What You Need to Know about Hepatitis C
Staying Healthy: Your choices make a difference!
Even if you have hepatitis C, there are many things you can do on your own to keep your liver healthy:
- Get hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines.
Hepatitis A and hepatitis B are liver diseases similar to hepatitis C. Hepatitis A, especially, can be very serious in someone with hepatitis C. Protect yourself! Most doctors and clinics have these vaccines.
- Avoid alcohol.
Alcohol hurts your liver and will probably make your hepatitis C worse. The less alcohol you drink, the better. The healthiest choice is not to drink any alcohol at all.
- Tell your doctor about every medication or drug that you are taking. This includes:
- prescription medications
- herbal pills or extracts
- over-the-counter medications like headache pills or cold medicine
- street drugs
One of your liver's jobs is to process medications. Your doctor needs to know everything that you take in order to help your liver work and keep you healthy.
