Here at ADRLF we often talk about eating right and living healthfully in order to minimize risk contracting hepatitis and developing other liver diseases. With recent panics over hepatitis outbreaks arising from contaminated food found in grocery stores, delicatessens, and contaminated tools used in dental clinics, it has become even more imperative that we talk not only of preventing, but also talk of dealing with hepatitis and some of its side effects.
Managing the challenges of living with hepatitis is important to keep a healthy and happy life. (Photo credit: Creative Commons/pudgeefeet)
Living with hepatitis can be very challenging, not only to infected individuals but also to their loved ones. How to live a quality life while dealing with the symptoms of hepatitis and treatment side effects? ADRLF has some suggestions.
Hepatitis comes with excruciating symptoms, and available treatments may not always relieve patients of pain and discomfort. There are simple alternative options that patients can opt for to complement their chemical treatments: diet and exercise!
Since hepatitis is a disease of the liver, the nature of the illness leaves patients with limited food options – food that are natural and unprocessed, thus not giving the liver the added pressure of breaking down hard-to-process food.
Fruits and vegetables should be your best friends! These easy to digest choices make it easier for your body to deal with prescribed medications.
Some patients have reported a decrease in appetite when undergoing hepatitis treatment. Unless your doctor gives specific diet instructions, it has been found very helpful for hepatitis patients to eat frequent but small meals every day.
Some chemical hepatitis treatments make patients depressed, aggravating the emotional stress over living with a chronic and potentially fatal disease. To deal with this, experts suggest doing regular and light exercise to keep endorphins pumped up. Endorphins are our body’s feel-good chemicals.
Another challenge hepatitis patients’ may experience is fatigue; fatigue due to both emotional and or chemical reasons. A helpful remedy to such fatigue is herbal therapy. Some patients have found it useful to add herbal remedies to their diet such as ginseng, milk thistle and tea to ease physical and emotional pressures. These have been found to also aid the immune system as well as the digestive system – thus helping hepatitis patients manage disease symptoms and treatment side effects.
