Living With Hepatitis C

If you just found out that you have hepatitis C, remember two things. First, you probably have decades of a healthy life ahead of you. Second, living with any chronic disease can make you feel isolated. It's important to get support.

"When people first get diagnosed, they feel infectious," says Alan Franciscus, executive director of the Hepatitis C Support Project in San Francisco. "They often look at themselves as a disease more than as a person."

To get past that feeling, get the right type of support -- both medical and emotional.

Medical Support

Start by finding a good doctor. Hepatitis is a chronic disease, so you'll probably be seeing your doctor for many years. Make sure to get someone you like and who's an expert at treating hepatitis C.

"You need a doctor who understands the disease and who really has the time to sit with you for 30 or 40 minutes and explain it," says Howard J. Worman, MD, associate professor of medicine at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. "If your doctor will only see you for fifteen minutes, or if he or she isn't really explaining it, you should get a new doctor."

Also, try to educate yourself. Learn about the disease and its treatments. Worman suggests you turn to reliable sources like the National Institutes of Health or the American Liver Foundation.

"Unfortunately, there are a lot of wacky books out there about hepatitis C," Worman tells WebMD.

Take care when getting treatment information from the Internet. "The problem is that no one regulates the information that's on the Internet," says Paul Berk, MD, professor of medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and Chairman of the American Liver Foundation. A lot of information on the Internet is based on anecdotes, which may have little to do with your own particular case.

"There's some good stuff out there and plenty of stuff that's not so good," says Berk.

Hepatitis C and Depression

Living with any chronic disease can make some people depressed. But depression is a special risk for people taking peginterferon for hepatitis C.

"People getting treated for hepatitis C need to be prepared for emotional side effects," says Worman. "You can become anxious or agitated or depressed."

Worman suggests that people with a history of depression consult a psychiatrist before beginning treatment. Some people may need to postpone treatment until they're more emotionally stable. In other cases, a person may start on antidepressants as a precaution before even beginning treatment for hepatitis C.

In addition to medication, regular exercise may help prevent or improve depression in people getting treatment, says to David Thomas, MD, professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Thomas always asks his patients to bring in their partners or spouses before beginning treatment. "It's important that the spouse know about the risks of depression when on treatment," he says. "That way, he or she knows to tell me if the person starts acting strangely."

Some people with hepatitis C see a therapist to help them cope. Ask your doctor to refer you to someone who specializes in treating people with chronic diseases.