Treatment delays are common, for many reasons. Some people need to wait for approval from their insurance before they can start treatment. Others have to clear alcohol or other toxins from their system. Regardless of the reason, try to be patient, says Tatyana Kushner, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. In the meantime, there are steps you can take to help protect your liver, which has likely been strained and inflamed by the hep C virus, and prime your body for treatment. Here are seven things you can do.
1. Ditch the drink.
“Alcohol is toxic to the liver,” says Dr. Kushner, and cutting it out of your diet can give your already stressed liver a badly needed rest. Kushner emphasizes that drinking is never encouraged, but if you’re otherwise healthy and intent on imbibing, limit your intake to fewer than two drinks a day. For women, that’s no more than 7 drinks a week; for men, no more than 14 drinks. But there’s a huge caveat here, she says: If you already have liver disease of any type and now have hepatitis C on top of it, “Absolutely avoid all alcohol.” The double insult of two liver conditions plus alcohol can lead to an accelerated progression of scarring in your liver. This, in turn, can cause more rapid devolution into cirrhosis and irreversible scarring of liver tissue (fibrosis).
2. Check your medicine cabinet.
Hepatitis C infection causes irritation and inflammation in the liver, and other medications may add to the strain. Take stock of all your prescription and over-the-counter meds, and then ask your doctor if you should discontinue taking any of them. Some, such as certain cholesterol medications, may pose a risk to your liver, says Kushner. Your doctor will know if you should switch to a different drug and can help you do so. Your doctor can also tell you if any of your medications are likely to interact with the hepatitis treatment you’ll be starting shortly.
3. Don’t assume that “natural” remedies are safe.
You should always tell your doctor if you’re using any herbal teas, supplements, or other “natural” remedies, says Kushner. “If [a tea] comes from a reputable store, in a reputable package, and you can clearly see the ingredients — as with an Earl Grey tea or chamomile tea — it’s generally okay,” she says. More worrisome, she says, are the loose-leaf concoctions that make extravagant “liver cleansing” (and other) claims. A good rule of thumb, she says, is to avoid products that feature multiple ingredients in italics, especially ones you can’t easily identify. These aren’t very well regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and may “cause more injury than benefit,” Kushner says. Always talk to your doctor before taking any supplements.
4. Be mindful of your food choices.
Your liver has a big job to do: It processes cholesterol and other fats, removes waste and toxins from your body, and helps metabolize nutrients. So it’s no surprise that what you eat affects your liver. If you don’t already have a healthy diet, now’s the time to make a change. Stock your kitchen with healthy foods that are low in saturated fats and sugar. High blood sugar and diabetes can cause further liver deterioration, Kushner says. She also tells patients who have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease — a condition caused by a buildup of extra fat in the liver that is more common among people with hepatitis C than other populations — to avoid fructose (a form of sugar) and follow a low carbohydrate diet, limiting pasta, bread, and rice. “We want to consume [carbohydrates] in moderation, because they can really make [nonalcoholic] fatty liver disease worse,” she says. Need some motivation? For people with hepatitis C and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, even a little bit of weight loss can lead to dramatically better liver health, Kushner says. Here are a few other food and diet tips from the American Liver Foundation:
Drink plenty of water.Limit processed foods, which contain additives and salt that can further tax your liver.Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly to avoid harmful viruses and bacteria.
5. Get vaccinated.
There’s no vaccine for hepatitis C, but there are ones that can protect against hepatitis A and hepatitis B, two contagious viruses that can cause even more damage to your liver. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone with hepatitis C be vaccinated for hepatitis A and B.
6. Consider counseling.
From stigmatization to social isolation and depression, a hepatitis C infection can have an enormous impact on how you feel about your life. A therapist or counselor can help you work through your emotions and lend you some much-needed support. If you contracted the virus through injection drug use — the most common risk factor for new hepatitis C infections in the United States, according to the CDC — you may want to treat your addiction in the days or weeks before starting the medication, if you haven’t already. Ask your healthcare provider for a referral, or visit the American Liver Foundation’s website to find resources.
7. Exercise.
It’s not uncommon for people with hepatitis C to feel fatigued, depressed, or achy. That’s where exercise can come in: Building movement into your day may help you feel stronger physically as well as emotionally — and there’s little risk, as long as you talk to your doctor first and start out carefully. By taking the time to start an exercise routine now, before you start hepatitis C treatment, there’s a better chance you’ll stick with it in the future.
