Kerri: Hi – it’s Kerri again and I am back with Daryl. Today we are going to be talking about what it is like to live with hepatitis C.
Daryl, what is it like to live with hepatitis C?

Daryl: Well Kerri, it varies quite a lot. For me for the last three or three years or so before I was diagnosed I had a lot of symptoms, some of which were pretty classic Hep C or hepatitis symptoms, but not all specific to hepatitis C and in fact could be any number of different conditions or diseases.

One was fatigue that that worsened over time and it was it was certainly affecting my day-to-day life, there’s no question about my ability to function normally, to work normal hours and and that kind of thing. My work was stressful at times and of course that can add to fatigue. Another symptom that I had which which worsened over time was nausea, that was almost always present. I was fortunate enough that it wasn’t so severe that I had to use anything more than organic concentrated ginger, so I didn’t take any medication for it and that did help take the edge off.  And of course brain fog which is commonly talked about and people experience with with symptoms of hepatitis C and that’s basically cognitive impairment.

But one thing to remember is that a lot of people don’t have any symptoms with hepatitis E and it’s not necessarily an indicator of the severity of the damage that people experience or have in terms of damage to their liver or other parts.

Kerri: Other than the ones you mentioned or their symptoms other than those that you experienced that people with Hep C may experience at any point in the course of the virus?

Daryl: Yes, there are other symptoms that people can experience with hepatitis C. Some become chronic some resolve even while people are living with hepatitis C before treatment many resolve after treatment some don’t and some some become chronic conditions which includes skin you know again the joint problems there was even a connection with cardiovascular problems, diabetes, these are again falling into that extra hepatic manifestations area–and we’ll be doing another episode on that–but I’m of the opinion, and this is based on on, you know, a good many years of talking to a lot of different people, that that that there is no system that that is unaffected by living with hepatitis C. And I’m not trying to frighten people by that, you know how much a person you know experiences or how bad it is is not something that can be determined by a test or by observation–you know looking at a person–as well.

Kerri: Is there anything else that you think is helpful for people to know about living with hepatitis C or living with hepatitis C symptoms?

Daryl: Well, the biggest issue is knowing whether you actually have hepatitis C, whether you have chronic hepatitis C–and of course it’s treatable now and it’s curable for near nearly all people as we discussed in the treatment segment we did earlier.

So, yes, if you have any, any concerns about whether or not you do have hepatitis C be tested and get treated.

Kerri: So, I think what we can understand now is that living with hepatitis C both during and after is going to be different for every person, and do you have any recommendations of what people can do to get advice or get help with whatever they might be dealing with?

Daryl: You bet, Kerri. They can call or text our helpline, the number is 1-888-411-7578, and you can talk to a peer– someone who has lived experience both with Hep C, and treatment.

Kerri: You can find us online at PacificHepC.org. Thanks everyone, see you next time

Daryl: Bye for now