Aa
Warning: Feeling a Little Down
I keep trying to calculate my odds for this that and the other based on a likely diagnosis of a chronic hep b mutation after 9 years of relative inactivity. I am really fixated on what turns out to have been a persistently elevated ALT (in the 30s - 50s) that my internist kept saying was normal because it fits into the lab range of normal. I want to be positive and not grim. I want to enjoy my family and not think of everything in such, "If I'm around then" way and I usually do. But for those times when I don't...
Can someone give me some good, solid, medical reasons for feeling more upbeat about my condition. I know that 80% of women with CHB go on to have a normal lifespan but do they have elevated ALT? And is my elevation at a really troubling level? I'll ask my new doc all of this but that's not until mid-February. Anyone have anything for me to hold onto to during the infrequent but deflating low times until then?
Best.
Can someone give me some good, solid, medical reasons for feeling more upbeat about my condition. I know that 80% of women with CHB go on to have a normal lifespan but do they have elevated ALT? And is my elevation at a really troubling level? I'll ask my new doc all of this but that's not until mid-February. Anyone have anything for me to hold onto to during the infrequent but deflating low times until then?
Best.
I'm sorry I had hepC not hepB but I can tell you one thing for sure - you can't make yourself nuts thinking about the odds either way. As long as there is a 1 in 100 chance that you will succeed in treatment you can be that one. My enzymes were well elevated into the 200s before I treated so comparatively you really don't appear to have that much liver damage going on or anything.
Get rid of the If I'm around then junk - it won't help you and it will only hurt.
Sorry I don't know much about hepb but - all you can do is the best that you can to get rid of it and leave the rest in God's hands.
You might be helped out right now by a good antidepressant. It sure helped for me.
Get rid of the If I'm around then junk - it won't help you and it will only hurt.
Sorry I don't know much about hepb but - all you can do is the best that you can to get rid of it and leave the rest in God's hands.
You might be helped out right now by a good antidepressant. It sure helped for me.
Isn't the normal range for alt up to 50 or so?
If you are hep B pos, why not start treatment? Most patients are successful.
If you are hep B pos, why not start treatment? Most patients are successful.
ZellyF: How old are you again? What you feeling is quite common. It's a difficult realization that you (we) are mortal. But that was always the case. Health issue always makes it easier to see that.
You asked for solid reason, here it is: A bad outcome for females is about 15% if unmonitored / untreated. If you are proactive, then it would be less than 15%, say 12%, don't drink and don't smoke, say 9%, healthy lifestyle to 8%. How's that for solid reasoning.
Slightly elevated and fluctuating ALT is the rule rather than the exception in chronic HepB. My ALT was in the high 40, low 50's, and shot up to 180 before I started treatment. I'm still feeling good. And your case is already better than my case, since I'm male and already have a mutant strain even before the e-seroconversion. I am trying to get to where you are with treatment.
So if you are feeling down, I should be lying in bed waiting to die in comparison. But not yet...not until this Sunday since I'm itching to see my NY Giants take on the Patriots in the Super Bowl...LOL.
So try to not to dwell on such worries. And in all seriousness, if needed, see a psychiatrist or therapist for help. Best wishes.
You asked for solid reason, here it is: A bad outcome for females is about 15% if unmonitored / untreated. If you are proactive, then it would be less than 15%, say 12%, don't drink and don't smoke, say 9%, healthy lifestyle to 8%. How's that for solid reasoning.
Slightly elevated and fluctuating ALT is the rule rather than the exception in chronic HepB. My ALT was in the high 40, low 50's, and shot up to 180 before I started treatment. I'm still feeling good. And your case is already better than my case, since I'm male and already have a mutant strain even before the e-seroconversion. I am trying to get to where you are with treatment.
So if you are feeling down, I should be lying in bed waiting to die in comparison. But not yet...not until this Sunday since I'm itching to see my NY Giants take on the Patriots in the Super Bowl...LOL.
So try to not to dwell on such worries. And in all seriousness, if needed, see a psychiatrist or therapist for help. Best wishes.
NYgirl - thank you for the support. I've been following your posts and am really cheering for you. I can't get rid of my HepB, I'm chronic, but I'll be happy with managing it for ages and ages. I'll remember your advice when I'm having a moment.
JakieD - for a smallish, youngish female normal ALT levels are in the teens. Current lab range is probably high in general but quite high for certain subsets. We haven't intiated treatment because up until recently I haven't had any measurable virus. My doc didn't seem to know that my ALT levels were high as he was going by the lab range.
steven - first, thanks for the laugh and as I don't have a dog in this fight (can you say that in football anymore?) I'll hope that NY wins for you (but if Detroit is in it next year...oh, who are we kidding?). I'm 36, why? Were you genotyped as soon as you were diagnosed? I've noticed how proactive you have been in researching and getting the treatment you want. I'm realizing more and more how critical that is in getting good care. My concern wasn't so much for the ALT level as the length of time they've been mildly elevated which is at least 9 years. You know? Anyway, thank you so much for the pep talk. I'll bookmark it for those moments...and they really are extended moments more than they are a mindset. I sometimes have a tough time wrapping my head around the idea that I've almost always had this. I look at pictures of me as a kid and think, "No one knows I have this." Its a weird thing.
One more thing for anyone...I'm in the Bay Area of San Francisco...my gastro doesn't think that fibroscan is available here. Is it? At my stage would it be indicated at all or would my recent u/s and MRI be sufficient to judge the state of my liver.
JakieD - for a smallish, youngish female normal ALT levels are in the teens. Current lab range is probably high in general but quite high for certain subsets. We haven't intiated treatment because up until recently I haven't had any measurable virus. My doc didn't seem to know that my ALT levels were high as he was going by the lab range.
steven - first, thanks for the laugh and as I don't have a dog in this fight (can you say that in football anymore?) I'll hope that NY wins for you (but if Detroit is in it next year...oh, who are we kidding?). I'm 36, why? Were you genotyped as soon as you were diagnosed? I've noticed how proactive you have been in researching and getting the treatment you want. I'm realizing more and more how critical that is in getting good care. My concern wasn't so much for the ALT level as the length of time they've been mildly elevated which is at least 9 years. You know? Anyway, thank you so much for the pep talk. I'll bookmark it for those moments...and they really are extended moments more than they are a mindset. I sometimes have a tough time wrapping my head around the idea that I've almost always had this. I look at pictures of me as a kid and think, "No one knows I have this." Its a weird thing.
One more thing for anyone...I'm in the Bay Area of San Francisco...my gastro doesn't think that fibroscan is available here. Is it? At my stage would it be indicated at all or would my recent u/s and MRI be sufficient to judge the state of my liver.
Well, 36 means that you are right in the middle of the age range for e-seroconversion. Even e-antigen negative folks could still have e-antigen still in their system (without mutant). Perhaps they are in low numbers so the high level of e-antibodies covers it from showing on blood test. But the antigen / antibodies could be still dancing.
And I read the e-seroconversion process could take years. So perhaps this is what's happening in your case, which means it's "normal" in the HepB sense. So when your immune system truly takes back control, you ALT will go down. Perhaps in your case, it hasn't happened yet, but hopefully you are on your way there.
My persistently high and slightly out of range ALT was that way at least 7 years, when I needed blood test for work. But like you said, it probably goes back further than the 7 years. And liver still looks good on sonogram. The liver is a strong organ. Take it of it and chances are it will take care of you, despite HepB and persistent slight elevated ALT for a certain time frame.
And yes, you basically have to take an active role in your treatment. If a doctor is not a GI or Hepatologist, they perhaps just sat through an one hour class on the treatment of HepB. Don't know about you but I don't trust my life to that one hour of training. I could honestly say, I probably know more than many general practitioners in regards to HepB. The PA can't answer most of my questions and even my specialist ask for time to consult his colleagues when I hit him with a really really hard question. Not patting myself on the back, be jst want to reinforce that you need to be a partner to your doctor in deciding treatment.
And this is the reason why it's better TO KNOW that you have HepB. You know how many of your friends and my friend who have HepB but just don't know it. Again if it for that one incident, I would still having a beer here and there. And hang with some friends sucking in second hand smoke. Knowing is better. So be happy and thankful about that. I know I am.
Take care. If you have one of them moment and need support, private message me. We'll shoot the HepB breeze :)
And I read the e-seroconversion process could take years. So perhaps this is what's happening in your case, which means it's "normal" in the HepB sense. So when your immune system truly takes back control, you ALT will go down. Perhaps in your case, it hasn't happened yet, but hopefully you are on your way there.
My persistently high and slightly out of range ALT was that way at least 7 years, when I needed blood test for work. But like you said, it probably goes back further than the 7 years. And liver still looks good on sonogram. The liver is a strong organ. Take it of it and chances are it will take care of you, despite HepB and persistent slight elevated ALT for a certain time frame.
And yes, you basically have to take an active role in your treatment. If a doctor is not a GI or Hepatologist, they perhaps just sat through an one hour class on the treatment of HepB. Don't know about you but I don't trust my life to that one hour of training. I could honestly say, I probably know more than many general practitioners in regards to HepB. The PA can't answer most of my questions and even my specialist ask for time to consult his colleagues when I hit him with a really really hard question. Not patting myself on the back, be jst want to reinforce that you need to be a partner to your doctor in deciding treatment.
And this is the reason why it's better TO KNOW that you have HepB. You know how many of your friends and my friend who have HepB but just don't know it. Again if it for that one incident, I would still having a beer here and there. And hang with some friends sucking in second hand smoke. Knowing is better. So be happy and thankful about that. I know I am.
Take care. If you have one of them moment and need support, private message me. We'll shoot the HepB breeze :)
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