Pregnancy and breastfeeding while on Tenofovir (Viread)

[enolia]

Hi everyone,

I would like to share my Tenofovir experience with the HBV community.

I am an HBV (Hbe Neg) carrier and have been on Tenofovir (Viread) since December 2009. Dr evaluated me and said that I had to start treatment even though viral load wasn't very high 59000UI/ml, AST and ALT in normal range according to old standards (ALT = 32 was the maximum I reached) and Liver Biopsy came back with stage 1. The new recommendations were to start treating at a low viral load.

When I first started, I was panicked because some references tell you not to get pregnant while on Viread because the drung might possibly harm baby's bones and some other stuff...Dr said it was ok to get pregnant and that Viread is a Category B drug which is safe during pregnancy. It has also been safely used by many HIV women since years.

I gave birth to my baby boy on December 16 2010 and and baby is doing just fine. If some of you ladies are on Tnf treatment, it is ok to get pregnant when you take Tenofovir. By the way, I never missed a pill since I started the treatment and during all my pregnancy. Tnf made the viral load undetectable starting from month 3 so the theory is baby has very low chances to get HBV. I am crossing my fingers!

After baby's birth, he has been given the HBV vaccine and immunoglobulin in the first 12 hours of his life and he will get the next vaccine shots for HBV at 1 month and 6 months of life. We will do a blood test at 7 month to make sure he didn't get the HBV virus during pregnancy or labor and delivery!! It is well know that ALT gets higher during pregnancy, mine went up from 21 to 32 during pregnancy, nothing crazy though...I will watch this starting from January to follow up on my ALT values. I didn't have any common problem during pregnany (high pressure, gestational diabetes...) thanks God.

As far as breastfeeding, opinions are contradictory...A first doctor said better avoid breastfeeding as there are not enough stdies on humans showing if tnf goes into the maternal milk and if can harm the baby. Another doctor said it is probably safe, the main concern was tnf not HBV as the virus doesn't go into maternal milk. The only study was done on maccaques and the study mentions that only 2% of tnf goes to breast milk and does not harm the baby. I also heard from other medhelp mothers that they have been told by their doctor that breastfeeding was safe while on Viread, I raised the issue during my delivery stay at the hospital and the consensus was, we will check baby's levels of creatinine and phosphate at birth and after 1 month of breastfeeding, if the values are stable, I can continue breastfeeding, if they get lower, they there might be some effect of baby's kidneys and I will have to add formula when feeding my baby. I am already using both methods breastfeeding and formula to lower the impacts if there are any. The argument is that tnf remains in our blood for 17 hours and that is a very long period.
I will  update whenever I get results for my baby's kidneys tests and HBV test at 7 months of life.

I hope this post benefits other HBV moms on Tenofovir treatment and who are trying to concieve. Good luck!

[Abisolah]

Thank you for this I also was worried about breastfeeding so happy I found this post
It gives me hope cuz I have always wanted to breastfeed I am 9weeks pregnant and did not want to miss out on this experience

[Cabin3]

Thanks Enolia and all the women that post here.  This is such valuable information and provides hope.  I'm 32weeks pregnant and VL, AST and ALT very high and my hepatologist highly recommends me going on viread.  I have postponed it for a few days because I'm doing a lot of research.  All the online research on viread was scary but it seems like both you and baby are healthy -- great news!  Thank you so much for sharing.  My question is to all the pregnant moms on viread, any side effects?  Anything I need to be concerned about before I take viread?  And how long has everyone been on viread and has doctor recommend getting off soon?  Please inform this concerned mom.

[enolia]

My son is now 5 year old and is doing grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!!!

[Cabin3]

Thank you for posting. I've been searching for this resource for a few days now.

[Aimee2050]

So happy for you! Think we both preggo around the same time and had the same questions about the Med and breastfeeding. My son now is 7 and I have a daughter that’s 3, both on Med during pregnancy and.  breastfed. Now both are immune, I’m so thankful for that:). They are doing trials possibly finding a cure. If it works it will be out in couple of year

[ritu75]

Thankyou Enolia for sharing your experinece. this will help lot of people including who is worried for their baby.

Gold bless you both

[miaomitiff119]

Hi, thanks for sharing your experience! I started Viread when I was bout 7 weeks pregnant. My son is 19 months old now and he is healthy and normal. However, recently I saw this article that makes me quite worried:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/CROI/44645

My haven't noticed anything with my son so far...only that he is a bit short (82 cm at 19 mths, sitting at 25th percentile)..maybe that's because both my husband and I are short. But the less bone density thing still scares me...like will he get Juvenile Osteoporosis when he is older? :(

Just wondering is your son doing ok at the moment? :)

[miaomitiff119]

Hi, thanks for sharing your experience! I started Viread when I was bout 7 weeks pregnant. My son is 19 months old now and he is healthy and normal. However, recently I saw this article that makes me quite worried:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/CROI/44645

My haven't noticed anything with my son so far...only that he is a bit short (82 cm at 19 mths, sitting at 25th percentile)..maybe that's because both my husband and I are short. But the less bone density thing still scares me...like will he get Juvenile Osteoporosis when he is older? :(

Just wondering is your son doing ok at the moment? :)

[XiFrancis]

Hi:
Thanks so the post. I am 30 weeks pregnant now and I am taking viread for Hep B. I am also confused about the breastfeeding. I may ask you if is ok to breastfeeding? Congrats for having a cute boy!

[enolia]

Thank you! Sure I come here from time to time but you can also message me if I don't reply here. I don't come often...

[enolia]

Hello

I am glad this post helped you. I mean to say that I sometimes in one day, he will get both (breastfeeding and formula but not mixed together...But really it was easy for me because I didn't have enough natural milk anyways so I had to complete with Formula and also a bit of security.

Good luck. My son is close to 3 years now and he is jumpy and full of life, thank God, he is very healthy.

[kibec]

hi
thanks so much for your great post. I am currently 37wks pregnant and have been on viread since 2008. your post gives me a wonderful really and thanks so much.please if I may ask how do you mix breastfeeding with formula. do you mean breastfeed by using the bottle (breastmilk+formula) or breastfeed from the breast like in 6 meal (4 breastfed and 2formula)
thanks again and appreciated your reply

[zzzjfall]

thanks!very helpful!

[veteranB]

http://www.drugs.com/pregnancy/tenofovir.html
http://blackbox.dangerousdrugs.com/black-box-warning-tenofovir

[veteranB]

http://std.emedtv.com/tenofovir/precautions-and-warnings-with-tenofovir.html

If these drugs cause these side effects in one that is taking them. Imagine what will it do the developing fetus.

These drugs themselves are the biggest reason behind fatty liver and abnormal body fat distribution.

[PositiveGirl]

Thanks Enolia for sharing your experience! It's very positive result and you have given me a lot of hope that even with the treatment it's still possible to have a family! THanks a lot! And I hope you will not mind to replying to our questions from time to time!

[enolia]

Hi,

I have no side effects for now but I know that some  people do not react well to viread. I also know that the company is working on a version of vireal thats less harmful to kidneys, if you want a baby, viread is the only solution.

[enolia]

Thanks Halen, I m glad this info was useful to you. :)

[enolia]

Hi Yottalove

You are very welcome. It's been a while since I posted here.
My baby is now over 2 years and he is doing great, he is very healthy, I don`t have personally any side effects. During pregnancy, I was only checked for AST, ALT, I am not sure about creatinine, when you don`t have previous kidney issues or reactions to viread, they usually don`t check but you can ask your doctor to prescribe them to you. I hope all  goes well with your pregnancy. Take care. Babies are wonderful :)

[ccLee886]

Hello Enolia,

I hope all is well! Thank you for sharing your experience.
My AST, AST and virus count were way out of normal range when I found out I was 8 weeks pregnant.  I was hoping to wait till the end of my first trimester but all my doctors I consulted with urged me to take Viread asap. So I did.
I am 17 weeks pregnant now and my latest blood test shows that all the numbers are back to normal. I just hope that my baby will be fine because I really hate taking Viread every morning.
I saw that you were monitoring closely the kidney function of your baby during breastfeeding.  What about your kidney function? Did you monitor your own kidney during pregnancy?  

Thanks again for sharing this with us and stay healthy!

[Cabin3]

Hi ccLee, during your pregnancy and Viread, did you experience any side effects?

[Yottalove]

Hi Enolia,

It's more than 1 year after your posts! I'm so happy for your son and you!

I'm having very similar situation as yours back to 2 years ago, and searching the information regarding breastfeeding with Tnf (my baby is not born yet). Your information is definitely helpful. Thank you so much for sharing.

All the best to you, your son, and your family! Merry Christmas.

Halen
  

[chanthou]

Hi Enolia and hlllove,

Enolia, I hope your son is healthy now.

hllove, what is your experience? How is your baby?

It's been quite long time you both from the community!
I am on Viread while pregnant. Now, I'm on 8th month pregnancy.  The ultrasound indicates that my baby is in good shape, but the level of amniotic fluid is low. Is it a normal problem for those taking Viread?

Thanks and wish you both good luck

[anmocchau]

Hi Enolia and hlllove

are you suffering from any side effects from taking Viread. I did some study about the side effects of Viread and they are quite severe (damage to liver and kidney).

Appreciate your feedback. I am thinking of taking Viread to reduce the risk for my little one. I am desparate.

[vijik]

congratulations! Take very care of your son.

[enolia]

Hi Stef

Yes it was very important to us make sure the baby is HBV free. I believe I got it from my mom and my mom from her mom, etc. It was time the break this terrible chain, at least from my side! I feel so relieved!

[stef2011]

i am very happy for this

also the fact to prevent any hbv entering the baby is very valuable because liver cancer rates are statistically the lowest among those that never met hbv while acute hbv who cleared have some increased risk although we are talking of very smll numbers