Baraclude vs. Viread

[AsianMale]

Hi All,

I am an male in my mid-20's of southeast Asian decent, and I'm quite torn about how to proceed. I acquired HBV through vertical transmission and am currently in the immune clearance phase.

My ALT levels are 5-6 times normal.
I am e-antigen positive, e-antibody negative.
My viral load was 30 million in Oct 2008. Since then, I've been taking a cocktail of herbs intended to treat hepatitis (including milk thistle) and in Jan 2009, it is now 13 million.

I am torn because my family would like me to stay with herbal cocktail, but several doctors want me to begin treatment. The doctors say the fluctuation in viral load is natural and not necessarily tied to my use of herbs.

Firstly, has anyone had success with the herbal remedies?

Secondly, if I begin treatment, the goal would be sero-conversion (i.e. e-antigen negative, e-antibody positive). Would that essentially mean I'm cured and won't need to worry about HBV anymore?

Thirdly, my doctor says it's pretty much a flip of the coin to decide whether to go with Baraclude(entecavir) or Viread(tenofovir). There seems to be very little data about the success rate of either. Can anyone please help me to decide which route to take? For example, comparison of side-effects, success rate(i guess that means sero-conversion) in asians, etc.

And finally, how much of a difference would it make if I start treatment now or in, say, 6 months?

Being 25, I will potentially be taking this pill for many many years, so I'd like to make the right choice.

I'm new to this forum and would very much appreciate your time.

[wz5768]

hello,
after taking Viread, I feel discomfort urinating? is this sort of kidney side effect? is this happened to everyone or just me ?

[stef2011]

we dont know if he still visits patients

you can find good liver specialists lists here

http://www.hepb.org/cgi-bin/LiverSpecialistNew.pl

[calmama]

Can I also have the name of the doc/researcher in LA?  Thank you.

[stef2011]

i send a PM with the name of best doctor/researcher in LA, check it.but he may be not available because too busy with research, in any case try to contact with him

ast/alt mean nothing to chosse treatment or not, and also hbvdna means nothing, you need to start tdf but only to add interferon when hbvdna is und for some years, tdf alone has only 16% chances to clear hbv after 3 years when hbeag is pos

to see if you are immune tollerant you cant use ast/alt, they are the less important.immune tollerant is found by:
very high hbsag
no liver damage on fibroscan
very high hbvdna
normal ast/alt less than 30

check the PM you are in the best hands of the world if he is available

[stef2011]

grmr is in italy and we have real doctors not just drug sellers, he is correctly followed at best of hbv knowledge in 2012

in US, all you heard from US doctors is nothing to cure patients, jus try to get the doctor i emailed you, if he is not available and if you move out of US you can try to find a good doctor in europe or china

in Us they dont have the knowledge and the tools to cure hbv, most doctors are just pushed to sell drugs and not cure patients

[wz5768]

Yes, I　ｇｕｅｓｓ　ｉ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｗａｉｔ　ｆｏｒ　２　ｗｅｅｋｓ　ｔｏ　ｔｅｓｔ　ａｇａｉｎ　ｏｎ　ｍｙ　ｅｎｚｙｍｅｓ　ｌｅｖｅｌ．　ａｔ　ｍｅａｎ　ｔｉｍｅ　ｓｔｏｐ　ｔａｋｉｎｇ　ｈｅｒｂ　ｍｅｄｉｃｉｎｅ．　
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