Valtrex suppressive therapy
Common Questions and Answers about Valtrex suppressive therapy
valtrex
I just am very new to this and started suppressive therapy today. What if i have an outbreak while im on it? Do i start taking Valtrex, 3 times a day and then continue my 1 a day after 7 days of the 3 a day? Im just a wreck about all this, it makes you so paranoid!
I just had a visit with my doctor and he told me that if my girlfriend was against taking suppressive therapy medication, that I should possibly consider taking them myself as a precaution. Even though I'm negative for HSV 2, he said it would help as a defense for my body from possibly being infected. He also mentioned an amino acid called Lysine, which he said is an alternative natural supplement that has shown to help reduce outbreaks and their severity.
Acyclovir is not effective when only taken once a day. You need to take it 400mg 2x/day if you want it to work. I do not recommend taking it any other way for suppressive therapy. If you can't commit to taking the medication properly then don't take it at all.
If you only want to take medication once a day then you'll need to switch to valtrex which is effective when only taken once a day.
I think i may have acquired hsv in may, and i went on 1000mg suppressive therapy for a couple weeks and got off wednesday and i had sex for the past week leading up to that, and i stopped taking the valtrex on wednesday and now i have some redness under my penis but i think it could be from rough sex, there is no pain just some small red dots and dryness.
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?
Dear gracefromHHP,
Why is it that some people show conversion with Valtrex usage and others do not? Do you have patients who have converted while on Valtrex suppressive therapy. What is the sensitivity and reliability of the Western Blot. Why is it that suppressive therapy delays detectable seroconversion? Thank you!
I have been on daily suppressive therapy of 1 gram Valtrex for approximately 9 months now. I had my first child just over a year ago, and actually we had a scare that he might have contracted HSV-1 from me, so at 3 weeks old (given the seriousness of a neonatal herpes infection) he was subjected to a spinal tap, blood work, and acyclovir administered via IV for 2.5 days while we waited for test results to come back. Thankfully, he tested negative for the virus.
) Really, be more surprised when you have recurrences on suppressive therapy, not be worrying about what might cause one :)
Episodic therapy during pregnancy is fine. Suppressive therapy is up to the discretion of the provider and the patient if they feel that any risk is outweighed by the benefit. As far as we know there are no known issues with taking any of the antivirals during pregnancy.
If I understand correctly there is an 8-10% chance of transmission if avoid sex during outbreak, 4-5% if use condoms or suppressive therapy, and 2-3% if use condoms and suppressive therapy. We have already agreed that condoms would be a part of a sexual relationship (should the relationship reach that point). He currently is not on any suppressive therapy and I read that Valtrex can reduce transmission chances by 75%, is that true?
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.
Here is the rate of Female to Male Tranmision of HSV 2
If you have 100 couples where the female has HSV 2 but not the male (these figures are over a year) the odds of female to male transmission are if you do nothing other than avoid sex during an outbreak 4 men out of a 100 will get herpes in a year or 4% If you do go on a suppressive therapy then it drops to 2 men out of a 100 in a year or 2% and if you use suppressive and a condom the chances are 1 man out of a 100 will get herpes in one ye
the best thing to do is for her to go on daily suppressive therapy with valtrex or acyclovir to keep the hsv2 under control. that will help counteract the effects of the prednisone that she needs for treating the behcet's flare ups.
I went to a new doc and today she said I need to go on suppressive therapy with acyclovir 800mg 1x/day. She said this is the new standard protocol (or something to that effect). I'm seeing where it says acyclovir 400mg 2x/day.
My questions are:
1. has anyone heard of 800mg 1x/day is the standard?
2. anyone know the benefits of 800mg 1x/day vs 400mg 2x/day (besides having to take less pills, which is nice)
3.
From 2010 onwards I was getting outbreaks almost every month, I had 6 outbreaks in the first 8 months of 2010 and so decided to go on suppressive therapy (500mg/day). This has stopped the outbreaks but I occassionally (every 6 months) stop taking the suppressive therapy to see if I can start going without it.... I can't. I get an o/b within a week or two of stopping the valtrex.
I just recently started getting outbreaks about 3 p/yr over the past 2 years, Just started Valtrex as suppressive therapy p/ my dr. She felt with my history of low (sometimes years between outbreaks) outbreaks with NO therapy, that it was time to start.
Just some info, I am 44 yrs old, perimenopausal(could be a factor for me not you;))
am a vegetarian ( soy which I just learned can trigger it) just a thought for you and your wife to ponder and talk about.
his major concern is getting hsv from me. i rarely have outbreaks and i take suppressive therapy daily and i always check myself. what are the risks of him contracting it if we have a long term relationship? is it eventually inevitable? ive read and heard so much conflicting info.
the funny thing is im not very concerned with getting hpv from him but hes almost phobic about getting herpes from me. im lost and dont know what todo or say anymore.
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.
1.) Is valtrex worth my while or not? I keep reading that people do not prescribe daily valtrex to people with genital hsv1, but would it help at all?
2.) If I have no symptoms I assume I am also shedding asymtomatically Does taking valtrex daily reduce asymtomatic shedding in men with genital hsv1?
3.) If I use daily valtrex and condoms, what are the chances of me giving herpes to a girl who doesn't have HSV 1 in either place?
2 - always on suppressive therapy with valtrex and avoiding sex anytime you have anything going on genitally and the odds are 98% each year that he won't contract hsv2 from you. throw in condoms with all that and it's 99% each year on average.
3- 5 days if you start it when no symptoms are present.
keep asking questions!
I have been tested since he was diagnosed, but it was several months ago. He is not on the daily suppressive therapy, he takes Valtrex when he feels an outbreak. Isn't the daily pill much more expensive? We don't have insurance, so that's why I ask.
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.
daily suppressive therapy must be taken at least 5 days consecutively before it starts to adequately suppress the virus. Just taking a pill before sex isn't going to help to protect a partner.
if you are a male and have a female partner who is hsv2 negative, you taking daily suppressive therapy, using condoms and avoiding sex anytime you have anything going on genitally, would give your female partner a 2-3% risk/year of contracting hsv2 from you on average.
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