20 Questions For Your Doctor About Hepatitis C Treatment

Have you ever got home from the doctor and wished you had asked more questions? Here are some prompts for your doctor, regarding hepatitis C treatment. If you spent even one minute on each question that would be an extra 20 minutes and the average doctor visit can feel like it goes by pretty quickly. Best to prepare your questions and take a pen and paper. Another option is to give this list to the nurse who checks you in, before you see the doctor. That way they can be prepared to answer before he or she walks in.

Questions to ask your doctor

1. What is my viral load (number of viruses in my blood) and genotype?
2. Should I be vaccinated against hepatitis A and B?
3. Do I need a liver biopsy, Fibrosure or Fibroscan to determine stage of liver disease?
4. What stage of liver disease do I have? 1,2,3, or 4?
5. Which type of treatment do you advise for me?
6. Do I have any conditions that will complicate treatment?
7. How should I prepare for treatment?
8. Do I have sufficient liver scarring to be at risk of liver cancer?
9. How long will my treatment last?
10. What is the likelihood of this treatment being successful?
11. How often do I need to be seen?
12. What tests do I need to take? Will these tests be repeated and how often?
13. Will you call me with test results or will I have to ask each time?
14. How much will these tests and visits cost during treatment?
15. What side effects can I expect during treatment?
16. Who do I contact about any side effects I am having?
17. Do I need to make any changes in my everyday life?
18. What other medications can I take, and which should I avoid?
19. Is there a time of day meds should be taken?
20. What if I miss a dose?

Do you have other important questions that were helpful? Share with the community by commenting on this post!