"I wonder if there is any connection between the high blood-pressure and the HCV"
According to this study, there is no connection between HCV and high blood pressure.
Involving over 160,000 individuals receiving care at Veterans Affairs health facilities, approximately half of whom were infected with Hepatitis C, the researchers found the following:
1) Study participants without Hepatitis C were more likely to have high blood pressure (50 percent) than those with the virus (42 percent).
2) Study participants without Hepatitis C were more likely to have hyperlipidemia (72 percent) than those with Hepatitis C (39 percent).
3) On average, study participants without Hepatitis C had higher blood plasma cholesterol (198 mg/dL) than those with Hepatitis C (175 mg/dL).
4) On average, study participants without Hepatitis C had higher LDL cholesterol – “the bad cholesterol” (119 mg/dL) – than those with Hepatitis C (102 mg/dL).
5) On average, study participants without Hepatitis C had higher triglycerides (179 mg/dL) than those with Hepatitis C (144 mg/dL).
http://www.hepatitis-central.com/mt/archives/2010/02/hepatitis_c_is.html
This is probably the old thread your referring to:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Can-Hep-C-cause-High-Blood-Pressure/show/290797