acyclovir vs valtrex for shingles

You can take valtrex while pregnant for shingles. It's safety during pregnancy has been pretty well established at this point plus we have 25+ years of acyclovir too to go on ( valtrex is an acyclovir prodrug ). The concern is if you don't treat this promptly you have a higher risk of having phn ( post herpetic neuralgia ) which would make you quite miserable for the rest of your pregnancy if not longer.

I'm sixteen years old. Young, yes, but I have had the shingles. It started off as a just a pain on the ribs underneath my left boob and when it started to turn into a rash about five days later, I went to my school nurse and explained. She immediately sent me home and that day I went to the doctor. It's rare for someone my age to get Shingles, but I did. And I don't think I could have stood the pain if it wasn't for the codeine. He gave me Acyclovir and I'm glad I took it.

However, it is well documented that valtrex and acyclovir perform very similarly. Valtrex is actually converted into acyclovir by the liver, so essentially, the two drugs act the same way in the body to suppress the virus. If acyclovir improves your quality of life, I would stick with it and explain the similarities to your partner - they are well documented and I expect you can find information in scholarly journals that supports the suppressive activity of acyclovir.

I've on acyclovir for shingles prevention and had a one night stand 14 weeks ago. I had a blood test at the 7 week mark and it was negative. When should I have my next blood test to be sure I'm negative.

acyclovir needs to be taken twice a day for suppressive therapy.

i know that valtrex and famvir are different family of anti-viral's. has anyone had poor results with valtrex and had to change to famvir? i don't seem to be responding to valtrex or acyclovir so i might change.

I've checked two local pharmacies and online. Blue Shield's price for Valtrex is $175.00 vs. Acyclovir at $10.00 per perscription. Tell me the manufacturers aren't trying to gouge us. This is a drug that's been on the market for decades, millions of people take it regularly, it has no adverse effects that I've found and there is no reason to pay that much for something used that widely and that often.

You can treat ob's for $4 with acyclovir from walmart if you live in the US. Suppressive therapy from there is about $15/month. The only lysine dose that showed any effects at all was 1gm 3x/day which is more of a hassle to take than 2x/day, is more expensive and hasn't been shown to have any effect on overall viral shedding. No dose of lysine was shown to speed healing when just taken during ob's.

Ive been taking acyclovir (generic for zovirax) for about a year now. my doctor said its the same drug as valtrex but with valtrex you can get away with taking it once a day. I also dont have insurance and can not afford valtrex so thats why im taking this generic. I take 400mg acyclovir twice a day (which was very hard to get used to, but you have to!) and I get 180 pills (90 days) at Hy-Vee (grocery store) and Sam's club for $10. Other pharmacies charge upwards of $80 for just 30 days.

Or I can also take Aciclovir 5 times a day for 5 days. I highly recommend speaking to a Dr before taking Valtrex daily or ask for a second opinion.

Yes, taking it twice a day for suppressive therapy vs once daily with valtrex is harder to remember but they certainly aren't taking it easier on you in general by prescribing the wrong doses of antivirals for you!! They also all work about the same at reducing recurrences when taken suppressively and healing recurrences when taken with each other.

d give my own experience of both, I was on Acyclovir and for some odd reason my Doctor changed me to Valtrex I did not find it affective for me at all and asked to be put back on the Acylovir,perhaps it's an individual thing as to how well each one works I just know the Valtrex doesn't do it for me personally.

Acyclovir (Zovirax), famciclovir (Famvir), and valacyclovir (Valtrex) are approved for shingles. Acyclovir is the oldest, most studied of these drugs, but either famciclovir (Famvir) or valacyclovir (Valtrex), which are both metabolized into acyclovir, are now preferred to treat herpes zoster in most patients because they require fewer daily doses than the five doses needed with acyclovir.

I recently tested positive for HSV2. Doc put me on Generic Valtrex for supressive therapy. I took 500mg once a day for about a week. The sore from OB has never been so bad or lasted so long. 6 days ago I started 500mg twice a day and still no relief. Could I be immune to the Valtrex? How long should it take to get relief? Awaiting call back from Doc but holidays and all...

Valtrex is an acyclovir prodrug. Greatly simplified - you swallow valtrex and your body converts it into acyclovir inside the body. You get more active acyclovir available to kick a little herpes butt by doing it this way. That's why you take valtrex less often. We don't have studies to confirm that acyclovir reduces transmission the same amount as valtrex does but we assume it does. http://racoon.com/herpes/v_a_compare.

Like most I cannot afford Valtrex any more. I have switched to Acyclovir. I've used it effectively for the couple of outbreaks but it seems to be taking considerably longer. I am taking L-Lysene as a suppressor and only take the Acyclovir at the first sign of an outbreak. I was taking 1000mg Valtrex at onset and then 500mg twice a day and everything was clear in 3 days. To get the same effectiveness from Acyclovir how much should I be taking daily during out breaks?

d try acyclovir suppressively instead of the valtrex and see if that works better for you. Even though valtrex is an acyclovir prodrug, some folks just do better on the acyclovir than they do the valtrex. My guess would be because you get less active acyclovir in your body with plain ole acyclovir than you do valtrex but we have no studies to back this assumption.

hey every1 i had a ob on my butt cheek really small over a year ago and was treated for shingles, then again 9 months l8r same extremely tiny same place, then again in a month same place really small but it got infected so was super painful.....every time i was treated for shingles. Then went to a dermatologist, she said no it is impossible to have recurrent shingles and what i have is hsv II.

My gyn has suggested taking 500mg of valtrex daily and my family docotor suggested taking 200mg daily of Acyclovir. From some of what I have read the Acyclovir dose she is suggesting isn't the standard and I have also read you can build a tolerance to it.

I have taking both Valtrex & Acyclovir in the past and for me, Valtrex seems to work a lot better for clearing up an ob quicker. Since moving back to the U.S. from Europe, I cannot believe how expensive Valtrex is here in the U.S.! I just want to get confirmation that there is a Generic Valtrex that is NOT Acyclovir - it that correct? My online pharmacy is offering me Valcyclovir which is a lot cheaper than Valtrex but I just want to make sure it isn't Acyclovir before I purchase it.

acyclovir is 400mg 2x/day every single day. she will still get recurrences while on daily suppressive therapy regardless of if she's on acyclovir or valtrex, you just take acyclovir more often than you do valtrex.

Acyclovir vs valtrex for shingles

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