New diagnosis but old carrier

Introduction/Orientation
#1

Hi my name is Iris and I’m from Hong Kong, 33 years old. I was told that I had liver disease when I was 3 and I didn’t pay attention to it as I was too young and there was no any report regarding to the disease( I born in a small village in China, then immigrated to HK when I was 8). My parents are not educated… I even got 3 doses of Hep B vaccine when I was around 10 in primary school.

Recently, thinking that I am not young anymore, I went to do body check and found out I’m actually a Hep B carrier. I spent 3 days to accept that and tried to Google lots of relavent information…but then I become more panic, until I found this community, I feel much released. I maintain a very healthy lifestyle, healthy diet with regular workout. I don’t remember anything happened when I was 3, but I have no any symptoms since I have conscious.

My condition now in brief: HBsAg +, HBV DNA -(less than 10 IU/ml), HbeAg -, ultra sound result shows that my liver is healthy.

I have 2 questions and I hope to hear your comment. I’m still on my way to learn the indicators.

  1. My HbsAb is 9.8 IU/L nearly +, does it mean that my body is still fighting and recovering?

  2. My ex partner had sex with me without protection, I have asked him to do blood test as soon as I knew the Hep B. He told me that he is vaccinated. We only dated for few months so it’s very hard for me to follow up his situation…based on my condition, does he have high chance to be infected?

Appreciate your sharing :pray:t6:

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#2

Dear @Iris_Y,

Thanks for sharing your story and welcome to the forum.

Regarding your results, I’m not quite familiar with them. Are you sure they are “AbsAb”, “ABsAg”, and “AbeAg”? If they are HBsAb, HBsAg and HBeAg, those are more familiar to me. Generally HBsAg is not positive when HBsAb is so high, so it’s hard to tell what’s going on.

Regarding your second question, if they were vaccinated, there is a good chance that they were protected. Female to male transmission during sex is also less risky, as described by the Hepatitis B foundation.

Hope these help,
Thomas

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#3

Dear Thomas

Thanks so much for your reply. :pray:t6:Sorry that I made mistake of the terms, they should be HBsAg, HbsAb and HbeAg. I have edited the post.

Iris

#4

Dear Iris thank you for sharing your story. So glad that you were able to find the hepbcommunity.org forum to help answer your questions and provide support in your new journey of living with hep b. Please be reassured that you can expect to live a long and healthy life since you’re already practicing healthy habits. And your liver seems to be in good health. The most important advice is to make sure you see a doctor who is knowledgable about managing hep b on a regular basis. Here in the U.S. it’s recommended to see a doctor for a physical, blood tests and ultrasound every 6 months! But some doctors are ok with seeing their patients once a year, especially if they’re not on treatment or at high-risk of developing liver cancer. You might want to find out if any of your relatives died of liver cirrhosis or liver cancer? That’s an important piece of family history to share with your doctor.

As someone who is 63 years old, I’ve been fortunate to be happily married for 35 years with 2 grown children and 2 grandchildren. My pregnancies were easy and having hep b did not affect me at all. So rest assured you should want to get married and have kids at some time. Hep b should not stop you in any way from achieving your goals. Always, Joan

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#5

Joan, I just want to say “I love you”. During the most helpless moment, the universe guided me to this community and I have seen you and Thomas shared your experience and knowledge to light up the others, what you are doing is very beautiful and means a lot to people like me.

I will listen to your suggestion, to find a good doctor :slight_smile: and to live a healthy and happy life. I believe, if he is a right one, he will not give up me because of Hep B. Living with the virus for 30 years and I am super healthy, it’s kind of amazing to think of. I even did 100KM trailwalk and full marathon!!

Instead of crying and complaining about my situation, I realize it is better to stay positive and appreciate what I have. My liver has been doing a great job and I love it :relieved:

Thanks so much,
Iris

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#6

Dear Iris, thank you for your lovely message. I can tell already that you have a positive attitude towards life and that will help you stay healthy for a lifetime. With or without hep b. Turning any adversity in life into an opportunity - in you case being even more committed to practicing a healthy lifestyle because of hep - means you’ll live a happier and longer life. Please keep posting! We need your perspective and positivity … always, Joan

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#7

Hi Iris,

My case is very similar to yours. When I was 4-5 years old my HBsAG came positive. Doctors referred me to a city hospital which declared that I was not positive and hence my parents never bothered to have me tested again. I was not aware of it until I got tested again before some operative process and came out positive.

Now I wonder if my parents deliberately didnt tell me so I could have a normal life or I was really negative at the time but became positive later. We were not very well to do economically at the time.

My spouse and kid are both negative and they live a very healthy life. If your partner was vacinated mostly he would be negative. After my diagnosis my doctor suggested for entire family to test for HBsAB and if the level was less than 10 IU/ml get 3 doses of the vaccine again in an interval of 30 days.

Maybe you should ask your partner to do so too. In my family there was a general apprehension to get tested and hence I had to push them to do it.

Hope it helps. Cheers!

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#8

Dear @CGNepal

Thanks so much for the sharing, it means a lot to me. Knowing how to protect the partner also how to disclose the hep B situation encourage me to pursue a normal life. I hope one day I can have my own family like you do :slight_smile:

Iris

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