Shifting Gears: Hep C Diagnosis, Symptoms, and Side Effects

Have you been tested for hep C? Did they tell you that you have hep C? Have you been treated? Are you hep C free now?

These are the steps most of us go through, even if there is a lag in time between. Using the gears analogy is really meant to speak to the fatigue or other symptoms that some of us have experienced in the past or now - before, during, or after cure. Changing gears is just another way to measure improvements in a non-scientific way, or the way you feel about how improvement is going. First gear is slow and was how I felt in the early years of my own hep C, and on occasion I was able to change gears and move and do things with more speed without fatigue/tiredness. With me, this became rarer as time went along and was one of the main things that finally led to my diagnosis, along with unending nausea and brain fog. There were times I felt like I was in reverse, to be honest, but they were not persistent. I was determined to solve whatever the problem was and to get well again.

Will I experience symptoms?

Sounds familiar to some of you? I am sure it does, to varying degrees. For some people, and depending on so many factors, you may have been in top form or high gear the whole time. As we know, not everyone has symptoms with hep C, and how long we have lived with it can play a role, but not always. Age is a determinant, without question, but not in every person/case.
Degree of liver damage or other conditions called extrahepatic manifestations play a role in how we feel and our ability to stay active or sharp; with minimal effect on mood, energy and memory; and stamina.

Treatment side effects

From what I hear in community, people are experiencing some fatigue in treatment, but not the really awful kind that the old therapy brought on for a lot of folks, like myself. It is so uplifting to me to know that the people treating now have access to a therapy which is so effective and has generally few side effects for the majority of people. As we know, there is no way to predict with any absolute certainty whether people will feel better or somewhat worse in treatment, but the greatest number I have spoken to say the side effects are minor and resolve early on in their treatment.

No matter what gear you are in, there is always hope that you can manage to do the things that give you some joy, and you don’t have to be the fittest or fastest to win the race. Remember the old story about the tortoise and the hare. You will get to where you are going, as long as you keep believing in you; I will.