Can Hepatitis C symptoms, aggravate the symptoms of Bi-Polar?

I think you’ve mistaken Fluther with your doctor. In the future, try to correct this.

Yes, please see this study from PubMed.

Excerpt:

“Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection affects 10% to 15% of patients with bipolar disorder. Patients with HCV infection and comorbid psychiatric illness pose a tremendous clinical and therapeutic challenge. The cases presented in this report illustrate several critical issues facing clinicians who manage patients with comorbid HCV infection and bipolar disorder.”

@Marina Was able to find something, but I’ve personally never heard of it..but the person I know with Hep C does not have bii-polar, so this has never been an issue.

You need to find a medication for the mania, which is safe to take when suffering Hep C. I know a lot of those meds require a lot of blood work (like lithium and lamictal), but sounds like you’d need extra monitoring.

@Marina The association of Hep C with bipolar is probably linked to increased acquisition of Hep C owing to high risk behaviors associated with the disorder, not the other way around (i.e. having Hep C doesn’t result in bipolar disorder).
@casheroo Most medications would be safe in someone with chronic Hep C, unless they have severe cirrhosis.
@bumwithablackberry I’m not familiar with data to suggest Hep C “symptoms” aggravate bipolar disorder. In truth, the majority of people with Hep C are completely asymptomatic until the liver damage becomes severe. That said, treatment for Hep C with interferon and ribavirin CAN exacerbate mental illness, and as such, must be carefully monitored.

I know that any illness can knock my bipolar son off-balance and therefore require a medication adjustment and extra talk therapy. I would assume Hep C would do the same once you have symptoms. Even if asymptomatic, simply the knowledge that one is carrying the virus now can cause a melt-down (which is what my son’s manic phases are called in our house).

@shilolo Thanks for the clarification on the correlation, and the medication! I also thought most people were symptom free, so that confused me a lot.

My reasoning was that HepC weakens someone, and mania possibly is triggered, for lack of a better word, due to a weakened state, yes no, maybe. Thanks for the answers everyone. ‘Preciate it