Ive Got Hepititus B Whilst Here In Thailand

[dmax]

it started 10 days ago, aching limbs,dizzyness,nausea,sweating,vomiting so i went to local hospital in isaan , the doctor took blood tests, then he handed me a note with 3 things listed alcoholism/ hep b positive / jaundice/ it is now 10 days on and i have white stools, very brown urine, poisonous taste coming up as bile, slight pain in liver area whilst urinating, yellow eyes and skin , itchiness on skin, slight water retention in fingers hands but not in abdominal area.

now i need advice as the doctor in isaan did not speak any english, i do not know how i got hepititus b , i have been drinking heavily sinse 2 years now non stop more or less, beer only !! i have had unprotected sex only one time with an x girlfriend of mine 6 months ago, could i have contacted it through her or mosquitoe bites or could i have contacted hep b just because i have been drinking heavy ? also i dont know if i am a carrier ? how long i have had it ? if i have sorroccis of liver or not ?

i did manage to get a little bit of info off the doc who said it was virile hep b acute ( whatever that means ) what should i do now ? and can i drink say 4-5 beers per week ? will that do me damage ?

thanks in advance for your advice:unsure:

[Jingthing]

I am sure you will get some good medical advice here, but my understanding is that you are in for the need to rest for perhaps several weeks.

You didn't get it from a mosquito or eating or drinking.

http://www.hepb.org/hepb/transmission.htm

For others reading this there is a Hep A vaccine that most every sexually active person should get, and also a Hep B vaccine for those at high risk for Hep B.

[bangkockney]

You need medication to fight Hep B. Have you been prescribed any by your Doctor up-country?

If not, get yourself to a decent hospital sharpish. My friend contracted Hep B, ignored it and ended up in hospital for 4 weeks....

[Jingthing]

You need medication to fight Hep B. Have you been prescribed any by your Doctor up-country?

If not, get yourself to a decent hospital sharpish. My friend contracted Hep B, ignored it and ended up in hospital for 4 weeks....

Not necessarily at all.

OP, don't freak out reading this. The chances are small you will have these kinds of serious complications, but you do need continued medical attention to monitor the disease process.

What medications are used to treat hepatitis B?

Acute infection

Acute infection with hepatitis B usually does not require treatment. In rare cases, however, the infection may cause life-threatening liver failure. Patients with liver failure due to acute hepatitis B should be evaluated for liver transplantation. Small studies suggest that the drug lamivudine (Epivir) may be effective in this setting.

http://www.medicinenet.com/hepatitis_b/page6.htm#medications

[FBN]

The incubation period for Hep B is 60 - 90 days and the transmission is primarily blood- or sexual contact. It is many more times infectious than HIV. Most people who do get Hep B has very few symptoms and very often no jaundice (30 - 50%) but more severe forms can happen due to underlying liver disease such as cirrhosis or Hep C.

The blood tests during different stages of the disease also change; at this point, you should have a positive Hep B S Ag (Hep B surface antigen); immunity will be indicated by a negative Hep BsAg but a positive Hep Bs Ab (antibody). For a full explanation on Hep B look at this article: http://www.medicinenet.com/hepatitis_b/article.htm

Critical at this point for you is to avoid alcohol completely; reduce protein in your diet and take adequate doses of Vitamins B and C.

Monitor liver functions with blood tests.

Blood tests that will show immune status will only be positive after 2 - 6 weeks.

Hep A is a food borne disease and there is no carrier status in this condition so you can only get Hep A from someone during an incubation period or someone shedding the virus during the incubation period while having subclinical disease.

Good Luck..

[kermitzkitchen]

Dmax Hep B while commonly transmitted through sex, needles etc. can actually in some cases be transmitted through eating and drinking, while very uncommon it can occur through using the same unwashed eating utensil thats been in a carriers mouth and one social custom that is a regular sight in isaan is through the shared glass when drinking. While the chances of contracting Hep B in one of these occasions is extremely low, it does happen. jingthing's posted link is a start and the internet is full of information regarding to Hep B. If your circumstances permit why not get yourself to Udon or Khon Kaen where you can talk to English speaking doctors and get some clarity on your worries, if not for better medical knowledge, just for peace of mind.

[Jingthing]

Yeah that is true, you can get it by sharing utensils (and of course toothbrushes) with an infected person.

[sarahsbloke]

Sorry to hear that Dmax

Hep B and herpes are rife among sex workers, condoms provide limited protection for Hep B and almost none for Herpes.

But you are unlikely to die from either, fairly easy to manage with drugs, but not cure.

TB and HIV are also around to a lesser extent

HIV is luckily very hard to catch (even if you are daft enough to not use a condom)

TB is hard to catch but sharing plates and utensils will do it in the end.

Sorry this advice is too late for you.

Always get your woman tested before you move in.

If we play the game long enough ...........

Edited October 12, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[bangkockney]

You need medication to fight Hep B. Have you been prescribed any by your Doctor up-country?

If not, get yourself to a decent hospital sharpish. My friend contracted Hep B, ignored it and ended up in hospital for 4 weeks....

Not necessarily at all.

OP, don't freak out reading this. The chances are small you will have these kinds of serious complications, but you do need continued medical attention to monitor the disease process.

What medications are used to treat hepatitis B?

Acute infection

Acute infection with hepatitis B usually does not require treatment. In rare cases, however, the infection may cause life-threatening liver failure. Patients with liver failure due to acute hepatitis B should be evaluated for liver transplantation. Small studies suggest that the drug lamivudine (Epivir) may be effective in this setting.

http://www.medicinen...htm#medications

You would not consider the worseining symptons the OP has described as potentially chronic? Between 2% and 10% of individuals infected as adults will become chronic carriers, which means they will be infectious to others and can develop chronic liver damage.

If it were me, I'd be straight to a hospital where everything could be explained in English. You'd also expect to see a specialist who would run further tests and may even do a liver biopsy (liver pains reported by OP).

Given the OP has openly reported years of heavy drinking, it makes sense to err on the side of caution, in my opinion.

[Jingthing]

I am not a doctor. I said very clearly seek good medical care.

[Scully]

Are you sure it is Hep B and not just hepititus which can be caused by severe alcohol intake?

[Sheryl]

Scully: Hepatitis B is easily and specifically diagnosed They would not have confused it with another type of hepatitis. And one does not get hepatitis from drinking. Cirrhosis and hepatic damnage yes, infectious hepatitis no. It is due to a viral infection.

JingThing: Hepatitis B cannot be transmitted in the ways you describe. Hepatitis A and E yes; C, rarely, B, no.

The mode of transmission of Hep B is the same as for HIV.

highly infectious of the two viruses. It is also more prevalent in the general population of Thailand/other SE Asian countries. Many people have a chronic carrier form of the disease. While sex workers have even higher rates of it than others, quite a number of ordinary Thai women not "in the business" are also, unknown to themselves, Hep B carriers. Which is why the Thai government, at considerable expense, immunizes all newborns against Hep B.

Given the history of unprotected sex 6 months prior, that is the most likely source of this poster's infection.

Anyone who comes to this part of the world, does not get the Hep B vaccine, does not always use condoms and has sex with locals, regardless of whether these are sex workers or not, stands an excellent chance of getting Hep B.

It can be prevented by vaccination.

[Jingthing]

Sheryl's the expert but I still think Hep B can be transmitted through blood to blood contact, and sharing toothbrushes could do that as well as razors etc., sharing eating utensils, that is different, blood to blood contact would be seemingly very remote possibility.

http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehsphl/factsheet/hbvweb.htm

# Do not share razors, toothbrushes, nail care devices, or any other personal items that might have your blood on them

This is interesting, kind of ambiguous --

. Transmission can also occur for people living together for a long time in the same household or institution.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Jingthing

[bina]

sheryl, u forgot monkeys. anyone working with certain breeds of monkeys or handles monkeys aslo must be heb b vaccinated... i started my vaccine series when we still had our baboon and spider monkey, but didint finish the last shot for beurocratic reasons (the heb b is a three shot thing for adults) ... in israel all children from 1988 on are vaccinated at birth; married adults cannot get the vaccine for heb b unless going to se asia etc or handling primates...

bina

[dmax]

thanks for all your advice guys, i got a few vaccines yrs ago when i started to come to thailand, polio, typhoid etc i did think i got the hep b but will check when im back home, i could of caught it through unprotected sex yes but i also noticed that my new home i had built last year i went in and new that someone had been using my razors also , i remember looking at my razors thinking who would be using them then i thought it was rust on the blades, whichever way i will be taking care now, my 18 mth old daughter should have had her hep b jabs done at birth back in uk rite ? 18mths ago obviously ? ibve told my wife to get vacinated but its just a shrug of the shoulders and the mai pen rai attitude sometimes i think im crazy for getting involved but thats a different subject alltogether, thai people just tell me to drink ( hero boy ) im bloody sick of drinking hero boy , its just water with a syrup and maybe some vitimins, im taking vit b1 now, im also finding it veru hard not to have a beer once a week , maybe 3 beers, the boredom is killing me !!

anyway thanks for your advice guys

[cdnvic]

Removed one post for language as well as the insensitive post that triggered it.