Hi, I am a 23 year old male who has just been diagnosed with inactive chronic hepatitis B. I had started experiencing symptoms in May and have been diagnosed this August. My doctor said that my viral load is very low and that I have no damage to my liver. I am uncertain how I became exposed seeing that I have one dedicated parter. Shortly after testing positive, my parter was tested and came back negative thankfully and as of today is vaccinated! She has been very supportive these past few months and it means the world to me. I have questions on what being an inactive carrier really means for me and my relationship. I currently still feel discomfort in my liver and wonder if that is normal as well. I look forward to reading everyone’s responses, thank you.
I personally don’t like the term “inactive carrier” because I think it implies that the infection is somehow resolved, which isn’t the case. But in a practical sense, it means that your viral load is low and you don’t have ongoing liver damage. It’s not clear to me why you still have symptoms in this phase. I’m curious, what tests have you had for hepatitis B? Have you had an ultrasound or Fibroscan? Also, have you had testing done for other causes of liver disease, like hepatitis C or D? Glad to hear your partner has been vaccinated!
Hi @ Tyler hamonbusta
Welcome to hepbcommunity forum. Thank you for sharing your hepatitis B story. As you have question about inactive carrier, we don’t currently use the term “ carrier” which had been used as an inappropriately term in the past as et5656 has mentioned.
Chronic hepatitis B(CHB) is a chronic dynamic and complex disease and has fluctuating course during natural history of disease that require monitoring in the affected patients. Inactive carrier means that you are in the stage of chronic HBV infection with no active disease for a period of time or maybe forever in your lifetime. So, there is no true inactive carrier and the clinical phases depend on interaction between host immune response and viral replicating activity.
If you think that you are in an inactive HBV carrier state, you may not pay careful attention about your liver health and don’t have regularly routine check up for your disease status. You should take care of your liver health by eating a healthy diet especially avoid fructose or sugar added diet , exercise regularly ,get enough sleep ,stop smoking and drinking. If you can do these healthy behaviors, you will avoid long-term complications from chronic hepatitis B infection. I hope this may help you .
chul_chan
Chulapong Chanta. MD . Pediatrics
Welcome @hamonbusta
I would like to add to @chul_chan and @et5656 even though you may feel well it’s important to get 6 monthly bloodwork and ultrasounds. Your liver could be getting damaged without you knowing.