Comments on: Valtrex / Acyclovir is considered safe to use while pregnant

By: StillWorried

StillWorried — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:53:07 +0000

do people take suppressive therapy for life? Is acyclovir also ok for use ALL through pregnancy if valtrex is since its essentially the same drug broken down?

By: Chase

Chase — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:45:31 +0000

To Still Worried:

I posted in May 2009, read my post above… I had a healthy 10 pound baby girl in December 2010….No problems whatsoever….. I only took valtrex when I felt a breakout coming on or had a break out… I had just one breakout, and I took valtrex for 3 days, twice a day… And other times, if I felt a breakout coming on, tingling, etc, I immediately took a valtrex with warm water (works instantly), and I was able to keep herpes at bay by just taking that one pill…To me it’s best to look for signs of a potential breakout then take valtres immediately to block it… but if you have real bad breakouts all the time, it’s best to go on suppressive therapy… It’s perfectly safe….Perfectly safe – DONT WORRY

By: StillWorried

StillWorried — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:24:01 +0000

If hsv mothers pass antibodies onto their children and without symptoms the only way tocheck for the hsv is through a bloodtest… wont children automatically test positive?

And how long will these antibodies last? Im wondering if some people who have hsv1 and hsv2 antibodies without symptoms dont have theantibodies from their mothers still around enough to test positive butthey just dont have the actual infection.

Is that possible? Wait — did that make sense? HSV1 can cause HSV2 results in blood test to be thrown off. If a mother has HSV2 gives her child antibodies for HSV2 — how do you tell if the child actually has the disease themselves?

My question is acquired immunity vs natural immunity (where we make our own in response to infection we acquired)

So overtime … in the absence of illness .. the child with mothers HSV2 antibodies will see a decrease in HSV2 antibodies? What about later in life –? If they are exposed later in life will previous immunity perhaps protect them from a severe first outbreak? Perhaps they will be amongst those who are asymptomatic?

This virus has a lot of room for research. I think advancements will surprise us all in the future. I hope it all helps us.

And to Angela and Meredith on a personal note: You two are so lucky to have healthy children. This is a stressful topic. No one wants to be in a desperate situation of being accused of not doing the right thing when the “right thing” is so variable.

I wish us all the best. Happy healthy babies to all.

… Im still worried. :(

By: Angela

Angela — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:59:52 +0000

I agree w/Nanci. Suppressive therapy w/Valtrex reduces transmission by 50% and I see no reason why you can’t be on suppressive therapy if you are trying to keep your partner from contracting the virus.

By: The Herpes Blog (Nanci)

The Herpes Blog (Nanci) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:46:47 +0000

Thanks SweetOne. I appreciate the feedback. Good luck with the Dr. I really do think it’s important to place our emotional health on par with our physical health. Some of my worst outbreaks have come when I’ve been terrified of having one or when I’ve been under tremendous family stress. Ah, this thing called life.

Special thanks to Angela for continuing to provide awesome thought provoking posts.

By: SweetOne

SweetOne — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:43:07 +0000

Thanks Nanci. That’s very true, I hadn’t really thought about that. Great advice. And great blog, I just checked it out!

By: Nanci

Nanci — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:20:46 +0000

I would have a second talk with your Dr. Let her know that you would like to take daily suppressive therapy to control viral shedding and not because you are concerned with your own outbreaks. This is FOR SURE an absolute valid reason to take the anti-viral medications. I personally would just take it for a year and re-evaluate how you are feeling about everything. Your emotional state counts too!

By: SweetOne

SweetOne — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:57:13 +0000

Thanks Angela…My hesitation is that I’m really falling for this guy and I don’t want to pass it to him. I’d feel like the most awful piece of crap if I did. I know I can’t ever be 100 per cent sure of not passing it and he isn’t that concerned (at least he hasn’t voiced any concerns since we had “the talk” and our sex life is amazing!) so it’s mainly my issue at this point. I just freak out a bit after havng sex because of viral shedding. And my doc said she wouldn’t need to put me on suppression therapy since my occurances of outbreaks are fairly low (1-2 a year)

By: Angela

Angela — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:25:40 +0000

Valtrex did not affect breastfeeding for me and my little ones and they are now 6 & 4. So glad to hear that you are going on suppressive therapy a few weeks before your due date.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:21:26 +0000

Yes … twice. Both kids are perfectly healthy (10 & 12). Of course, I’m one of the rare few that REALLY didn’t enjoy breastfeeding so it was only six weeks each.