Question: Is suppressive therapy better for preventing herpes outbreaks?

[ashley030389]

Is suppressive therapy better for preventing herpes outbreaks?

[mr_hopp]

Suppressive therapy has been shown to reduce herpes shedding by 50-80% (depending on which study you read), so that directly translates to protecting a non-herpes partner that much more AND that much less virus shedding that builds up to become an active outbreak.

 

I don't personally take suppressive therapy unless my partner doesn't have herpes and I'm trying to protect her from getting herpes. That's because my outbreaks only happen 1-2x per year, so it's not worth taking medication daily for me to possibly prevent that few outbreaks. Just like any medication, it's a strain on the liver. But if you are having more outbreaks and want to lessen them and/or have a partner who doesn't have herpes, suppressive therapy is a good option.

 

Here's an article I wrote on it:

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-medication/