Symptoms

Most people are only diagnosed with PBC after having a routine blood test for another reason. Some people have symptoms early on and some may develop them later.

People who have symptoms may experience:

Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and this is not always related to the degree of liver damage you have.

Some people with PBC have severe symptoms but their liver is not severely damaged, while others may have significant liver damage but no symptoms or only mild ones.

If you have PBC, you may also have symptoms of another condition, such as an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).

Advanced PBC

Medicine can usually help delay liver damage caused by PBC.

But as the liver slowly becomes more scarred and damaged (eventually leading to cirrhosis), you may have additional symptoms.

These can include:

Read more about the symptoms of cirrhosis

Page last reviewed: 2 February 2024
Next review due: 2 February 2027