Hepatitis C Facts: how Hep C effects your health.

There is generally a lot of discussion about Hepatitis C symptoms such as jaundice, cirrhosis and other effects that are directly related to a damaged liver however Hepatitis C damages our health in many other unexpected ways. This is why it is so important to get rid of the virus as soon as possible. Here are some facts about how Hepatitis C affects your health.

 Real People Talking about Hepatitis C Facts

Because I talk with dozens of people every day who are at various stages of treating their Hep C infection I get quite a unique perspective on how badly Hepatitis C affects our health and how quickly those effects disappear once the Hep C virus is removed from the body. These are the side effects of Hepatitis C. Not the side effects of Hepatitis C treatment but the side effects of the disease itself.
The great thing about getting rid of Hep C is that there are usually quite profound improvements in other chronic health conditions that the HCV patient did not know was related to the Hep C infection.
An example is this email which I received a few days ago:
Hi Greg.
Its such a relief to finally be free of Hepatitis C and I would just like to share with you the symptoms I had before I was cured of Hep C.  The main one was constant burning feet that at times felt too small for me, my feet ached with different levels of intensity depending on how much walking I had done. Aching joints especially in my hips. Often I walked like a drunken seaman.
My hands and wrists had also begun to ache about 6 months before I started the Hep C medication. Also I had itchy skin with boil like outbreaks on my skin that came and went regularly in the same places.
At times these became painful. Also sinusitis, more often than not. And of course the “brain fog” that so many people describe.
Often I was exhausted, trudging through my days through sheer will power. Nausea and dry itchy eyes. a constant bad taste in my mouth. Since I completed treatment with Harvoni all these symptoms have gone except I do still get the occasional outbreak of little pimples, and sinusitis a couple of days before a very heavy rain. But all the other symptoms of Hep C are gone, particularly the “ brain fog”… My mind is so clear and quick that I have had to adjust to its busyness!
And thank you for helping me get this new life. My sister died last year of liver cancer/ Hep C and Alcoholism, as did an old friend, so I am very aware of how lucky I am to be free of Hepatitis C and with a fresh start at life.
Thank you
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Emails like this made me realise that I should write something about what the effects of having a Hepatitis C infection really are because many people, including doctors, believe that the damage that Hepatitis C inflicts is restricted only to the liver, this is not true.
The Hep C virus can cause profound health problems in seemingly unrelated areas of the body. I will discuss this in detail after the email below:

Subject: Health Improvements

Hi Greg
I wanted to write to thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping my health turn around for the good. I have just finished 1 bottle and I wasn’t expecting to feel any different this soon but I surely do!
One of the first things I noticed was I could finally get rid of water. For many years I have drank up to a gallon of liquids, flavoured water or diet soda each day …and taken diuretics but still I rarely got rid of much water at all.
It would build up inside me causing great discomfort and come out in sweat through the night!
But now my system is returning to normal and I’m not having that problem. Also it is very obvious to me that my energy level has increased dramatically. I can’t imagine how I will feel in a year.
Thank you again and I pray God blesses you for helping me.
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Hepatitis C Facts: Symptoms
The Hep C symptom described in the email above is one I regularly come across with people suffering from Hepatitis C. This build-up of fluid is called ascites. In extreme cases ascites can result in people being hospitalised and having the fluids drained from their body surgically. Ascites can result in kidney failure and death.
Recently I was contacted by the wife of a man in Serbia who was hospitalised with these symptoms. The fact was that this man was literally at death’s door and his wife was frantic. Because of Serbia’s draconian rules prohibiting importation of  medication I was forced to smuggle the medication to him. Because we did not know his genotype we sent Sofosbuvir + Daclatasvir and he started treatment. To everyone’s relief, the ascites subsided and he was soon out of hospital and is now much recovered.

Hepatitis C Facts: How extensive is the damage that the HCV can cause?
The damage that the Hepatitis C virus causes in your body is much more extensive than you would imagine and it is why postponing treatment can lead to many seemingly unrelated health issues. Remember, whilst the Hep C virus breeds in your liver it is always travelling around in your blood. In the average person infected with Hep C just one drop of blood can hold as many as 5 million Hep C virus particles.

To get a better idea of how Hep C affects our health I will break the effects down into the various areas of our body.

Having Hepatitis C can cause many unexpected health problems

The Digestive System.

The most obvious effect of Hep C in the digestive system is through the damage Hep C does to the liver through creating scar tissue. HCV inhibits the liver’s ability to produce bile. Poor bile production can make it hard to digest fatty foods. A  damaged liver will produce pain throughout the abdomen from a build-up of fluid when the liver does not produce enough albumin, a substance that regulates the amount of fluid in cells.
Other HCV digestive problems include:
• nausea
• vomiting
• loss of appetite
• weight loss
• pale or clay-colored stools

Hepatitis C and the Nervous System

When your damaged liver doesn’t filter toxins from the blood, these toxins build up in your blood and damage your nervous system. This nerve damage can lead to a number of problems including: peripheral neuropathy, impairment of motor skills and sleep disruption. A buildup of toxins in the brain can also cause what is commonly known as “Brain Fog”. Brain fog typically includes, confusion, forgetfulness and poor concentration.
One person to whom I supplied with Sovaldi and Daclatasvir had suffered from epilepsy for several years and had lost his driving license and job as a result. He had epileptic fits several times a week.
To his amazement by the time his HCV treatment had finished it appeared that his epileptic fits had stopped. Worried that it was just some kind of coincidence he waited.
No one had ever suggested that his epilepsy was the result of Hepatitis C!
More than 12 months after treatment he has still not had a fit and now has his driving license back and a good job.
How the Hep C caused the epilepsy I do not know but it is certain that it did and when the Hep C was removed so was the cause of the epilepsy.

Hep C and the Circulatory system

As well as filtering out toxins your liver also produces proteins needed for healthy blood and regulating blood clotting. When I learned I had Hep C i suffered from regular nose bleeds, bleeding gums and slow healing wounds.  All of those symptoms left me once the Hep C was cured. A damaged liver will often have blood flow problems that increase pressure on the portal vein that leads to the liver. This can lead to portal hypertension, which may force blood into other veins. If these veins burst this causes variceal bleeding and severe internal bleeding. Also a poorly functioning liver is not able to absorb, transport or store iron, leading to anaemia.

Jaundice is a symptom of Hepatitis C

Skin, hair, and nails
The Hepatitis C virus is associated with many skin problems; including easy bruising, loss of pigment, rashes, pimples and itching.

Recently I received an email from a US citizen living in Ireland who had been experiencing hair loss. To her surprise, when she finished her treatment with Harvoni, not only did her hair start growing back but it grew back thicker than before and had a lovely wave. The wavy hair was a real surprise because her hair had always been straight.

Bilirubin is a chemical that comes from the breakdown of haemoglobin. When the liver is not functioning properly bilirubin is not removed and will cause jaundice, making the skin and the whites of the eyes yellow. Poor liver function can also lead to brittle nails.

Endocrine and immune systems

The endocrine glands regulate your body’s hormones and the thyroid gland, located at the base of the throat, delivers important hormones into the bloodstream.
The thyroid gland often causes serious health issues for women and sometimes the Hepatitis C virus can make your immune system to attack or damage thyroid tissue. This may lead to either:
• hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid), which can cause sleep disorders and weight loss
• hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), which can cause fatigue and weight gain
Recently I helped a lady in Canada get Epclusa, about the time she was about to receive her Epclusa her Canada Health specialist noted that she was having thyroid problems, hyperthyroidism, and prescribed medication for this. She then contacted me and discussed this. I suggested that she wait until she did her Hep C treatment and that maybe the removal of the Hep C virus would make a difference. But her doctor insisted she take the thyroid medication, which made her feel very ill.
The meds were making her feel so ill she decided to stop taking the thyroid meds after ten days. A few days later she received her Epclusa (yes another lot we snuck past Canadian Customs) and after only one week of treatment with Epclusa the symptoms of hyperthyroidism had disappeared!
Her thyroid specialist did not know that Hep C could cause thyroid problems!
A healthy liver assists regulate how sugar is used by the body so a malfunctioning liver can lead to type 2 diabetes

Hepatitis C Facts:  Hepatitis C Causes Liver Cancer

Hepatitis C Fact: Hep C causes Liver Cancer

Of all the health risks posed by having Hepatitis C is liver cancer. Hepatitis C is the leading cause of liver cancer. The  Hep C virus damages the liver by ” breeding”  inside of liver cells. This “breeding’ process leads to the liver cell exploding. As more and more liver cells are destroyed scar tissue develops and as scar tissue increases so does liver stiffness or fibrosis. Eventually this leads to cirrhosis of the liver. As soon as any scar tissue develops in the liver the chance of getting liver cancer increases. The more scar tissue the higher the chance of getting liver cancer. However once the Hep C virus is removed the liver can begin to heal and scar tissue can be removed.

Conclusion

Whilst a lot of people with Hep C demonstrate no obvious symptoms the Hep C virus can be quietly causing damage in the background. So it is important to realize that this nasty virus can be causing profound damage in many areas of the body. It is not just about liver damage and fibrosis levels as so many doctors and specialists seem to think. Many people with F0 fibrosis levels report general fatigue, fever, brain fog and nonspecific aches and pains. So don’t wait until your liver is full of scar tissue and the virus has done irreparable damage to your health. The treatment is available NOW! Get rid of that virus and reclaim your health.

Hepatitis C has many symptoms and detrimental health effects