What should you know about hepatitis C infection symptoms?

When symptoms appear, they may be mild and easy to attribute to another illness. Possible features include fatigue, nausea, reduced appetite, discomfort under the right ribs, joint aches, dark urine, pale stools, itching, or yellow skin and eyes. Long-standing infection can cause liver scarring and may remain unnoticed until liver function is affected. Symptoms alone cannot confirm or exclude hepatitis C; blood testing is needed, usually beginning with an antibody test followed by a test that looks for current virus.

Arrange testing if you have had a possible blood exposure, previous risk identified by a clinician, or unexplained liver-test changes. Share the timing of a possible exposure because it affects how testing is interpreted. Do not donate blood until a clinician advises it, and avoid sharing razors, toothbrushes, or injecting equipment. If infection is confirmed, ask about treatment and liver assessment. Ongoing liver injury can raise the need to monitor for conditions such as [Liver Cancer](/conditions/liver-cancer/).

Seek urgent care for vomiting blood, black stools, severe confusion, fainting, intense abdominal swelling, or rapidly worsening yellowing. Contact a clinician soon for persistent vomiting, severe weakness, or new swelling in the legs. These signs may reflect serious liver dysfunction or another condition requiring prompt assessment.

Ask which hepatitis tests you need, whether the result shows current infection, how liver function will be checked, whether treatment is available, and how to reduce blood exposure to others.