Hi all. I have not been posting for a while. I saw my consultant yesterday. He is puzzled by my situation and will seek 2nd opinion. My liver function tests are good and fibro scan does not show any scaring. He offered to do a biopsy but i declined as i had a very bad experience with it. He has requested an ultrasound. Everything health wise is looking ok except the virus level. It has been going up significantly for 3 years now! He cannot decide wether to start treatment or not. But he will seek a secon opinion so that is reassuring. I am very pleased with that.
However, if other doctors also feel that i should try treatment...
I am still not sure about which treatment option to choose. I am worried that if i do not try interferon I may miss out an oportunity to get off the virus... but this possibility is very low 6%...
Has anybody here managed to get rid off the virus with interferons?
General thought is that Hep.B viral counts above 10,000 should receive treatment .
My understanding is that the options for treatment are limited and are based on suppressing the virus , it's not a cure . There are also possible side affects from the medication .
You are right. The consultant told me the same that drugs surpress the virus and there is no cure as such. The side efferects of injections of interferron are hurrendous but there is 6% chance that body could get rid off the virus. The tablets have minimal/ no side effects but it is a lifelong treatment.
I have been on emtricitabine for eight years . Virus level undetectable throughout this time . I have gradually suffered an increasing muscle stiffness and joint pain , it is sufficient to affect my life adversely . This is a possible side affect of the medication .
Emtricitabane is usually in combination as the drug Truvada . Truvada is well known for causing kidney damage that is irreversible . My kidney function has dropped 50% .
There is no need to use anti viral treatment with such a low level especially as your liver is in good shape and tip top healthy..... simply monitor and do a pain free ultra sound scan......interferon will make you ill and no need for that......
Thank you for your replay. Much appreciated. Is 11k virus level low? I just got my ultrasound results. My liver is looking good. Nothing abnormal detected. I will be seeing consultant in 4 weeks time.
Excellent you are tip top I would just monitor there are better things than interferon coming in next 5 years and 11.000 is very low...... if it was a million then I would treat
Awesome! Great news! I am excited about the new treatment. I asked to my consultant about any new treatments comming soon and he was not aware. I am doing my best to have healthy life style. I do not eat any processed foods. I drink alcohol next to nothing. I treat myself with a glass of wine on a holiday but otherwise I have none. I always volunteer to be the nominated driver and nobody ever complains about that. I exercise. Hopefully I can keep my liver healthy for next 5 years.
Also , reading back through the old comments , my kidney function has not recovered . From what I have read , the damage from Truvada is usually irreversible .
No. I'm in UK and my hepatologist wouldnt consider interferon as an appropriate treatment. I'm on an antiviral. My viral load has always been very low, only in the 100's yet i developed HCC cancer as it was left untreated for about 30 years. I started on Tenofovir (Truvada is the same drug i think) and after 7 years like Griffon my kidney function had dropped to just above 50% so i am now on Entecavir. Viral load remains undetectable, kidney function has recovered, no side effects as yet.
Thank you Bolly for your response. It is very helpful. How is your cancer now? I am glad to hear that your kidney function recovered. I think i probably need to go the antiviral drug route. I do not want to put myself through the interferon nightmare.. and then after a year end up on the tablets anyhow. Thank you for sharing your experience.
The cancer was cured by a liver resection 8 years ago and the Entecavir is to keep the risk of a de novo to an absolute minimum. Interferon has such awful side effects, whatever decision you make you will need to be monitored by a hospital consultant hepatologist and have, ideally, 6 monthly DNA viral load checks.
Interferons are hard work and the way gentler anti viral pills do much the same job.... how much has the viral level gone up and to what figure...... as usually we would expect a 10 fold increase before medicating as you have excellent liver health.
Ok if your liver tests are normal and the ultra sound is good i expect they may hold off on anti virals as you really do not need them..... remember a viral level goes up n down daily lower in morning higher after meals..... if it goes to 50.000 that would be a concern..... 5000 to 10000 sounds like a kentucky feast meal having an affect
Thank you very much for replay. I was not aware that viral levels changes throughout the day. Is there any ways of making the viral load lower by a diet. Why does meal time affects the viral load? Thank ever so much for this information.
Whenever the liver has other jobs to do it has a little less time to keep the hbv level low..... basically the liver is a factory doing things.... especially when we sleep it fights infections....it very often in chronic cases...about 80% of the time....simply keeps the virus down to a level where it has no effect on the liver functions...the liver actually does this with other viruses also for instance chicken pox is still in the blood of all of us that ever had it and can return as shingles in times of extreme stress... in the same way with hbv if we over work the liver with toxins like alcohol or paracetamol for months the hbv can get worse and cause more harm... so the secret is to help the liver and that leads to the next part of your question...green foods help the liver grow strong eg cabbage ... brocolli...aloe vera...advocado...green beans....sprouts all help the liver...beets also....then aloe vera tumeric can help the liver detox a little.... soft protein like soya and spinach and beans and nuts are 10 times less work than say kentucky fried chicken or mcdonalds burger proteins...
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are there anymore news re new meds for Hep B in the UK? Thank you 
