The symptoms of hepatitis can be confounding, ranging from mild, short-lived flu-like symptoms (e.g., fever and fatigue) to more classic ones, such as jaundice—or even no symptoms at all. Typically, once the symptoms of hepatitis become obvious, chronic liver disease and liver damage are well underway. Serious liver damage can have dire and even life-threatening complications such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Symptoms of the three types of hepatitis vary little. In the case of acute viral hepatitis, if symptoms occur, they will begin to appear during the prodromal stage of infection, when the virus has begun to aggressively replicate and spread to the cells of the liver (called hepatocytes).
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1.General tiredness or fatigue
2.Muscle pain (myalgia)
3.Joint pain (arthralgia)
4.Fever
5.Nausea and vomiting
6.Diarrhea
7.Loss of appetite
8.Pain in the upper right part of the abdomen (generally mild, but constant)
9.Red, raised hives (most commonly seen with hepatitis B)
10.Changes in the way things taste or smell (smokers will often develop a sudden distaste for cigarettes)
Within several days of these early signs, the infection will trigger the build-up of bilirubin, an orange-yellow pigment produced when the liver breaks down old red blood cells.
This compound can rapidly accumulate in the body, causing tell-tale signs of hepatitis:
1.Jaundice (yellowing of skin and whites of the eyes)
2.Choluria (darkening of urine)
3.Pale or clay-colored stools
Jaundice typically is the first symptom of non-viral forms of hepatitis, although, as with viral hepatitis, many people experience symptoms during the early stages of liver damage that are less obvious.
