This is well noted.
Thank you.
Today received my LFT results. Kindly help and interpret for me more especially on the increasing figures
Thanks
Dear @opa,
These reflect normal liver enzyme results, which is a good sign. The higher bilirubin and slightly increased protein may be caused by other issues that are not Hep B and is worth following up with your doctor about
Thomas
Thanks @ThomasTu. This is hope giving. However, am currently down with terrible fever, joint pains and body weakness which I can’t even tell whether it is related to my hepatitis b condition.
Much worried about taking any counter medication since this would even make it worse.
My question is therefore, what medication can I have for fever that won’t worsen and rise my hepatitis b condition.
Thanks family
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Hi @opa,
That really depends on the underlying cause of your fever, which I think is out of the expertise of this forum. Please visit your health professional to get an appropriate diagnosis.
Thomas
It’s good to know that you cleared the virus, Did you take any medication during the acute phase of the infection?
Thank God my January viral load results came back today and they are 198 Iu/ml kindly help to understand them
Dear @opa,
This is a very low viral load, which is generally associated with good health outcomes and limited risk of transmission. I’m not sure what in particular that you wanted to find out with these results.
Thomas
Hello all,
I’m new here from the Philippines (24 M) and I would like to know your insights about my results. I was declared to have a chronic Hepa B last March and has been taking my tenofovir since then. However, my HBV viral load results shows a 1million+ IU/mL, just today. I’m kinda worried and my doctor advised me to continue with my antiretroviral therapy.
I was monitoring my SGPT every 2 months ever since I got diagnosed with acute Hepa B last August, 2023, which I mostly linked it to unprotected sex. It was around to 51 to 69 when it suddenly jumped to 92 last week of February.
I was kinda curious with the sudden spike of my SGPT and with my lab numbers being so high, are there any other explanations or circumstances for this? And if so, is there any other way that I can helped manage my viral load aside from my prescribed antiviral therapy? I’m looking forward for any response that I can get from this.
Thank you.
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Hello azurePH,
Welcome to the community! Tenofovir is effective at dramatically lowering HBV viral load when taken properly everyday. Antiviral therapy with Nucleotide Analogues such as Tenofovir is the most common way to lower viral load with the least amounts of possible side affects. There are also immuno-modulating medications such as Interferons that reduce viral load by stimulating the body’s own immune response against HBV. Eating healthy, exercising, and avoiding excessive drugs / alcohol use are some simple things that you can do to help out your liver.
I remember I had a viral load of around 162 million IU/mL when I first found out, and Tenofovir has brought that down to not quantifable within 2 years of taking the drug.
Cheers.
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Thank you so much for your insight 🫶🏻 much appreciated.
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I have a question regarding results again. I just got my results back for my latest tests and again, everything was negative and my HBV DNA was <10iu/ml again but my doctor said that meant negative as well.
My new doctors seems to think there was an error and I was misdiagnosed with HBV so has told me it’s a good idea to do my vaccines as the serology seems to indicated I never had an infection at all.
Is it possible I was misdiagnosed? Even when I had just liver function testing done it’s always come back perfectly fine no raised ALTs or anything.
TIA ^^
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Hi Tia,
It’s hard to say right now without a bit more background. Was you test always negative? And if so, why did your doctor thought you had HBV? i.e what draw the conclusion of the HBV positivity at the time, do you know? Especially the level of ‘HBsAg’ would be important here.
Your new doctor is right though to suggest vaccination, which, in the case you were indeed misdiagnosed, would protect you for any putative new encounter with the virus.
Have a nice day,
Marion
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Hi Marion,
Thank you for your response. When I arrived in Korea in March 2022 I had to do a medical check for my visa and it was flagged then. I did a second round of blood tests which then apparently said I was infected but it was inactive. Unfortunately I never received any paperwork for this whatsoever.
In late 2022 I did another blood test - not realising I needed a PCR and DNA profile my doctor only did a liver function test which came back entirely normal.
In July 2023 I did another proper test and my results were the photograph and post my initial post was a response to.
Fast forward to last week when I did my blood work and HBeAb, HBeAg and HbcAb were all negative. So my doctor ordered more tests for my HBsAg and HBsAb, which both came back negative as well.
I’m very confused, especially because I could potentially have been really emotionally traumatised by something I never needed to be worried about. Any insight is greatly appreciated 
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Dear @EH1999 ,
The test for HBcAb has two variants: IgM (which is present during initial infection) and total (IgG + IgM). If you have been infected you will produce IgG HBcAb your whole life. As such you would always be positive for total HbcAb.
HBV < 10 IU/mL does not mean negative. It is not possible to prove the absence of HBV DNA with any test currently on the market. Most major HBV DNA test platforms will produce outputs of < 10IU/mL (which means the test cannot quantify the tiny amount of HBV DNA present) or target not detected (which means the test could not detect HBV DNA). This latter result is often not reported (left as < 10 IU/mL) out of caution and needs to be verified with the test lab but does not necessarily mean there is no HBV DNA present.
However, if you are total HBcAb negative and negative for HBsAg and HBsAb this suggests you have never been infected and should attempt vaccination.
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Hi availlant,
Thank you for your response, especially for clarifying the <10iu/ml being used as a kind of “being on the safe side” of diagnostics. I was always confused when they said I was “negative” if there was some DNA detected. It’s an entirely bizarre situation to be honest as I can’t fathom any sort of clerical error that would cause me to be “misdiagnosed” over the course of two blood tests. However, I have decided to go ahead with vaccination and then worst comes to worse I have HBV but it’s under control and hopefully a definitive answer can be reached if I start producing antibodies after vaccination.
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Hi @EH1999,
That is a good idea. There is not much to lose but you probably might gain more if you never had this virus. At least you will be protected. Once you complete your vaccine series, they can do a test to see whether you have immunity (HBsAb) and they can measure the antibody titers as well. That will provide another way of finding out whether you have HBV or not. If you do have it, you should not develop any antibodies. But if you do not have it, then you will develop antibodies from the vaccine which can then be tested and measured. HBV can be complicated at times, so try not to overwhelm yourself with all this. I know it is not that easy to ignore something like this. Hopefully, you can take care of the vaccinations soon. Best, Bansah1.
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Hello again,
Sorry for the late reply, but i see that the other science experts took over with nice and extensive replies so hopefully it brought you some peace of mind.
I would just suggest to see if you could get back your results from when you initially arrived in Korea (i.e the ones you mentioned never had the paperwork in the end), as from your current results it seems indeed you might never had it, so it would be great to check these initial results and what led the diagnostic conclusion.
I agree you should attempt vaccination but keep monitoring your HBsAg level and antibodies to confirm further your negativity.
If you are/were indeed negative this whole time, i am very sorry for you, especially in term of mental health, worry, trauma and even stigma that the diagnostic might sadly have generated. I hope you found at least some help in this community.
Best,
Marion
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Hi @Bansah1,
Thank you for your response. Yeah, there’s no harm in doing the vaccinations, they’re relatively inexpensive in Korea so we’ll see what happens after the 6month mark.
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Hi again Marion,
No need to apologise! Everyone on here has a life outside of this forum so I understand entirely!
Yeah, I’m going to try and get my initial results from the hospital I went to when I first arrived. The way I see it there are three outcomes here: 1: I never had it which is great but annoying it took two and a half years to notice. 2: I do have it but it’s really well managed and just needs to be monitored. 3: I am some sort of mutant and did have it but now for some reason do not (I am of course joking)
Either way 6 months until I know for sure. The one thing I will take away from this at least is being told I did have HBV spurred on a whole host of lifestyle changes that definitely needed to happen and I’m living much healthier because of it.
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