Herpes treatment options

[Kat87]

Hi! I was diagnosed back in 2016 and have used acyclovir on and off to help with symptons. I was on suppressive treatment for a while a few years and back and it seemed to work. Last year, I started having outbreaks every couple of weeks (I was taking pills when the symptoms came on) so I went back to taking one per day. I'm still doing that now but if I have periods when I don't take them, I either have an outbreak or feel like I'm starting to. Where should I go from here? I'm trying to get an appointment with my local clinic to get more treatment but am just concerned as I nearly have no pills left and don't want to have outbreaks. 😕 any advice appreciated!

[Flowerteacher55]

Hello!

You have a few options. You could look into the following factors...

Trigger or Changes: What changed last year when you started having these frequent outbreaks? Stress? Hormones? A new medical diagnosis? Etc. You could keep a log (similar to period tracking) and see what happens before you have an outbreak. You may find that they occur at different parts of your cycle if you have a period, or when you are stressed, etc. Then you can work on managing these triggers!

Consistent Medication Prescription: Worrying about medication can be really stressful. See if you can get a doctor, even one at a clinic, to write you a multi-month prescription so you don't need to worry about getting a prescription renewed. Antivirals are not addictive and do not have extremely dangerous side effects, so it really shouldn't be a problem for a doctor to prescribe a multi-month supply. They may try and be dismissive, but really advocate for your health and well-being. You matter! If money is an issue (prescriptions can be pricey!) you can try using a Good Rx card which really helps. Or, the doctor could even write a bulk prescription (so instead of having a three month+ prescription where you would have to go pick it up and pay 3 separate co-pays, they do a three month+ supply, in which you only pick up one giant supply and pay one co pay). This saves money and time! 🙂 

I hope that these suggestions help. Feel free to reach out with any more questions!

Sending blessings of health and happiness your way! 🌻