Preparing for treatment

It is best to take time coming to the decision to do treatment so that, when you do decide, you are sure it is what you want. This will provide you with real commitment. This will be important if the treatment gets tough, which it can do. If you give up after 3 months, because your heart isn't really in it, you will have gone through a lot, put in considerable time and effort and yet not got anything out of it because you wont have been on it for long enough for it to work.

Prepare yourself to experience at least the most common side effects. You may be lucky, you may have none but it is better to be prepared. Very often what happens is that any symptoms you have before treatment starts will be magnified by treatment. So, if you have a tendency towards headaches, you are likely to get more or if you have pain in your knees these will probably ache more. This is because many of the symptoms of hepatitis C are caused by the bodys immune system, rather than the virus, and interferon boosts that immune reaction.

In general, the better shape you are in physically before you start treatment, the easier any side effects will be. It has also been shown that being overweight reduces, at least to some degree, the likelihood that treatment will be effective. So, anything you can do to increase your fitness levels and make sure your weight is right for your height will help.

It will help if you can plan ahead, if only because it will lower your stress levels. The number of tests you will need to monitor treatment means that you will have to make frequent visits to hospital, at least for the first 2 or 3 months. This monitoring is absolutely essential for your health.

If you are working, you will require time off work and you may also require time off if the side effects get bad. You are likely to receive more support if you warn your employers in advance so they can make arrangements to have someone cover for you. If you have not been well enough to work, you may require someone to take you to hospital. Hospitals can usually organise this but, if not, you may need to ask a friend. This, too, is easier arranged in advance.

The more support you have during treatment, the easier it will be. It is a good idea to think about this before starting and, for example, find out about local support groups. There is a list in the support section of this site. You may also want to give your number to the hepatitis nurse at your hospital and ask her to pass it on to other people doing treatment. You could also find out which of your family or friends might be available to offer you practical help, say with shopping.

Depression is a common symptom and one that can be hard to deal with because one of its aspects is that it tends to rob you of the impetus to do anything about it. Happily, consultants are now much more proactive in their approach to it and are likely to talk about it with you and may prescribe you anti-depressants. However, it is worth remembering that different anti-depressants work for different people, that some people find it hard to come off anti-depressants and that your liver consultant is not a specialist in this field. You may therefore want to arrange to see a psychiatrist during treatment so that you can be properly monitored. This may be especially appropriate if you have a history of depression. Your consultant may be able to refer you to a psychiatrist at the hospital or you may be able to get a referral from your GP.