Valtrex / Acyclovir is considered safe to use while pregnant
Valtrex is actually a very well studied drug. It is a prodrug for acyclovir, which has been around for 30+ years. Valtrex turns into acyclovir after it is absorbed which allows your body to get more of the drug into your system for longer (which is why you take Valtrex less frequently than acyclovir).
Although it has not been officially tested for use during pregnancy (very few drugs ever are as to do this would require testing on pregnant women … not a thing most people are happy with), it is considered safe to use when pregnant — a category “B” medication. There was at one time a pregnancy registry for acyclovir (the drug your body converts Valtrex into) that followed pregnant women. Somewhere close to 1000 women taking Valtrex while pregnant were followed and the rate of defects amongst that group was considered to be the same as for women not taking any medication. There was for a while a registry for Valtrex as well, but it ran for a shorter period of time and, although the results were similar, the number of women followed was not enough to draw as strong of conclusions.
Taking Acyclovir or Valtrex suppressively during the last weeks of pregnancy is recommended. Even though you are passing the antibodies onto your infant, the suppressive therapy should prevent you from shedding the virus and/or having an outbreak. During the last weeks of pregnancy your child is less likely to suffer any ill effects from any medication you may take. This is not to say you should not weigh your options and make your own decisions.
I took Valtrex throughout my pregnancy and my child is fine and beautiful. I was comfortable enough with the drug’s profile that I told my doctor up front that I intended to take the drug throughout my pregnancy to protect my partner.
I doubt you need to be concerned about allergic reactions, especially if you’ve taken the drug before as you would have had the reaction then. Valtrex/Acyclovir have very low allergic profiles (aka even people with a bad history of allergies normally don’t react to them). Antivirals are completely different beasts from antibiotics and just don’t wreak the havoc on your body that an antibiotic can. Valtrex/Acyclovir very specifically targets herpes by mimicking a substance the virus needs to reproduce. When the virus grabs onto the antiviral, the antiviral gets in the way of the virus being able to reproduce. The substance Valtrex/acyclovir mimics is not a substance your body needs so your body doesn’t tend to react to the drug much.
I’m trying to break down a complex bit of biochemistry here, so I may be guilty of oversimplifying how Valtrex/acyclovir works. There are some resources on the net that go into this stuff in detail and you may want to read up on them if you are interested in a more advanced explanation. - Lorraine
If you have something to say about herpes and what it’s like to be pregnant when you have herpes I’d love to hear from you. You can send me bits of advice OR your own personal story and I would be more than happy to publish it so that we can work to help people that don’t know enough about this to make a decision for themselves.
As with anything health related please see your own doctor. Our personal experiences shared do not indicate truth for everybody that is in similar situations. The information shared is based on our own personal experiences. No two herpes cases are alike.
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When you are pregnant and have herpes
Filed under Yoshi2me's Buzz |13 Responses to “Valtrex / Acyclovir is considered safe to use while pregnant”
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i honestly believe if you have the virus and people shun you for it then they are lower then scum on the earth. the simplex virus of herpes is nothing to be ashamed of a lot of people have it without knowing that they even have it. I myself didnt know that i had it and i had just one brake out and i was terrified to tell my boyfriend (now my husband) for i thought that he was going to leave me. but as you see we are now married. for the people who shun other people cause they have the virus they are worth nothing and mean nothing to me aleast for you all i dont know
but anyways i just wanted to tell my personal story about have the virus my self and i am not ashamed of haveing it. so my name is jennifer and i have herpes
Hi Jennifer!! Thank you so much for sharing your story with us!! Happy New Year!!
i have genital Herpes too.
Not that i think it is a shame but my boyfriend couldn’t accept it and left me (few hours ago by the way)…certainly by ignorance.
i don’t blame him though… but i am truly sadden by this especially when i deeply loved him…
But what i see is that when a door shuts another one opens. So i am moving on and i hope to have someone who would not be afraid when there is no reason to…
Oumy
What a fantastic attitude you have about all of this!! It’s his loss for sure!!
I really could’nt believe that Valtrex/Acyclovir is safe to use while pregnant but anyway very entertaining story.
How come you don’t believe it’s ok to take Valtrex while you are pregnant?
Of course it’s ok to take Valtrex while you are pregnant. Lots of Mom’s that have herpes prior to becoming pregnant go on suppressive therapy during the last 6 weeks of pregnancy to keep from getting an outbreak during labor and delivery.
Having been a pregnant Mom with herpes before I treated my own outbreaks with Valtrex while I was pregnant. It’s perfectly fine to do so I’m not sure why you don’t think it is?
What I want to know is can i take valtrex during my pregnancy?
I have had oral herpes since I was 9. Well is it called oral when it come in and around my nose?? Anyway I have been getting it since I was a kid and now I am 36 weeks pregnant and I have an outbreak now right under my nose. This is my second outbreak since I’ve been pregnant and I didn’t know you could take valtrex while pregnant. I have been taking valtrex for so long I can’t remember when I started. I’m so glad I can take it cause the first outbreak I had took so long to go away cause I just put on topical over the counter medicines. Now I am going to start taking it again so I can kiss my baby when he is born. Oh and FYI DO NOT kiss your baby if you have or even THINK you are going to get an outbreak of oral herpes cause you could end up transfering the virus to them like my mom did to me.
Hi Tiffany!
I took Valtrex the last 6 weeks of both of my pregnancies every day in order to suppress the virus OR keep it from showing itself during labor and delivery. In fact, I think that suppressive therapy is pretty standard for those that know that they have herpes during the last 6 weeks.
Hi Tatianna!
Oral Herpes outbreaks can take place anywhere in the oral facial area. The only way to know if the outbreaks around your nose were indeed herpes would be to have your doctor culture one of the sores and have it tested. Honestly, I don’t think that your oral herpes outbreak would hurt your baby since the baby is going to come down through the birth canal.. know what I mean?
it freaks me out to start taking valtrex. however , I read those comments and gave me a little relief. now, does anybody know if I can breastfeed my baby without any problems?
It never gets easier for me to tell a partner about my genital herpes. Some people are supportive, and some have run away. I find that more guys lately have not wanted to deal with it, thus making it harder for me to have to tell the next person. Does anybody have any tips on what i should say and when the appropriate time is? I hate even saying the word HERPES, it has such a stigma attached to it…
I had no idea that Valtrex was a Class “B” medication, I actually took a class “C” medication once when I was pregnant and it had no effect to my child, the doctor advised me that it would not.
I have been taking Valtrex for almost 2 years now, and was thinking of getting pregnant again, this makes me feel much better about it. Thanks !
Being on suppressive therapy won’t keep you from becoming pregnant.