Support Yourself With Hep C

Whether you’re receiving treatment or not, living with hep C takes a toll on your body. Learning how to support and care for yourself along the way can be so beneficial in improving the overall quality of life.

Hep C self-care tips

Below I’m sharing three main pillars of self-care and wellness to consider when living with hep C.

Movement

This can be as simple as a daily walk, morning yoga, or starting an exercise routine. You can also have fun with this pillar by choosing movement through dance, riding a bike, cleaning your home, swimming, and so forth.

Find a form of movement that can challenge you, cultivate joy, and leave you feeling better by the end of it. The goal of daily movement isn’t to exhaust your body but to get the blood flowing, circulating, and detoxing within the body and to boost energy naturally.

Nourishment and hydration

Supporting your body from a nutritional standpoint does not mean jumping on the diet bandwagon. Most diets are meant to fail to drive consumerism and the diet culture industry.

Instead, try taking a holistic, 360 approach to nourishment by identifying small ways to improve it. Research shows that the more whole foods we eat, i.e., not overly processed, the better our health may be.

This can be as simple as cooking at least one meal a day from scratch vs. ordering takeout. Adding in a handful of veggies to your meal, buying groceries to fill your fridge up with feel-good options each week, and keeping a few of your favorite better-for-you recipes on hand.

Make sure to drink enough water! Food can only nourish us so much without proper hydration in the body. If you struggle to drink water, try adding in electrolytes, making tea instead, or something as simple as buying a big water bottle to motivate you each day.

Sleep

One of the most underrated forms of self-care and wellness, our sleep dictates so much of our overall health and life. Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep a night to let your body and mind rest and reset.

If you’re tossing, turning, and waking up all throughout the night, you may need to implement a nighttime routine, see a specialist, or overall work to support a thorough night's sleep. Some habits to support deeper sleep may include no-phone/electronics for at least 30 minutes before bed, minimizing light and noise in the bedroom, listening to an unwind/sleep meditation, speak to a professional about possible supplements to add in.

Improving wellness

Improving your overall wellness doesn’t have to be a complete life overhaul or high-stress experience if you start with small action steps. Aim for habits and practices that can be sustainable, i.e. you’ll be able to continue with them for as long as it takes to feel the benefits.

As always, consult a medical professional if you feel there are more intense issues to be addressed, but there are also so many ways to take your health into your own hands starting today.

Just give it a go and get ready to feel the change!