INTRODUCTION THREAD: People affected by Hep B

[ThomasTu]

@Maria_ivanova

Hello! My name is Maria, I am from Russia, but since 2017 I have been living in Greece. I learned about the diagnosis two months ago, when I took tests for the IVF procedure. I never did drugs or got tattoos. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. my lifestyle is more than correct. At the age of 8 I was vaccinated with three doses. in 2017 I took the test for a student visa. he was negative. After that, I only visited the dentist, where I had to have two implants installed. this was in 2022 and 2023. in fact, I visit him regularly) I have already passed some tests, hbeag is negative, the viral load is 2140 iu/ml. I’m trying to get out of depression, but I’m not doing well. An ultrasound showed that the liver was healthy. Thank you very much that there is this forum where you can share your experiences and be sure that you will be understood.

Welcome to the forum, @Maria_ivanova. Sorry to hear about your struggles with your diagnosis. It’s a good sign that your liver is looking healthy and that your viral load is relatively low. People with your results are generally fairly stable and do not often progress quickly to liver disease. However it is important to maintain appropriate monitoring (tests every 6 months) to determine if your status changes. I hope this community helps you get through this tough period and please keep us up to date with events in your life.

@Kingzy

Hi everyone!
My name is Kingsley and I am a Nigerian.
Am glad I found this community. This community give me more information and encouragement than I use to get from my doctor.
I was diagnosed of Chronic hepB in 2018. I was placed on Tenofovir and livolin. I continued using the drug till 2020 when I stopped using the drug due to financial challenges( no health insurance and no job because I was still a student).
Now I want to resume treatment again, my doctor said I shouldn’t have stopped treatment. However, she said I am going to start treatment afresh, she requested I do my viral load and liver function again. My ultrasound scan result showed that my liver is mildly enlarged while every other thing is normal. My viral load and liver function test results are not done yet.
Now, my concerns and fears are whether the liver is going to get better again once I resume treatment. She has not recommended any drug for me yet. She said until the viral load result is out and it takes a minimum of 2weeks here to obtain the result.
I also want to know if there is a foundation that help people living with hepB in getting drugs because I am not financially bouyant to continue to Carter for my drug( I am a recent graduate but not working yet. My family is also not bouyant)

I am always afraid of dying due to this infection and my fear spikes each time I hear that someone died and their death is connected to HepB virus

Dear @Kingzy, welcome to the community and thank you for your kind words.

I’m also sad to hear about your struggles. There are specific thread for people living in Nigeria that may be able to help:

• Hepatitis B in Nigeria: discussion thread (I beleive they have a whatsapp group)
• Advocacy or help for people with Hep B in Nigeria
• Support Group For Nigerians - #31 by Olacable

There are several foundations in Nigeria too, if you search here by country: Member listings - World Hepatitis Alliance.

Regarding recovery after treatment, most people with liver damage stop progressing and even reverse their liver damage over time with long-term antiviral treatment (Can F2-F3 fibrosis be reversed, Fibrosis of the liver)

Hope this helps,
Thomas