Entecavir micro dosing during acute phase conundrum

Just diagnosed or new to the community
1

Hi, let’s see if there is any advice for my circumstances.

last year tested positive shock :high_voltage:

It was a new infection fibroscan very good however

DNA over a million and nurse or sick leave with no one to ask advice on how to treat this thing so resourcesful me got my hands on some entecavir about 10-14 tables just in case…

I had a lot of stress and a terrible flu so I’ve took some

my DNA went down to 50000

I seen the nurse and told her what happened she did not make any comments.

A few months later I was still positive (home test) so silly me took the rest of the entecavir and my dna went down to 8000

next check 2 months later 150,000

Another 2 months later 300,000

Now they want to prescribe me antiviral medication as I am well over 6 months and this DNAzzz

however after reading a bit more about how the virus works I recon I did not give my body the chance to go through a spontaneous clearance because I took that microdose of entecavir in month 1 and month 4or5 suppressing the virus that now is thriving

Although I feel fatique and mild pain for a few days of flares, I would really like to feel a bit worst and take a chance at clearing this.

I am healthy 45 year old lady, people call me fit. The stress is behind me. I don’t drink at all or smoke and eat healthy foods.

I’ll have a chat with the nurse about it. It would help if I knew similar cases had a good outcome if immunity in the following 6 months (within a year)

I would like to mention that I will be testing bilurine in urine, also monitor as often as required and reconsider depending on my results or if I end up in ER I’ll start medication straight away.

wish me good luck

Thank you for your support

1 Like
2

Dear @Stella

I am sorry to hear of your diagnosis, and I am sure it was quite a shock.

The standard of care for acute HBV infection (ie, the initial infection) does not normally include antiviral treatment during an acute HBV infection. I’m not sure why, but I suspect it has been shown not to improve spontaneous clearance rates.

I encourage you to take the antivirals (probably entecavir or tenofovir in its TDF form) if recommended by your care team as they are highly effective at suppressing HBV replication and reducing inflammation in the liver that is a major component of the hepatitis induced by HBV. They are very safe drugs, and the relatively rare side effects of them are well understood and can be managed by your doctors. They only rarely cure the infection, but they improve the quality of life for HBV+ people a great deal.

There are many members of this community with personal experience using tenofovir or entecavir, so please check the old posts for information on their experiences.

I wish you the best.

John

1 Like
3

Thank you John, I believe the antiviral medication is a great management solution. I am not asking if I should… I am pro medication hence why I took it even without prescription… not realising that it was too soon and unnecessary in the acute stage…

I think I made a mistake taking the medication that soon, I understand now why it is not prescribed in the first 6 months unless someone has a liver failure

I think am now in a prolonged acute stage. I am interested in giving my immune system a second chance to build a good response to the virus.

if I don’t succeed after a reasonable period of time (6-12 months) I will most likely take the medication to manage it. If I start the medication now I loose the chance to clear it on my own as I suspect I would have if I would have allowed my body to experience acute hep b without medication like most people that solve it.

again thank you for your encouragement. It is great to know there is help to manage the virus if I don’t succeed.

1 Like
4

Good Luck!!! I doubt taking entecavir for part of your 6 month acute time period had any effect on the long-term progression of the infection, so don’t worry about that.

Let’s cheer for your immune system to kick HBV out of your liver!

John.

1 Like
5

Thank you John nothing.silly, only for a reasonable time with fingers crossed