HepA and B vaccine

[Mcsv]

Has anyone had the hepA and B dual vaccine after diagnosis?

[Hidden]

No Mcsv.

I had the dual one 3 years prior to starting to itch in early 2010. I was diagnosed with PBC Dec 2010. I have wondered since if this was the trigger for my PBC but can only speculate.

It seems to be recommended that anyone travelling to certain countries (I am in the UK, not been overseas as such as yet - unless you can call Scilly Isles that!) or persons in a medical environment (as I was at the time) are vaccinated against certain types of hepatitis. I'd never been vaccinated for any and in the early days of itching and when my doctor was going through allsorts of blood screens, it was deemed I did not have any hepatitis strains.

Funnily enough I only found out a few months ago that there exists an hepatitis E which can be picked up from undercooked pork (or boar).

[Mcsv in reply to Hidden]

Thanks peridot, i live in a third world country, and my father in law just got hepA( probably from infected water or food). My family dr wants me to get it, buts insists i check with my hepatologist first. My hepatologists is in the US and unreachable trough phone or email ( and im in Honduras) so maybe i could use some of other patients experiences with vaccination after diagnosis. I am still pre-diagnosis stage, one year on urso, bloodwork still elevated slightly, but much better than a year ago. Ama negative and no liver biopsy planned in the near future ( possibly later on, in a few years, if my bloodwork is still elevated)

[Hidden in reply to Mcsv]

Hello Mcsv.

As you know we can only give our thoughts and opinions on certain things to do with our experiences of PBC and as you already probably know, I nor anyone else can actually say it is right or wrong to have something like a vaccination (in this case hepatitis).

A doctor tends to go with the patient's general well-being and health records regarding these matters and it is more than likely the norm a patient would be advised to be vaccinated if as the saying goes in medical terminology that we hear a lot, 'the benefits outweighs the risks'.

I think in my case, it was the first thing I thought of when I was diagnosed with PBC, the how have I got this and knowing I had hepatitis vaccinations that are all involving the liver.

I can't say at this moment in time if it was ever mentioned that I should have the hepatitis vaccination in future I would agree, I would take the decision then.

I know since I was diagnosed with PBC I have been offered the influenza vaccination (here we call it the 'flu jab) but I've never actually ever encountered colds or flu in my life so I declined on the basis that I did not want to perhaps start something in my body by having any.

In the UK if you have PBC diagnosed by symptons (back in 2010 I had itching and fatigue - I no longer suffer from fatigue) and have abnormal blood work and then are found to have a certain high measurement (known as 'titre') of the AMAs then you do not require a biopsy. I have no desire to ever have one of those as I am pretty confident with repeat bloods (mine are notso bad at present, been taking urso now for over 4yrs) and also the odd scans it can be known pretty accurately how I might be getting along.

A biopsy in no way changes the treatment in PBC so I cannot see the point if there is no need to have one. Some doctors state a biopsy can give a stage of PBC but I just have no desire to know what stage I am at. I go with how I feel and don't think about things like this.

Hope you find the solution regarding hepatitis vaccination.

[Mcsv in reply to Hidden]

Please read my reply below, i accidentaly posted it in a different "reply"

[lonnie1 in reply to Hidden]

Agree with you. I didn't want biopsy to be done either. I have been talking Urso since 2012. I have been trying acupuncture since last Nov which is helping with my Lft and general well being. Also do yoga and qigong helps as well. Went on gluten free diet too.

[Mcsv]

Yeah, i am aware, thats why i was asking for ppls experience regarding the vaccine. Sometimes it feels like you all have much more knowledge regarding this disease than my own doctors . The decision is pretty much for me to take on my own and i want as much help as i can get in making the right choice. I completely agree with you on the biopsy, usually there is no need for it if you can be diagnosed by AMAs and bloodwork. With me, my Ama's are negative and pretty much every other possible liver disease has been discarded. Its really hard to have symptoms and take medications for a disease without being sure i have it. I would have the biopsy done only diagnose the disease (or not, hopefully). I really don't care much for knowing what stage i'm in, feels like that would only make me more anxious. Thanks for your help.

[Hidden in reply to Mcsv]

Hello Mcsv.

I have got it now, sorry for the slightl confusion....

I did understand your original posting about hepatitis vaccination and asking if anyone has had since they were diagnosed. I am certain you will find that there are others on this site who have as I recall quite some time ago when vaccinations came under a subject it was.

I did get confused regarding your mention of biopsy as I did think that you had been diagnosed with PBC.

Now I understand. All I know is that back in late 2010 if my antibodies had thrown up negative results (my ANA at the time did and I believe I did have another or others but never bothered to ask further but they were of no alarm), I would have had to have gone down the route of accepting a liver biopsy for a diagnosis.

I think the majority of GPs that we see here in the UK in-between seeing a hospital consultant do not appear to know very much about PBC at all. The current female GP I am registered with (I swapped GP surgeries after diagnosis), she seems to want to find things out about PBC but from my point of view here, I do expect her to be able to translate the bloods each time. A lot of patients with no known liver disorder have liver function tests as routine (for eg you can have them taken if you are being checked for ferritin (iron) levels) so to me a GP would know if something wasn't checking out well as should be after a PBC diagnosis. Also I do think the medical profession have more information to hand these days via the computer systems. (I currently do not see a hospital consultant by the way as I asked for a discharge Oct 2011 after being on urso almost a year. I chatted about my reasons why - at the time it didn't seem as worthwhile as my bloods were coming down and there were no changes for the worst, only improvements with fatigue vanishing, just itching. He agreed and stated in event in future I needed to return I would be referred back. This was now over 3 years ago and my bloods I had done start of this year came back pretty good and I currently still experience the night time itching.)

[boneytoys]

my gp suggested I have both ...I do travel a lot especially to India

I feel happier that Ive done as much as I can to protect my liver.....no side effects either.

My specialist found pylori helicobacter in my gut and we got rid of that too ...with antibiotics that apparantly is not good for us either....

[Hidden in reply to boneytoys]

Hello boneytoys.

I had no side-effects from the hepatitis course I had years ago either.

I just speculate that could hepatitis vaccinations (I did have the dual one for the final one) have been the trigger that set the PBC in motion.

[kiki1980]

My mother had hep B vaccine and shortly after she developed symptoms. That was in 1998 and she still has titers of hep B vaccine, even though it is supposed to last for 10 years. It means that she should not have titers since 2008. What happened, I dont know.

[dianekjs]

Hi, yes, my gastroenterologist who specializes in liver disease pretty much insisted that it was important for anyone with either compromised or at-risk liver function to get the vaccine. The thinking is that if you already have liver disease or are at a heightened risk for liver problems and were at some point exposed to hepatitis, the double whammy could be too much for your system to overcome. I don't have a PBC diagnosis at this point, just a low-positive AMA and ANA, and a slightly funky ultrasound that showed some vague abnormalities, but nothing diagnostic. Biopsy was negative, and LFTs normal. However, I was told that odds are fairly high that at some point I may develop symptoms of PBC. So, I reluctantly went ahead with the first shot in a 3-part series. No reaction, other than a very sore arm for several days (and the shot itself hurt!). However, I had a scary reaction to the second shot - numbness and tingling in my face and lips, shaky, etc., and decided not to go through with the third. I was told that the two shots wouldn't be enough to give me immunity, but to everyone's surprise, subsequent blood tests showed otherwise, coming back positive for both A & B. My overactive immune system was credited with both the negative reaction and the successful immunization. Everything's a trade-off, I guess.

[Bay46311]

Yes, my hepatologist who is the medical director of liver transplant department advised me to get both A and B vaccinations after my initial visit.

[Donna2641]

Yes. I had it in June and getting booster in September. No issues- my hep required me to get the vaccine.