I see, glad that is not likely to be the case here. Wish you and your mother all the best as things proceed.
Thomas
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Hi Kim
I am happy for you to have cleared hep b virus. Count yourself as a lucky one.
You have directed your question to@Thomas but I hope it doesn’t hurt to have others opinions. Moreover, your question is social psychological and probably ethical more than medical since you’re no longer infectious.
Now, should you tell your future spouse that you once had hep b? This will depend on what you intend to achieve or say the importance of this revelation in your relationship. According to me, it’s like giving a brief summary of your life to your spouse before you met including your relationships
Sorry, I couldn’t tell you more.
Regards
Kinoti.
Dear @KIM,
Welcome to the forum and thanks for your question.
If you have resolved your HBV infection (HBsAg-negative HBV DNA-negative), the risk of transmission is practically zero. It is your choice whether to talk to them about your past HBV infection, but they are not at any appreciable risk of HBV infection from you.
Hope that helps,
Thomas
Hello everyone, I’m 26 year old and currently 16 weeks pregnant. I live in the US. I got tested positive with Hep B. My GI specialist wants to start on Viread right away as he assure me it is safe during pregnancy. I also got my liver ultrasound and he confirmed it looks good. To be honest, I have never been this scared in my life now that I am carrying another human being. I don’t know how the future will look like. He also told me that I might need to take this med for the rest of my life. Thank you everyone and nice to meet you all!
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Dear Olive, thanks so much for posting and welcome to hepBcommunity.org. So glad you found us! Congratulations on your pregnancy. How exciting! With that said, not only do you have the “stress” of pregnancy, I am sorry that you just learned that you have hep b. But please know that this condition should not have any impact on your pregnancy. It’s a liver infection but doesn’t interfere with the growth and development of your new baby. I was diagnosed over 30 years ago and successfully had 2 children without any complications during pregnancy or delivery. There are several things that you should be aware of going forward.
First, starting Viread is generally recommended in the 3rd trimester unless your blood lab tests are really concerning to your doctor. Studies show that it’s safe for the newborn in the 3rd trimester. The goal of starting this antiviral is to reduce the level of virus in your body to decrease the risk of transmitting the virus to your newborn during pregnancy and/or delivery. Research definitively shows that the lower the viral load, the lower the chance of transmitting the virus.
Second, it is vitally important that after your baby is born he or she should receive two shots in the delivery room: the first dose of the hep b vaccine and one dose of HBIG (hep b immunoglobulin). Ideally, these 2 shots should be given in the delivery room since time is of the essence and you don’t want the shots to be delayed beyond the first 12 hours after delivery. If your baby is given these two shots within the 12-hour time frame (immediately after birth is absolutely the best), then the risk of transmitting the virus is more than 90%. If these 2 shots are NOT given within the first 12-24 hours of life, then there is a greater than 90% risk of your baby being infected and developing chronic hep b. This is entirely preventable!! The Hepatitis B Foundation has excellent information on its Pregnancy and Hepatitis B pages that you can check out.
Finally, the best advice I can give as a woman living with hep b and mother of two healthy, happy and successful adult children, is to know that hep b is manageable with treatments and preventable with the hep b vaccine. Educate yourself and become comfortable with the facts. Finding this forum is a wonderful step in the right direction. There are many women who have given birth to children who can reassure you that living with hep b will not prevent you from a healthy pregnancy and healthy babies!! Always, Joan
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Hey Joan,
I’m so glad that I found this support group because I felt so alone in this journey. I think my doctor wanted me to start right away because my blood test really concerning him. I have confirmed with my OB that it should be safe for me to start on the medication. It’s helpful to know I can protect my baby from this disease. Thank you again for your email and your story really inspired me!
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Hi Fanawole. Is it possible we chat privately?
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Jane , Not long I figured out about mine . I have learned to live with
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Hi Tim.
Welcome to the community. You can still have a family and live a happy and normal life like me and somebody like Thomas. I hope you will find the support you need in the community.
Regards
Kinoti.
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We have to be positive and live with this till a cure is found…weldone Tim
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Thank you Kinoti . I hope so
Welcome to all the new members to the community and thank you for sharing your stories.
@Olive: I join @Joan_Block in congratulating you on your pregnancy and sorry to hear the stress you are under. As the mentioned, the good thing about this situation is that you learnt of this before putting your child at risk and you can reduce the risk of transmission.
@Tim: I am glad you are finding strategies to move forward and living with the condition. I want to say that many people with Hepatitis B have successfully started their own families despite their condition (including many on this forum). I would not give up hope, it is possible.
Thomas
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Thank you , Thomas . Nice to be part of this community
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Thanks Olive for your message and please keep us posted. Remember, the most important thing is to protect your newborn in the delivery room with the first dose of the hep b vaccine and one dose of HBIG. These 2 meds can be ordered in advance so they’re available when you go into labor. Best wishes and enjoy your pregnancy!! Always, Joan
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Ok, no problem
You can drop your WhatsApp number
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Hi everyone,
If one chooses to use condoms as added protection from HBV during pregnancy. Please i will love to know from the health experts in the forum, if it is safe to use lubricated natural rubber latex condoms during pregnancy. Are they any risks of chemicals getting to the baby.
Thanks and regards.
Hello all. I do want to start off by saying thank you to those who started this community and also all the members that put effort in the discussions!
Sooo, my name is Tina! And I am really here on behalf of my dad as he doesn’t really speak English (he’s Vietnamese)! I’m here because mainly I have been super concerned for my dad ever since I read his MRI results online on Friday, March 25th, 2022. I, as his daughter, never knew what Hep B really was (he is chronic). I was never really educated on that growing up nor my dad really talk to me about it. I am guessing he wasn’t really educated either? But right now, because of it— I feel like I’ve failed my dad.
I don’t think my dad knows any better at the doctor’s office to ask questions or clearly understand. Which I don’t blame him at all! There was one time I did went to one of his appointments at his gastroenterologist. I believe it was back in 2014-15? I remember the doctor mentioned he did have Hep B and that he was a carrier. And told him to cut off drinking. That’s pretty much all I remembered. No mention of treatment or anything. I didn’t really think nothing of it as I saw my dad was completely fine. Fast forward to now, I have been reading his results and I want to be more proactive in my dad’s health. He’s 49 years old and on his MRI results, I saw that these findings:
—mild/early morphological changes of chronic liver disease
—single 3.1cm within segment 5 of the right hepatic lobe. Highly suspicious of HCC
Although not 100% confirmed. I was still pretty much crushed as I have looked online and just tried to find actual facts and information on if HBV was a huge risk factor of HCC. A lot of information went straight to it being true. I was even more crushed. I’m trying so hard to be optimistic. Is this some death sentence?! I really don’t want to lose my dad. He’s still so young and I love him so much. I’m trying so hard to maintain myself. I do want to mention he did drink casually. Like social drinking. I told him to “cold turkey” (stop instantly) it completely and he agrees after he saw me crying like crazy. He agree to eat much healthier also.
First thing I did in the morning was called the doctors office and they said the doctor will call me back tomorrow. So I am just filled with anxiety waiting on tomorrow. I’m sorry everyone for being lengthy. I just needed to, I guess, somewhat vent and not feel alone. And be here for my dad. Again, I feel horrible not learning about this and not being there fully for my dad. I will now though.
I always thought my dad—parents in general— were invincible.
I’m grateful this community exist! Thank you to those that made this happen!
Thank you again, everyone. I wish everyone great health!
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Hi Tina,
I am not an expert, so I will leave that type of response to the experts. As a member of this community however, I just wanted to say, “Wow! What a heartfelt story.” Your dad is lucky to have you and that you are such a dedicated and caring daughter that is willing to advocate for him and encourage him to live a better lifestyle.
Welcome to this community and I am sure you will find a lot of information and answers to some of the medical and scientific questions you have now and will have after speaking to your dad’s doctor. You will also find good questions to ask his doctor within the information available on this community’s forums.
I am glad your father has you to advocate for him with his doctor and I hope you will experience support and comfort from the members of this community that you are now a part of.
Sincerely,
Paul
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Hi Tina
I agree with Paul that your dad must be very lucky to have you as a daughter. I am 48yrs therefore one year younger your father so resonate very well with him and you as my daughter.
Your story portid a daughter who can have a candid chart with the father since you made him stop alcohol. If this is so, I would think the best place you would have started was talking to him on the report to find out what he knows.
Kinoti
I do have a concern with regard to studying and working as a nurse in Australia.
I received a scholarship from Australia to study nursing there. However, way back in 2017, I found out that I have a hepa b, my medical stated it was “reactive”. Will I be declined if I apply for VISA? If yes, what must I do so I could still pursue studying nursing in Australia?
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