Hi all,
I contracted hepatitis C about thirty years ago. I remember that my buddies who I was shooting dope with both got really ill; turned yellow and everything. I didn't have any symptoms. We made the joke that I was just a carrier, but immune to the disease. One of my friends died about ten years ago from liver cancer; I lost track of the other guy. Obviously, I'm not dead.
Definitely get all of the tests before starting treatment, including a liver biopsy. I've had two courses of treatment for Hep C. In fact, I am currently part of a long-running clinical trial for Hep C. I was given pegylated interferon and ribavirin for six months and then randomized to the control group (no meds). I have the most resistant strain of Hep C (genome type 1, I think), and I did not clear the virus during either course of treatment.
My liver enzymes are nearly within the normal range, and even though I have mild cirrhosis of my liver (which may have been caused by years of alcohol abuse, too), I am in excellent health. So, Hep C is definitely not an automatic death sentence. In fact, my twin sister also has the disease and has not been treated, and she is in good shape, too.
The state of the art in treatment for Hep C is still pegylated interferon and ribavirin for a period of six months. About 70% of the people who take this treatment are cured. That is, two years after treatment, there is no sign of the virus. But the treatment itself is hell. You do not want to do this unless you have to.
For me, the treatment was much worse than the disease. I have never had any symptoms from the Hep C (as far as I can tell), but suffered a lot during the treatment. I was tired, felt like I was coming down with the flu and was very depressed. It was really psychologically hard to do the injections of interferon, knowing that they would make me sick.
If you have only had the disease for a few years and your liver is in good shape, I would wait a few years to take the treatment (especially if you have genome type 1). I've been told that there aren't any new treatments coming up (in the US) right now, but that may change in a year or two. Whoever does come up with a sure cure is going to make a lot of money!
Of course, I'm not a doctor and you should consider that before you take my advice. For sure, make sure that you have good medical insurance and a liberal sick time policy where you work before you take the cure. The treatment is expensive and you will feel bad pretty much all of the time for at least six months.
Anyway, good luck to you. A lot of people have Hep C and also have great lives (like me!), so don't despair.
Bob