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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Herpes / January 2004Valtrex concerns
Let me get right to the point....I trust the posters here more than I do any of the doctors I've seen thus far. I'm strongly considering taking Valtrex on a daily basis, but I am concerned about the costs that'll accrue. With my insurance I wound up paying $30 for 20,000mg of Valtrex, which I'll just assume is the typical price for most of you with insurance. That means $30 every 1.33 months if I take 500mg a day, or $30 every 2.67 months for 250mg a day. The latter dose is more within my budget. I hate to sound like I'm skimping on my health, but this is just a fact of life for me now. Perhaps I should just give up my cellphone. In any event, my question is whether any of you who take Valtrex regularly get by on 250mg a day, as opposed to the 500mg/day dose recommended at Valtrex's website. Can one even get these pills in 250mg doses? Would I just be wasting my time taking half the dosage recommended by Valtrex? I don't want to go half-assed into a regular treatment only to find out that I could've known a priori that such a strategy is worthless. Will I be able to know the efficacy of 250mg/day only by trying it out, the trial and error approach? Everybody's different after all, right? Do you think that a 500mg pill every two days is significantly different than 250mg per day? There's one more piece of advice I'd like to get from you guys and gals here. Should I wait it out a few months before taking Valtrex regularly, just to see whether I'm one of the lucky ones who gets OBs only rarely? This was the opinion of my general physician, who, as I stated in another post, was pretty much clueless. Thanks, J Joe Cant help on the price or dosage issue but there is something to be said for waiting to see how your body reacts to the virus, especially as you do not know your type. Could be if you have HSV1 you never see any symptoms again and although the meds are very safe they do cause problems for some. Give yourself a bit of time to get used to what has happened, read lots, talk to this lot (they may not remember but three years ago when I was in your position they helped me a great deal), relax, keep fit and healthy, try not to get stressed and then see how it goes. If you are unlucky enough to get frequent OBs then I suggest you take the meds otherwise once you learn to recognise your predrome symptoms you can take a five day course then. In the end, you have to decide what is best for you on the basis of the best evidence you can find and, lucky for you, you are at a good starting point with this group. Spud > Let me get right to the point....I trust the posters here more > than I do any of the doctors I've seen thus far. I'm strongly [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > Thanks, > J Personally, the best way to avoid the cost is not to take the pills. There really isn't a need for them if you don't want them. I say wait and see what happens. ar > Let me get right to the point....I trust the posters here more > than I do any of the doctors I've seen thus far. I'm strongly [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > Thanks, > J >Personally, the best way to avoid the cost is not to take the pills. There >really isn't a need for them if you don't want them. I say wait and see >what happens. > >ar If Joe was female then'd be likely to agree with you, but as usual, male to female transmission rate is higher. Plus the fact that herpes complicates pregnancy is nothing to be sneezed at--Ceaseran delivery _is_ major surgery with its own complications. And contracting herpes during the pregnancy can interfere with fetal development. Those facts also have to be said to any currently negative, potential female partner. And I doubt that many men even think far ahead in a woman's future. LK Neonatal herpes is not very common at all. Also, women with genital herpes can have their babies through vaginal delivery without having to have a C-section. There are only certain instances where a C-section might be necessary. As far as herpes interfering with fetal development ~ I do not agree. I would be interested in knowing where you read that herpes interferes with fetal development. All this coming from somebody that has had genital herpes for eight years. I also just gave birth to a healthy 7lb 7oz baby girl in December. There were no complications and I also had a vaginal delivery. Angela www.yoshi2me.com > If Joe was female then'd be likely to agree with you, but as usual, > male to female transmission rate is higher. Plus the fact that herpes [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > LK >Neonatal herpes is not very common at all. Also, women with genital herpes >can have their babies through vaginal delivery without having to have a >C-section. There are only certain instances where a C-section might be >necessary. As far as herpes interfering with fetal development ~ I do not >agree. I would be interested in knowing where you read that herpes >interferes with fetal development. I think I goofed and was misremembering with rubella consequences. LK Joe, Before I made the decision to go on suppression I did track my flare ups for one year. Also, I wanted to reduce transmission which is possible by about 50% when you are on suppression. In any case . . . I took 500mg of Valtrex daily for two years. I had great success with it. I found that the most cost effective way for me to obtain my meds was to have my doctor prescribe 500 mg of Valtrex *twice* daily instead of once daily. Not only did that give me 60 quantity vs. 30 quantity but it left me with the option of being able to treat a flare up should I get one while on suppression. He also gave me enough refills to last me an entire year. Angela www.yoshi2me.com > Let me get right to the point....I trust the posters here more > than I do any of the doctors I've seen thus far. I'm strongly [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > Thanks, > J |
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