCV symptoms finally appear, they can range from mild to severe, confusing doctors and often causing misdiagnosis. Fatigue, depression, nausea, anorexia, abdominal pain and difficulty concentrating are common complaints. More serious symptoms appear when HCV has progressed to cirrhosis such as ascities, encephalopathy, edema and GI bleeding.

These are the symptoms documented, however from talking to hundreds of Hepatitis C patients, I am aware that many of you have symptoms that are not listed here. This virus has been attacking the immune system for many years, and this is just the beginning of what will be reported in years to come.