Peg treatment

[faithhopegod]

Hi  everyone excuse my grammar.

I had a checkup with my doctor yesterday and I asked me if I want to go on peg intereferon even though I don't need treatment. He said it can possibly clear me since my viral is low (30% chance) but he did warn me that the side effects are pretty harsh. So now I'm stuck, I'm due for another blood test March and I'm hoping I see a decrease in load so maybe there's a chance of naturally curing it?

If I decide to take the treatment is there something I could do to lessen the side effects?

Test results

2224 IU/ML
3.35 log IU/ML
Hbeab igm -negative
hbsag-postive
heb b core ab -postive
hbeag-negative
hbeab-positive

[stef2011]

go to canada or mexico to have hbsag quant before and during therapy if labs close to you dont have it
without hbsag quant it is impossible to know response

[Mario30]

I have booked for hbsag quantitative test. Here in Italy.
What is the baseline for clearance?

[stef2011]

that s his hbvdna, it is useless to know if you clear even if undetectable

[faithhopegod]

What do you think I should do? What supplements to take?
Should I try peg or is there another option?

[faithhopegod]

How come HIV patients can track when they first got infected and not HBV? Is it possible to check?

[faithhopegod]

I applied for the insurance and at first, they denied me because I have no fibrosis and my alt is normal. I got a phone call last week saying they appealed it and won. I will update soon on my current blood work.

[Airquake]

faithhopegod, I sent you a private message, please check your inbox, thanks

[faithhopegod]

Sure

[faithhopegod]

Hi, Sorry for the long wait. I decided to take interferon, I'm hoping my insurance covers it. My doctor suggested for 6 months treatment. Maybe I should get a second opinion with Dr.Dietrich? I will update on my blood results this week.

Thanks God bless.

[flyinsky]

Good luck

[sorte]

6 months is not enough, 48 weeks is minimum

[Liverpatient]

Hi faithhopegod, I'm sorry to say that i still do not see any reason for you to begin with peg-interferon. Your alt is low, viral load also below 2000iu, and you're hbeag-. All these criteria point to the fact that you would not get any benefit from peg interferon treatment. From the hbeag- patients, those who clear hbsag are a tiny minority, and most patients get a relapse of the disease after the end of treatment.
The following study was conducted to show the efficacy and durability of peg interferon treatment in  both hbeag+ and - patients, and here is some conclusion regarding hbeag- patients:

"Among HBeAg-negative patients, an extremely high VR at EOT was observed in our real-world data, but the relapse rate was also high. Marcellin et al.35 also reported that the virological response with a HBV viral load of <20,000 copies or <400 copies were 43%, and 19%, respectively at 6 months after 48 weeks of PEG-IFN treatment. These findings indicate that PEG-IFN is able to temporarily suppress HBV but the durability of the treatment is poor in HBeAg-negative."

"Within 48 weeks after EOT*, only one case among the HBeAg-positive patients and two cases among the HBeAg-negative patients developed HBsAg loss and none had anti-HBs seroconversion."

*EOT-end of treatment

Here is the link of the study: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep29605#t4

[faithhopegod]

Thank you for your insight. I'll just try and see for myself. Hopefully I can be part of that "tiny minority".

[Liverpatient]

Whatever you decide, just take the decision in consultation with your hepatologist, even consider a second opinion from other experts on hepb. Good luck.

[faithhopegod]

Ast 23
Alt 19

[antistr]

if you mean Hbsag quantiative, no. That number is HBV DNA copy count, and not useful anymore if you have Hbv DNA iu/ml which is quantitative.

[faithhopegod]

Update: So I got a my blood work done last week and here is what I have.

Hep B Dna pcr (log-10) 3.17
Hep B Dna pcr ( copies) 8526/ml
Hep Be AB Pos
Hep Be Ag Neg
Hep B Dna Pcr (iu/ml) 1465

Could 8526 be possibly my quantitative count? I never saw this number in any of my blood reports before. I'm in the Usa and from what I learned here is that they don't perform the quantitative test.  On March 3 the Dna was 2293 iu/ml and copies 13345/ ml

[Aduiski]

what is your current ALT?

[faithhopegod]

Hi I will be getting my blood work result again this Friday and order another ultrasound. By the end of June I will see Dr. Dietrich and get a final opinion from him.  

[faithhopegod]

Hi stef Thank you so much for your help. So I will take tdf first for how long before adding pegs?

[stef2011]

yes if combo with pegintf and hbsag falls low

[faithhopegod]

Can I stop tdf after the 8-12 month treatment?

[stef2011]

combo is slightly superior especially if sequential nuc and then peg add on

[stef2011]

no if you dont take immune suppressive drugs and make some bad damage to your immune system, so it is the same as saying cleared

it is not hbv only but mostly all viruses you had in your life....

[faithhopegod]

Do I have better chances clearing with peg+tdf or mono..?

[stef2011]

virus/bacteria are never cleared totally, ours and your body is made mostly of bacteria not human dna, we just live in balance with them.when you are sick you just lost the balance like for us with hbv

[faithhopegod]

So even with antibodies against hbv we can still be infected again?

[stef2011]

vit d3 is what you must take

[faithhopegod]

bump

[faithhopegod]

Can I take b12,glutathiaone,vitamin c shots while on treatment? When is the right time to end treatment? Is it when you see hbsag negative and surface antibody positive? If the antibody doesn't come up is it possible I can take the vaccine again and jump start it.  Even with a cured result, am I totally free or is it still lurking?

Is there a test to find out how long I've had this?

[faithhopegod]

Please see above, Thank you.

[Aduiski]

...and what is your history of DNA and ALT (post all of the results of these that you ever had)
...gender?
...age?
...family history of HCC?
...alcohol drinking?

[Aduiski]

Did you ever do a Fibroscan?

[faithhopegod]

No my doctor said I'm too young for it? But I'm going to check in with a different doctor  Monday.

[faithhopegod]

bump

[faithhopegod]

Even if Im hbeag negative I still have chance? I may go to mexico next month to get the quantative test done. Is there a lab here in Dubai?