Enteclavir vs Viread -- anyone experience side effects on Enteclavir?

[Cabin3]

39, female, and just delivered my baby.  I was advised to go on Viread while pregnant and I had major concerns about the side effects of Viread.  Now Not pregnant and my hep doctor says that I can go on enteclavir since it does not have the kidney toxicity concern.  Mid anyone on enteclavir and have any side effects.  Also am nursing, is it safe for baby? Doctor says enteclavir is very safe to take.

[varsa]

Healthy career are called for those patient who have no liver damage.is has some certain criteria.liver damage is determined by fibroscan,liver function test,biopsy. Without fibroscan no doc can tell you r healthy career or not.again if medicine start it may continue for lifetime. So doc does not provide you anti virus medicine

[Cabin3]

I just got ultrasound and fibroscan and both came back normal.  It's been a few months since I had labs done.  I'm going to request to have labs done again now since it's almost 2 months since baby had been born.  If one has high viral load and normal labs, ultrasound and fibroscan, should one go on treatment?  Would this be considered healthy carrier?  Please advise.

[chihep]

I am on Entecavir for almost 3 years. So far, I have not experienced any side effects. However, I have no idea of safety for baby as you are nursing.

[Sahn28]

Chihep your doctor gave that entecavir for your treatment? What is HEPA healthy carrier? Does anyone here knows what medicine to take. After I give quantitative hbv result to my doctor she didn't give me a medicine to take. My viral load was 73,033 iu/ml and 425,052 copies/ml. Pls help me what to take.

[Cabin3]

Chihep, how long did it take for your VL to go down to undetected and normal ALT on entecavir?  Thanks for your comment.

[Liverpatient]

Hi Cabin3, congratulations to you on giving birth to your baby boy; I hope you both are doing well:-) Regarding the medicine as Stephen said it is better to take entecavir if you have issues with your kidneys, also the dose of entecavir is only 0,5mg in comparison to 300mg tablets of tdf, yet it is equally effective against hbv as tdf. With all the ongoing scramble to find a cure for hepb, we may be just a few years away from total cure of hbv, until then those who need treatment could stay on antivirals.

[Cabin3]

Thanks for your comment Liverpatient and Stephen.  As far as I know, I don't have kidney issues.  But doesn't it make sense for most people with HBV to choose entecavir rather than Viread due to possible kidney toxicity concerns?  Why is Viread the initial go to drug?  If I was given the option inititially, wouldn't it make sense to chose ETV even with healthy kidneys?

[StephenCastlecrag]

I don't think there are any studies about the use of Entecavir and breastfeeding. On the other hand, it is generally considered safe for mothers on Viread to breakfeed - concentration of Viread in breast milk is minimal and experiences from HIV mothers on Viread indicated no significant side effects on baby. So it may be an option to delay switching until breastfeeding is over.
Just my understanding.

[Cabin3]

Hi Stephen, I'm currently not on meds now.  I wanted to wait until I delivered baby and now off other drugs (not antivirals) that I had to go on post delivery -- I wanted to minimize the potential risk of interaction between them all.  Now, I'm not on other drugs but since I had very high anxiety about Viread and its potential kidney toxicity, my hep doc says that I should go on baraclude since it has no kidney toxicity concern.  He says it's very safe to take.  What are your thoughts?  Should I just go on Viread or baraclude as far as safety and effectiveness?  And yes, I'm also concern about levels in breast milk but my doc says that baraclude is safe while nursing.  Please advise your thoughts.

[StephenCastlecrag]

Sorry, I misunderstood. Sure, consider Entecavir if you are averse to Viread. Many doctors let the patients choose Entecavir or Viread. The side effects with Entecavir are listed in its label.
A new version of Viread, TAF, should be on the market soon, it has very much less kidney issue.