Found out in april that i have hepatitis b

[nita_gabriel1]

Hello everyone,

I’m new here and wanted to share my story to get some support and advice.

I believe I was infected around December 2024.

My first test in April 2025 showed:

HBsAg positive

HBV DNA (viral load) low (~843 IU/mL)

Anti-HBc (core antibodies) very strong (~523)

Anti-HBs (surface antibodies) they told me i didn’t have surface antibodys

Next test was done in June ,they told me same data was showing like in april

Liver enzymes normal

In July 2025, I repeated the test on my own

HBsAg: 874

Anti-HBs: detected but very low (<2 IU/L, not protective)

HBV DNA: still low

I also started feeling immune symptoms like heat waves, sweating, fatigue.

In September 2025, my last test showed:

HBsAg: 896 (slightly up from July)

Anti-HBs: still <2

Anti-HBc: 524 (still high and stable)

Liver enzymes still normal

My doctor says this may be a chronic infection, since it has been more than 6 months. I feel really down about this. I had hoped for a natural clearance, but my surface antibodies are still very low and not growing, and my surface antigen even went up a little.

I’m waiting for a fibrosis test (scheduled soon) to see if there’s any liver damage. My gastro doctor told me HBV is “manageable” and not a big deal with antivirals, but emotionally it still feels very heavy for me.

I’d like to ask:

Has anyone else had anti-HBs detected (<2 IU/L) but no progress for months? Did it ever grow later?

Is it common for HBsAg to increase slightly even after surface antibodies appear?

How do you cope emotionally with the fear of infecting others and building relationships?

This is my own test that i have done in july

And this is from September as you see my surface antigen even grow a little

Thank you for reading my story. I feel pretty alone with all this, so I’d really appreciate hearing from people who understand

[Bansah1]

Hi @nita_gabriel1,

Welcome to the community. Sorry to hear about the situation. It is normal to experience these emotions; many of us can attest to such feelings. It is hard initially, but over time, you will be able to adapt, therefore reducing the stress. I acknowledge that living with HBV can feel very lonely, but know that you are not alone. There are over 320 million of us in the world, and some of us are also part of this platform. If there is any way we can help, please let us know. If you are comfortable sharing your status with your support group, feel free to do so. It is important to get support as you navigate this process. It can make a difference if you have support. Living in fear of infecting others and relationship difficulties have been discussed in other threads on here. I hope reading around will provide you with some helpful information.

Fear of infecting others,

When/how to disclose hep b in a potential relationship?,

Tips on disclosing hepatitis B in relationships - New CAB Corner Blog Post

Yes, it is possible to have a surface antigen increase since you don’t have enough antibodies to protect you. I hope you can develop antibodies in the next couple of months. We have seen patients who clear the virus after the 6-month window. Being an adult makes it more likely that you can clear it.

Please, take it easy on yourself. Take care, Bansah1.

[ThomasTu]

Dear @nita_gabriel1,

Thanks for sharing your story and sorry to hear about your struggles.

Indeed, physically you’re in a great way: low viral loads and normal liver enzymes are generally associated with good prognosis and limited disease progression. Generally, existing liver damage (which you will find out about after your fibroscan) can be reversed with antivirals if needed.

To answer your questions, it is common for anti-HBs to be detected at low levels during a chronic HBV infection. Usually there is so much HBsAg in the blood compared to the level of antibodies that they are unable to attach to all of the virus proteins.

Regarding infecting others, your low viral load means that this is unlikely to occur in almost all circumstances, apart from something that involves large volumes of body fluid transfer (e.g. blood transfusion). Just to contextualise the risk, no cases of chronic HBV transmission from mother to child during birth has been reported for mothers with a viral load under 20,000 IU/mL - and childbirth is an event with very high potential of bodily fluid transfer.

I also encourage you to read the threads that @Bansah1 has posted for discussion on the topic. I myself just told my now-wife several hours into knowing her about my HBV status and she was fine with it. We have just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary!

Hope this helps,

Thomas

[nita_gabriel1]

Thank you guys for the suport and helping me understand better .

Well the gastro doctor think this is from birth as my liver enzymes looks normal and i have a small viral charge so it is not recent in her opinion

This month i will do some tests for my liver including fibrosis and after I will post my liver tests here

This month i have an apoiment with my internist doctor, and i would like to say to her if i can get antuvirals to get my viral charge to undetectable meby and after start interferon treatment so i can meby make my defense react stronger and kill the virus, as I saw there might be a 20 to 30% change of a cure as I have some surface antibodys already just need more.

Do this happen in old infectons get functional cure with interferon?

[et5656]

Hi @nita_gabriel1 . I also have chronic hepatitis B, likely since birth. I have detectable surface antibodies (around 3 IU/mL) and it has been like that for years. Interferon can result in functional cure, but the side effects are pretty bad, and the functional cure works for less than 10% of patients. I wish it was as high as 20-30%! I mean, interferon has a higher rate of functional cure compared to oral antivirals, or no treatment at all, but it’s not great.

[nita_gabriel1]

Well I was thinking if you reduce the viral load or make it undetectable with antivirals, then by taking interferon it will have a bigger rate of success .

[et5656]

I’m not sure if this is true or not. To achieve a functional cure, we need to stop the production of surface antigen (HBsAg). The current antivirals have no effect on surface antigen production. So I think the most important predictor of success is based on your surface antigen levels before you start treatment. For you, being less than 1000 gives you a higher chance of success than most HBV patients, but I think FC rates of 20-30% are only really realistic for patients starting at <100. Studies have shown that the functional cure rate goes up slightly the longer you take interferon, but many people can’t tolerate the side effects and have to stop after 6 months. My hepatologist also said that people who catch HBV as adults may have a higher chance of functional cure compared to people who are infected since birth. But it’s hard to say for sure how successful the treatment would be for you. It’s probably worth trying if you can get it at low cost (or free) with health insurance or through government healthcare, but I wouldn’t spend my life savings on it.

[nita_gabriel1]

Et5656 are you taking antivirals ?

I mean it is worth it on the long run , no liver problems ,undetectable viral load , no worries of infecting oders , meby able to get functional curre in time even without interferon or other treatment, and when a new therapy come along u can start it right away as you have low viral load or none at all and even meby lower surface antigen with time.

So I m thinking of taking antiviral even if my viral load and surface antigen is low

[et5656]

@nita_gabriel1 yes I am. I’m on TDF (Viread), and I’ve had undetectable HBV DNA for a few years now. It’s ultimately up to you if you want to take antivirals with low viral load. I took them for 3 years when I was younger, and then I stopped. My liver enzymes were normal and viral load stayed low for 5 years after that, but then I had another flare-up and had to start taking them again. I will probably be taking them until I can achieve a functional cure.

I don’t actually think that taking oral antivirals increases the rate of functional cure compared to not taking any medication at all, but you are right that the clinical trials currently taking place are normally done on patients who are on established therapy with antivirals, so when one gets approved, they will almost certainly approve it for people who are already on treatment before they approve it for those who aren’t. For me personally, taking antivirals has helped me worry less about acute flares of liver inflammation, and I also worry a lot less about accidentally infecting others.

[nita_gabriel1]

Well , my mother just got tested and she has vaccine antibodys so i didn’t got the infection from her, I had my vaccine in school so i dont relly know how this happened

Yesterday i did my ecograf for my liver , all good ,still need to do some more tests

So I do think this is more recent if the liver fibrosis scan turn good to it has to be more recent , will see …

[Hf334]

Hi, I’m also chronic hep b. I’m 30 years old female. The doctor didn’t give me any antiviral even though my DNA viral load was very high.

This disease has effected my mental strength. The world doesn’t care about it enough to resolve it but it’s called life threatening and people treat it as tabu or someone with AIDS.

[Bansah1]

Hi @Hf334,
Welcome to the community. We are glad you found us. I am sorry to hear about your situation. Some doctors assume the treatment guidelines are set in stone and are reluctant to treat patients. This should not be the case. The guidelines are in place to help them make these decisions. If you believe you meet the requirements to be treated, please have this conversation with your doctor. On a side note, not every patient with chronic hepatitis B will require treatment after diagnosis.

I am sorry to hear how people treat you. Stigma, in my opinion, is born out of ignorance. We need to do a better job in educating people. Keep us posted.
Bansah1

[nita_gabriel1]

I m sorry to hear that hf334

I think you should go and try another doctor and see if it will help you more

I to told my gastro doctor i would like to try interferon and she says it is an old drug with low chances ,as she thinks i have hepatitis from birth or long time ,so i dont think she want me on it. But my internist doctor is not that sure i have it from a long time

But i will go for another opinion, next week i have an apoiment with my family doctor and i want her to make me an apoiment with a hepatologist and see if i have better luck there ,as it seems i dont have hepatitis from birth and it might be more recent as the liver tests looks good it shows is not that old infection and meby they will prescribe me interferon even if the chances are low I still want to try it , so even if in the end i might not get the treatment i will still do my best to get it

So the moral of the story dont give up if one doctor wont help you go for another opinion and another till you find help and dont let the illness control you

Take care

[Caraline]

Welcome @Hf334

HepB does effect our mental health. Be strong and courageous.

The world does care about this disease. They have been working on a cure for decades. Just haven’t found it yet. Maybe soon.

I’ve had the disease for 40+ years. Had three children and a healthy life taking one pill a day for around seven years, when my levels skyrocketed.

I’m so thankful for this group that have given me the knowledge and compassion when needed during my mental distress.
Because mental distress is part of the HepB journey and we must fight it. Only we can do this.

We are here for you.

[nita_gabriel1]

My new test just come up .

What do you think?

The blue number is my virus load 3 months ago aprox

As a comparison to my early test that I made in early August that i posted on this tread earlyer on this post

[nita_gabriel1]

I will like to add my test from April

So in april my surface antigen was 1513, core antibodys 7

In august surface antigen was 893 and the viral load 286, core antibodys 5.23

And in October the surface antigen is 56 and viral load 218, core antibodys 5.71

This test is from April

[et5656]

Wow! 56 is very low! Are you taking interferon, or did it go down naturally?

[ThomasTu]

Hi @nita_gabriel1,

Your HBsAg going consistently down is a good sign. Best to keep monitoring to see if it moves further as time goes on!

Cheers,

Thomas

[nita_gabriel1]

I dont take interferon or eny other medicine.

And I do think is a recent infection as my defense still working, slow as the 6 months period have past and it should be cronic by now But I still hope that I might get to functional cure in the next months.

And ty Thomas