I am new: Interferon Treatment vs. Entecavir????

[ambiance3021]

I am 26 yrs old and contracted HBV vertically.  I am new to this site, but am due to start the pegylated interferon alfa-2a treatment (Pegasys) this Friday and am terrified of the side effects.  This treatment is usually used to treat HCV, but I have chosen it over the antiviral pills b/c of the lack of risk of viral tolerance and the dangers connected to skipping doses or quitting an antiviral pill treatment.

As I have read the forums related to HBV, I have not seen any posts regarding others who have chosen to go on this Pegasys treatment as I have.  I was wondering if any of you could please respond to my post in regards of whether or not you were ever offered Pegasys (interferon), and if you were offered, how you decided on the treatment option that you did.

I am a 3rd year full-time student doing a double major in Biology and Radiation Therapy.  Can anyone out there provide me with your personal experiences on Pegasys and whether or not you were able to continue with a busy schedule?  Am I being too optimistic to continue with even a 15 credit hr load?

[stef2011]

hbeag is produced similar to hbsag, indipendently from virions (hbvdna).this in wild type and you can have hbeag pos, hbeag neg with hbeab pos and both negative if antibodies and antigenes are in balance
remember that you can be hbvdna und but no decrease of hbeag

with the precore bcp the hbeag is reduced or not produced so any hbeab is ble to hide hbeag in blood

the easiest thing is follow hbsag quantity when it reaches values less than 1000iu/ml for genotype d the hbv virus is really inactive and it is very difficult to have both hbvdna high again or hbeag reversion

[stef2011]

it is also interesting to note:
me and my sister got infected from my mother who had wild type all life (hbeag reversion many times) while my hbv mutated to precore and bcp plus q215s very early

my sister has also precore or bcp because she turned immune tollerant again for few months when on alinia monotherapy but hbeag stayed negative without reversion

[saritahemanth]

i consider the use of tenofovir plus entecavir because you do have adefovir resistance which reduces response to tenofovir

but i was on entecavir for last three yrs is it ok if i continue entecavir plus tenofovoir from this point...as i need to plan for babies too...i heard its not safe to use tabs while u r pregnant :-(...doc was saying as u plan to have babies if interferon works that would be a plus point and that if after three months we find it not working we can immediately withdraw the interferon injections and will give me tenofir which is safe during pregnancy...i am a lot confused plij suggest what shall i ask my doc to do?...:-(

[saritahemanth]

one yr on adefovir
three yrs on entecavir (as virus got resistant to adefovir )

my recent results were - hbeag positive ( which was negative for four yrs)
anti hbeag positive
hbv dna < 20
hbsag 250 iu/ml

[stef2011]

it is best to take entecavir plus tenofovir and stop entecavir while you get pregnant (allow more than 6months on this combo).


my recent results were - hbeag positive ( which was negative for four yrs)
anti hbeag positive
check that hbeag becomes negative again on the combo.if both hbeag and hbeab remain positive this is another mutant, dont remember which one but it is not good for sure

hbsag 250 iu/ml
this is not hbeag quantity but the limit of abbott architect without diluition of your blood sample.the lab was so stupid and lazy to avoid the diluition and just tell you your hbsag is superior to 250iu/ml which is a totally useless information because if you have chronic hbv hbsag is in the thousands as 99,9% of hbv carriers
recheck hbsag with diluition

[saritahemanth]

check that hbeag becomes negative again on the combo.if both hbeag and hbeab remain positive this is another mutant, dont remember which one but it is not good for sure

means i will be at risk ?? if this is so then no treatment available??

it is best to take entecavir plus tenofovir and stop entecavir while you get pregnant (allow more than 6months on this combo).

what if i become resistant to tenofovir later?? and if i go to interferon after that and that to fails are there other options in medication ??