Viread and lactose intolerance

[BeltaneTheBat]

Hi All,
I'm new on this forum and have only just recently been diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B, I am 48years old. I had a liver biopsy and was told that my levels are very low (3000), that I'm lowlevel infectious and that I have no scarring. My doctor has prescribed Viread. I have read a little about the medication and learned that it contains lactose. I am lactose intolerant and am not sure what to do, I have not started taking the drug.
Has anyone else here had problems with this medication because of lactose intolerance?

I've been suffering from a kind of chronic fatigue and my doctor thinks that by taking Viread I might be able to get back to normal.

Any comments or advice would be most welcome.

[stef2011]

I'm UK based

this is good because both fibroscan and hbsag quant should be available.

but he simply wished me good luck.

my god, have you seen the kidneys damage risk of viread?most dont have this problem but for example i tried 1 week and my creatinine jumped immediately out of normal range 1.25......
definitely not a good doctor, looks like the typical drug pusher and who cares about the patient

in case you want to double check this is cfs community.hbv has fatigue symptoms due to immune system failure but they come and go, not heavy continuatively for long periods.CFS testing is very difficult and expensive so better check out everything about hbv status first anyway


http://forums.phoenixrising.me/forumdisplay.php?89-GcMAF

[BeltaneTheBat]

Thanks Stef, interesting to read your comments. I'd love to post my biopsy results but unfortunately I do not have them. I'm UK based and my doctor read out some of the results from his computer screen without really explaining in detail what they mean. What I wrote above is pretty much what I remember.
It is only after reading up on google about Viread that I came across this forum. And it is the fact that I'm lactose intolerant that made me ask the question. And I'm glad I did.
My doctor prescribed the medication (which my insurance doesn't cover, the doctor is private and not NHS) and told me to come and see him again in three months time. I've read that one should be monitored regularly when taking this medication for the first time but he simply wished me good luck.

I've been suffering from fatigue and the same doctor called it CFS but said he couldn't be sure since I do not have the muscle pain or sore throat symptoms or indeed any other symptoms apart from debilitating tiredness that usually come with it. I can function okay during the day but had to quit my 3 days per week gym visits an any other physical activities 5 months ago. I was diagnosed with hepatitis b two months ago and my doctor feels that it would be too much of a coincidence for my fatigue not to be related. In his opinion it wouldn't make sense to look for another illness before dealing with the one at hand.

Anyway, it all sounded very hap-hazard to me and it is good to read about your experiences. I will try to get my hands on my results and post them as soon as possible. In the meantime I will consult another doctor.

Thanks again.

[stef2011]

and that I have no scarring

this is not a word to be used, too generic and no meaning.please post biopsy results, if fibrosis is f1 or f0 there is no reason to take viread, it has no effect on infection and can only stop liver damage and if you have zero liver damage there is absolutely no reason to take it
fibroscan made every 6 months can tell when fibrosis increases, liver cancerincreases and antiviral may be useful, a fibroscan value of 7kpa is indicative of relevant fibrosis and a value >8kpa increaes liver cancer risk, that s when an antiviral is useful

what is your hbv genotype?only C maybe an indication of antiviral because it has an increased chance of HCC

what are your precore mutations?
these mutations increaseliver camcer risk, another indication for antiiviral

what is your hbsag quantity in iu/ml?
an indication to have high chances to clear hbv on interferon

if you are in US all tests i menthioned are not available to make impossible monitoring of hbv and push everybody on antivirals just for drug makers making money, if this is the case and you can afford moving to canada or mexico or ship blodd samples to india or europe for these stupid tests i do suggest to do so instead of going to a blind treatment

I've been suffering from a kind of chronic fatigue and my doctor thinks that by taking Viread I might be able to get back to normal.

cronic fatigue syndrom or just fatigue?
fatigue is comon on cronic infections due to the immune system mulfunction while cronic fatigue syndrom is an aids disease due to gamma retrovirus infection.viread is unlikly to help in both cases while antioxidant therapy might help in both cases.oxidative stress can be tested at this lab:
europeanlaboratory.nl

they have a branch in US too