Do hep c symptoms and liver disease occur even if ast alts are normal and viral load is low? I have been diagnosed since 1993 and went through interfon and ribavirin treatment for 48 weeks in 2005. It did not eradicate the disease but seemed to put it into remission and lowered the viral load. but in the last 6 months i have been very ill with digeative issues, weight loss, fatigue, depression, diahrea and abdominal pain. Am going through testing now, but dr did not seem concerned that the hep c was causing these problems because the viral load was low and alt and ast was within the normal range.