Entecavir questions

[peng271]

My friend is 30 years old and lives in China. She was diagnosed with HVB about 10 years ago. Her doctor prescribed her Entecavir and she has taken this drug for more than 1 year. She and her husband are planning to have a baby. But the problem is that she has to stop taking Entecavir before getting pregnant. She wants to know when she can stop using this drug. Is it safe for pregnant women to use Entecavir? Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated!

[stef2011]

yes because it doesn t clear virus but stop the virus to make liver damage

to use it for a short time she must use a combo interferon+etv but if she has no liver damage these drugs are useless, only if there is a family history of liver cancer this makes sense

check all posts to understand about hbv because there are many situations to  know to see if etv is necessary or not or to try to clear virus by combos immune therapies

here is a link where to start:
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Hepatitis/HepB-Introduction--Welcome-Page/show/34?cid=153

[peng271]

Thanks for your reply. Does that mean she will have to use entecavir her whole lifetime? That sounds so sad!

[stef2011]

she must use tenofovir it is the only safe on pregnancy, this drugs have no effect on hbv and increase infected cells so she wont be able to stop them until a cure for hbv is found, this drugs are only to stop liver damage

she must check liver damage by fibroscan  if she has no damage she better avoid these drugs and try interferon or a combo of interferon+entecavir or tenofovir, if these drug are used with interferon they can be stopped anytime