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Acute worried about chronic/need new doc recommendations

Hi. I am a 51 year old male who was diagnosed with acute hep b in August of this year (2016). I was suffering from severe joint pain and that's what made me go to my doctor where they ran tests and I was diagnosed. He referred me to a GI. The only thing I can do is sit back and wait and see if my body fights the virus. My AST and ALT continue to decline (they are at 68 and 84 now), however, my ALK has remained steady (154, 153, 158). About 2 months ago, I started presenting symptoms of Raynaud's condition. My doc ordered a sedrate and C-reactive protein tests (to test for inflammation). Both tests came up normal the first time but then a month later, they are off the charts. It seems like my inflammation (joints and liver) are getting worse, however, my liver levels are improving. This seems like a disconnect to me and when I asked my doctors, they don't seem to give me a straight answer. The clock is ticking on the 6-month waiting period when I will know if this will be chronic or not. I have a bad feeling because my ALK has not declined (although my GI doc said this is usually the last to resolve itself). I am also concerned because I have been developing serum sickness and starting to feel sick. In the beginning, back in August, I only had the joint pains but now new symptoms seem to appear every week. Is there anyone else on this forum who went through something similar?  I am not happy with my doctors and want to find new ones. If anyone here is in the Philadelphia PA area and knows of a doc who is good and has some empathy for my situation, let me know. Thanks for listening.
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Avatar universal
I have two doctors, one Gastro (very little in hep b but I like him) and one hepatologist. The hepataologist is Chinese and this appears to be their area of expertise, so this is one suggestion.
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Avatar universal
Try http://www.hepb.org/treatment-and-management/physician-directory/ . This foundation is acutally located in PA so you should not have any problems finding a good doc. There are a few people in here from this area including myself but not from PA. I hope that helps and good luck!
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1 Comments
Thank you, Airquake. Oddly enough, my current GI appeared in this directory but it looks like I have other options. I'm sure there are other people here in my same situation...feeling lost with no empathy or assistance from these specialists.
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