Welcome @Angel ! Glad that you have found this community. I’m sorry to hear about your mother and sister, but glad to hear that your kids were vaccinated at birth. It’s important to get ongoing medical checkups for chronic hepatitis B, even if you feel healthy, because people often have liver inflammation for years without experiencing any symptoms. This takes its toll on the liver, and for many people, by the time symptoms start, the damage is often irreversible. The good news is that there are very effective treatments available that can slow the progression of the disease, but you need to be connected to care to find out if you’re a suitable candidate for the treatment.
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Hi everyone, I’m Anthony. I live in the US. I learned about my chronic hep. B in 2021 just by accident. I was actually vaccinated against it in 2004 so I suppose I actually had it before getting the vaccine. Neither of my parents seem to have it. Nevertheless, I’ve somewhat made peace with the fact I have it. Dropped all alcohol after learning the news so at least there’s some positive right? I’m so grateful there’s this amazing community providing support for everyone. Thank you for all for being here.
I have some questions regarding my current situation so I’ll make a post later about that. I’d love to hear second opinions on what my doctor said and my lab results.
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Welcome @JJT22
Thanks for sharing your story. I love your positive attitude, acceptance. Can be hard if we have little knowledge.
Wonderful you have given up drinking. Best thing for our liver. Not an easy thing to do. Depending on what your friends are doing. Seems to be more acceptable now days. Thank goodness.
Would love to help with your results. You didn’t post them.
Thanks for the kind words too. We are all here to help each other.
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Hi everyone,
I’m Maja, 35, from Poland. I found out I have chronic hepatitis B just recently while trying to conceive. It was a huge shock (I was vaccinated when I was 13) and honestly heartbreaking at first. My doctor says I’m an inactive carrier — HBeAg negative, anti-HBe positive, and my viral load is only 126 IU/mL.
My latest elastography showed 9.84 kPa, which suggests advanced scarring (possibly F3), but all my blood tests — ALT, AST, platelets, and others — are within the normal range. I’m slim, active, eat healthy, and stopped drinking completely since started trying to have a baby.
I most likely got infected as a baby during a hospital stay, and I’m still learning how to live with this condition.
I’m incredibly grateful for this community — reading your stories gives me hope and strength. I truly support everyone here going through the same journey 
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Hi everyone,
I’m from the U.S. My mother was diagnosed with chronic Hep B last year and had to undergo treatment for HCC earlier this year. It was a very scary and stressful time, but my mom is doing much better now.
As a precaution, I decided to get tested for Hepatitis B even though I received the vaccine as a baby. I’m glad I did because my doctor informed me just last week that I also have chronic Hepatitis B. I am in my 30s and it’s frustrating to know not how long I’ve had it for.
I’ve been feeling very anxious and tired ever since the news. I’m (impatiently) awaiting additional tests to learn about the state of my liver and whether I have other hepatitis infections. As someone who’s been physically healthy their whole life, I’m grieving that part of me as I come to terms with this diagnosis. Sleep has been restless. I’m just trying to get through the next few weeks as normally as I can until I have more answers.
Thank you Thomas for holding space for this community to come together and support one another.
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Hi @JJT22,
I join @Caraline in welcoming you to the community. Removing alcohol from your life is a big step, and I hope you feel proud of making that decision. We all have to make some changes after diagnosis.
We will be glad to provide you with our candid opinions. Best, Bansah1
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Hi @turtleshell,
I am sorry to hear about your situation. Moreover, I am glad to hear that your mother is doing well. I bet it’s been a stressful few months for both of you. What you’re feeling and your reactions are normal immediately after diagnosis. We all can empathize and understand that feeling of not being sure of what happened or how or why. It can feel lonely, isolated, and challenging. But it does get better over time as we can adapt better with HBV. Are you able to talk to your mother or someone about how you are feeling? If you can, please do so. Use all the support you can get. They do help.
Mother-to-child transmission is the main way many of us living with HBV got it. Some of us, our mothers were never tested when they were pregnant, so they were not even aware they had HBV.
Please try taking a deep breath and don’t be too hard on yourself. You will get through this. You are not alone; we are here to support you throughout this process. I hope you feel better and can sleep. We all need that good night of sleep. Hang in there, you will get through this phase. Bansah1
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Hello @Caraline and @Bansah1! Thank you for the warm welcome! It’s reassuring to have such supportive people around.
And Caraline I made the post on a separate thread. Check it out sometime, I’d love to hear more opinions:
https://www.hepbcommunity.org/t/explainer-lab-results-and-their-interpretation/27/1376?u=jjt22
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Hello @Maja
Thanks for sharing.
Many don’t know where we got this disease and can only guess.
Would have been a bit of a surprise since you were vaccinated!
Are you seeing a doctor for HBV?
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Thank you so much for your empathy and encouraging words @Bansah1. It truly means so much to receive your response. It’s a huge relief to hear that what I’m feeling is normal and that I’ll learn to manage this with time. I will be gentle with myself.
Feelings are not often shared openly with my parents since they will just say “don’t worry” but I have an amazing spouse and a wonderful group of friends that I can lean on, and this community of course! Sending warm wishes to you. And yes, a good night sleep for all of us!!
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Hi @Caraline,
Yes, it was quite a surprise for me, especially since I was vaccinated. My doctor believes I was infected as a baby, probably during a hospital stay when I was around 3 months old. I’m now under care at a hepatology center, and my hepatitis B is in the inactive carrier phase with very low viral load.
I’m really grateful for this community — it’s comforting to know we’re not alone in this journey.
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Hi @turtleshell,
Reading your post really resonated with me. I’m so sorry to hear about what your mum went through — I can only imagine how difficult that must have been for both of you. I’m really glad she’s doing better now.
I also found out about my chronic Hep B only a month ago, completely unexpectedly while trying to have a baby. It was such a shock, and I remember feeling devastated and terrified. I’ve since done a lot of tests and learned that my liver stiffness is around F3, which was very hard to accept because I’ve always seen myself as a healthy person.
I’m trying to stay positive, though it’s not easy (especially since I’m quite the hypochondriac 
). I’m planning to see a psychologist next week to help me cope and find a bit more peace.
You’re definitely not alone — I think many of us are still processing the shock, grief, and uncertainty that come with this diagnosis. It’s comforting to have this community where we can share openly and support one another. 
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@Maja Thank you so much for your empathy, it truly means so much. I am really sorry to hear about what you’re going through, too. It must have felt so jarring to have a journey as beautiful and exciting as family forming to be interrupted by this news. I hope the psychologist is able to provide the support that you need. It’s really amazing that you are taking steps toward taking care of your emotional and mental wellbeing. You deserve it! 
I’m right there with you, grieving and letting go of an identity can feel like death in of itself. I’m trying to remind myself that I’m still the same person and this doesn’t have to define who I am. We got this! 
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Dear @turtleshell @Maja @JJT22 @Angel and @Sammie_J ,
Welcome to all of you to the community, thank you for sharing your stories and your great, proactive, and uplifting outlook. Thank you for joining this group and lifting each other up through your struggles. It’s so rewarding to see such a supportive space being driven by the community. Thank you so much!
Thomas
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Hi everyone, Thank you all for setting up and engaging with this forum. I got to know that I am a carrier of the HBV during a routine screening almost 3 decades ago. For many years my result was : HBsAg positive , HBeAg negative, Fibroscan, ALT , AST within normal values and the viral load was always <10 - 400iu/ml .
However, few days after the first dose of the Covid vaccine (2021), there was a significant change in viral load 1570iu/ml which later gradually returned to pre-vaccination value <10iu/ml after about three months without antiviral treatment
About a month ago, the viral load result was 680iu/ml.
Please does anyone experience same flare following covid -19 vaccination- could there be a correlation between the covid vaccine and the transient change in viral load?. I am very concerned as the rise in viral load has serious implication on my job and ability to perform exposure prone procedures ( The expected viral load for exposure prone procedure in my jurisdiction is <200iu/ml).
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Hi @Kassimo,
I am sorry to hear about your situation. We all experience flare-ups from time to time, which does cause an increase in viral load. Then, when the flare-up is over, the numbers return to their original figures. I doubt the COVID-19 vaccine is the cause. I say this because I received the vaccine as well, and probably many patients on here, and I never experienced what you did. If a correlation exists, this result should also be observed in other HBV patients.
Our immune system goes through changes all the time. A simple cold or flu can change your immune system for a period. While I doubt it is the vaccines, flare-ups, and other health problems can cause such increases ( such as fatty liver or some other infection). A viral load of 680iu/ml is still considered low with a lower risk of infecting others.
This is just my opinion as a fellow patient. I hope it helps. Bansah1
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Thank you so much for your response. Much appreciated
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Hi @Kassimo,
Acute alterations of the immune response (e.g., vaccination as you form antibodies against the bits of virus in the jab or another virus infection) which could have downstream effects on Hep B. Please see this other thread where we discuss it in a bit more detail: A routine seasonal cold led to decreased levels of HBV DNA and HBsAg
Hope this helps,
Thomas
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Thanks Thomas…I posted my observation on the thread you suggested.
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