A couple of questions

[RickG16]

I'm relieved to find this forum. Have joined a few HBV Facebook groups, but it appears English isn't their first language!

Have a few questions, and welcome any replies from those with knowledge or first hand experience.

I was diagnosed with acute HBV on March 15th. Had no symptoms prior, but they came pretty quickly by early April. After experiencing dark urine, headaches and fatigue, they all went away (apart from a little fatigue) by the end of April, but now I am left with the pain / discomfort in the upper right abdomen. From my limited medical knowledge, it feels like this is the disease 'making itself at home' in my liver after the symptoms have passed. Does anyone know if this is a sign I am more likely to be chronic, or is it just a normal symptom of acute to have for a nearly two months? (It has still not gone away)

On diet - I have refrained from alcohol, only had 1 or 2 cigarettes (literally) and tried to follow advice of lots of fruit and veg, with whole grains, hardly any dairy, no fried food etc. A typical dinner for me is grilled chicken, brown rice and salad. I am naturally a big eater with a very quick metabolism which means I don't get fat (I exercise a lot which is probably a factor) - as such, the change in diet has left me feeling a bit weak. I am tempted to throw in a few more naughty carbs (maybe cake every now and then, dairy etc)to give myself more energy and help me fight the disease. Is this advised?

Those are my two main questions, on the ab pain and diet. Any suggestions welcome...

[Lynn K]

These questions would be best asked of your doctor but that being said, the liver does not have pain receptor nerve endings but as with other internal organs there is a membrane surrounding the liver which does have pain receptor nerves. Normally what would cause these nerves to feel pain would be from swelling of the liver pushing on this membrane. Really feeling pain from the liver is not that common. I have cirrhosis for 9.5 years now and have no upper right quadrant pain.

As to diet I have read a heart smart diet is a liver smart diet with especially with a restriction of salt. Not familiar with restrictionof dairy.

As far as I know there is no way to know who will become chronic and who will clear. But again that is best asked of your treating physician.

Good luck to you
Lynn

[lporterrn]

Welcome. Lynn's feedback is right on. This is normal and not an indication of chronicity.
The only thing I'd add, is there is an excellent book which I am going to review soon on my blog called the Skinny Liver: https://www.hepmag.com/page/bookstore#skinny. It was written for fatty liver disease, but it is a book that I think is perfect for nearly everyone.

My own curiosity speaking here, and if you don't want to answer, please ignore. Do you know how you got hep B? Also, did your doc give you a timeline to follow-up to find out if it has become chronic?

Hope to hear back from you.

[RickG16]

Welcome. Lynn's feedback is right on. This is normal and not an indication of chronicity.
The only thing I'd add, is there is an excellent book which I am going to review soon on my blog called the Skinny Liver: https://www.hepmag.com/page/bookstore#skinny. It was written for fatty liver disease, but it is a book that I think is perfect for nearly everyone.

My own curiosity speaking here, and if you don't want to answer, please ignore. Do you know how you got hep B? Also, did your doc give you a timeline to follow-up to find out if it has become chronic?

Hope to hear back from you.

Thanks, Lynn actually said the upper right ab pain wasn't normal in terms of liver problems, as what actually has the nerve receptors is the membrane around it.

I am pretty sure it was an STD. I am in a foreign land here, where asking too many questions often leads to confusion. Soas I have not been in desperate pain, I am just trying to follow all the best advice (on diet, no alcohol etc) and come back in 6 months as I was advised. Diagnosed in mid March, so mid September it is!

Hope this feeling in my stomach will have gone away by then.