The better you take care of yourself, the slower that the damage to the liver. On average, it takes 20 years to develop symptoms for chronic HCV. With alcohol or HIV, the average number drops to 7 years. So whether or not medicine is available, taking better care of your body will help.

There are 6 HCV genotypes. Treatment success is dependent on genotype and has a 40 – 80% chance of being successful. All genotypes result in the same level of liver damage.

Side effects of medicine include flu-like symptoms, muscle and joint pain, nausea, headaches, loss of appetite, dry skin anxiety, insomnia, and depression. They vary greatly in number and severity based on the person.