Treatment options

Treatments for hepatitis C are aimed at doing 3 things:

• removing (or clearing) all the hepatitis C virus from your body
• stopping or slowing down the damage to your liver
• making you feel better

Right now, several treatments for hepatitis C have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including:

• standard (short-acting) or pegylated (long-acting) interferon by itself
• standard or pegylated interferon combined with another drug called ribavirin (combination therapy)

One of the most important decisions you and your doctor will make is whether to begin drug treatment, and, if so, when to start it. Treatment does not have to start right away. The disease usually progresses slowly, over the course of 10 to 40 years. Taking interferon and ribavirin can be stressful. The treatment can cause serious side effects, such as fatigue, depression, and nausea. For some people, the best course of action is "watchful waiting," instead of starting drug treatment right away.

Previous | Next