Common symptoms of AIH are:
- fatigue
general feeling of ill-health
- lack of energy
- tendency to tire easily
- inability to finish a full days work
- the need to have more sleep
- joint pains (arthralgia) which are an indirect effect of chronic hepatitis and are usually mild and intermittent, noted mostly in the mornings.
Less common symptoms may be:
nausea
decreased appetite
weight loss
abdominal pain or bloating
indigestion
jaundice
abnormal blood vessels on the skin on the face, arms and chest
bruising
If the disease is very active or advanced, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes and darkening of the urine) may occur.
If cirrhosis develops as a result of chronic AIH there may be muscle wasting, weight loss, ascites (swelling of the abdomen with fluid) and vomiting blood.
In many cases the condition develops almost secretly, with no factor pointing to the liver as a
cause of ill-health.