Valacyclovir suppressive therapy
Common Questions and Answers about Valacyclovir suppressive therapy
valtrex
If one partner is infected with hsv2 how does suppressive therapy work for the uninfected partner if they are taking suppressive medication as well? Upon ending the relationship how long before a test can be considered accurate in diagnosing HSV2? My understanding is that suppressive therapy itself can cause a test to read negative by ELISA levels by suppressing viral levels. What levels of Acyclovir do you generally reccommend daily for effective suppressive therapy?
One follow-up. Dr. Anna Wald told me that valacyclovir hcl is not suppressive therapy but episodic therapy. Can Valacyclovir hcl also work to suppress or no?
If not, what would you recommend by way of suppressive therapy?
Further, when a cold sore lesion is no longer visible and all that remains is raised red skin, how infectious does one remain?
I'm on daily 1 gram valacyclovir for suppressive therapy. I can feel a new outbreak coming. Would it help if a take the valacyclovir twice daily for a couple of days to help with the OB?
At that time, I asked my doctor about suppressive therapy because I wanted to feel in control of the problem. She prescribed valacyclovir 500mg per day and suggested that I take it for a year so that I would not have to worry about getting outbreaks. She claimed that because I have a long history of only 1 or 2 outbreaks a year, that it would be highly unlikely for me to have an outbreak while taking the medication. Although I was skeptical of this, I began taking it faithfully everyday.
I have Herpes and have an outbreak 2 or 3 times per year. These outbreaks are not severe, but each time I have one, I get extremely stressed out. When I do get an outbreak, I take aclovar (I can't remember the name) for 10 days. I am considering suppressive therapy instead to try to prevent future outbreaks. It would give me more peace of mind. My doctor does not think it is that big a deal and does not feel I need it as I don't have frequent outbreaks.
Is there anything I can be doing to to help resolve this problem other than suppressive valacyclovir therapy? Are there any other medications / treatments that could boost my immune system capability to suppress the virus over the long term? Are there any clinical trials that I can volunteer for?
I believe (though I could be wrong) valacyclovir is the only drug that is approved by the FDA for suppressive therapy, because it's the only drug that has had an FDA registered clinical trial performed for this purpose. 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.
yes you can go on daily suppressive therapy with valtrex to help reduce transmission to your wife. Just avoiding sex when you have obvious genital symptoms and taking daily suppressive therapy makes it on average 95-96% likely each year that you won't transmit hsv2 to her.
when she becomes pregnant, she should get a type specific herpes igg blood test done to see what her status is.
I have read that Valtrex and Valacyclovir can be used for the suppression of herpes , does that hold true for Valcivir also,, isn't Valacyclovir the generic of Valciver ,, if yes what is the usual dosage for the suppression of the virus?
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Would you double the valacyclovir dosage or at least up it? What about for long-term suppressive therapy? If someone could in particular elucidate how valacyclovir works and WHY it would be important/ unimportant to adjust that dosage based on wanting to suppress both conditions, you would have my eternal thanks.
On 500 mg of suppressive therapy (Valacyclovir), but getting outbreaks a few times a year; itching, burning, sore throat, headache, crack in/on tip of nose (which is most persistent symptom). Would 1000 mg once a day or 500 mg twice a day further decrease outbreaks? Would Abreva help with nose issue?
They work the same. Acyclovir is 400 mg b.i.d. for suppressive effect, Valtrex is one b.i.d.
Can you keep your questions in the same thread? Then we can all remember your story without looking for the older threads.
In terms of your frequent cold sores - there is absolutely no reason that you should not continue your suppressive therapy. Your doctor is out of date on this one. If he refuses to continue your suppressive therapy you can do one of two things:
1) find another doctor who is more to date on the use of suppressive therapy.
2) print out an article by Steve Tyring on the long term safety of acyclovir and see if your doctor will change his mind.
I have been on 500 milligrams of Valtrex daily for a year and a half as suppressive therapy. My gynocologist just told me that I need to stop taking it because it causes liver damage. I asked her if I could take Famir or Zovirax on a daily basis instead. She said no because all anti-virals cause liver damage.
My husband does not have Herpes. I have a stressful job and frequent outbreaks, hence my interest in daily suppressive therapy.
) Avoid sex during outbreaks; 3.) Use condoms and 4.) the infected person should take suppressive therapy with an antiviral medication such as acyclovir or valacyclovir. While all 3 available antiviral medications are likely to work since their mechanisms of action is the same, only valacyclovir has been studied for this purpose and therefore can be considered to be "proven" for this purpose.
Hi,
I’ve been diagnosed with genital HSV2 in January 2010 and I’ve been on non-stop outbreaks till I started a suppressive therapy in Jannuary 2011. I’ve been outbreak free for almost two years. For the first time since then, I had an outbreak on my thigh. It didn’t disappear yet and another one appeared today on my testicule.
My question is, since I’m already taking 500mg Valtrex daily, can I increase the dosage when I have an outbreak? If yes, should I go for 1g daily and for how long?
s prior to starting suppressive therapy, odds are you will return to your previous ob pattern. suppressive therapy only works while you take it. The virus is still active just as much while you are taking suppressive therapy it's just that the valtrex disrupts the viral replication cycle so that the virus can't replicate to the point of causing as obvious lesions as often or shedding of the virus reaching the surface of the skin as much.
Most of what we know about transmission of HSV-2 comes from the large study in which valacyclovir daily suppressive therapy was evaluated for HSV transmission prevention. In this study all participants we counseling to us condoms regularly, to avoid sex during outbreaks and to take daily medication which could either be placebo or valacyclovir. In the group who were taking the valacyclovir, the risk of transmission was reduced by about half, from about 6%per year to less than 3% per year.
Here are the facts. In a placebo controlled trial of valacyclovir suppressive therapy to prevent herpes transmission over 8 months 3.6% of uninfected people in the placebo group got infected over 8 months. This translates to about a 5-6% per year transmission rate without suppressive therapy. The participants were instructed to use condoms but clearly not all did. Condoms reduce transmission by about 50-60% (estimates vary) and suppressive therapy reduces transmission by about 50%.
you will have ob's even while on suppressive therapy. it's just been pure luck that you haven't had any in the last 4 years actually!!!!
valacyclovir and valtrex are the exact same medication.
Antiviral suppressive therapy with valacyclovir, acyclovir or famciclovir for herpes is effective in both reducing outbreaks and the risk of transmission of infection. Valacyclovir is the drug which has been best studied for this purpose.
There are several things that can be done to reduce transmission of herpes. These include taking antiviral suppressive therapy as mentioned above, consistent condom use and not having sex when you have a recurrent outbreak.
I know that suppressive therapy and condoms can help in reducing the chance of spreading virus. Here are my question concerning this issue:
1- Is there any way, even very expensive to reduce the risk of spreading the virus much below than what suppressive therapy can do? For example, taking higher dosage of Valtrex? At this point, I have much less concerns about possible side effects.
1) Take suppressive therapy, preferably with valacyclovir (acyclovir would be OK, but is less convenient because of more frequent dosing); 2) Inform each and every parnter of your HSV2 infection; and 3) always use condoms, unless your partner is willing to take the chance of not doing so.
Although your apparently doesn't know herpes or its management very well, this doesn't necessarily mean she otherwise "sucks" as a caring and effective doctor.
My partner does not have herpes if that's what you're asking about his 'status' - he has been tested. I do not actually know whether I have hsv 1 or 2 and yes, i take daily suppressive therapy. acyclovir 500 mg.
My partner is no longer under going chemo treatment - been over 3 years since last tx but it completely wiped out his immune system. He is receiving bi-weekly tx/infusions of nupogen and iron.
I got informed about it since a year ago, and I started taking Acyclovir 400 mg twice a day as suppressive therapy in order to make sure that my partner will be safe. I am not in a relationship since two months ago, and I stopped taking the medicine also since two months ago. I wonder if this is a right practice? Before taking the medicine, I was having 5-6 outbreaks per year, and during the suppressive therapy I only had one very mild one.
After the birth of my second child in 2001, I was having monthly OBs so began suppressive therapy (500g daily). In 2010 I was diagnosed with chronic idiopathic neutropenia (I don't know the actual neutrophil count, just that it was low enough for me to have to see a hematologist). I had continuous mouth ulcers and throat infections and small wounds took weeks to heal. A month ago I decided to go off Valtrex.
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