suppressives-success and not so successful stories please

[lasko]

im rather against meds. im not even on birth control nor do i take advil etc. BUT im having an OB almost every month. so im considering going on suppressive therapy. id just like to know your success stories (it kept your OB to minimal times a year) or horror stories ( you had bad side effects to the meds and/or once you stopped, your OBs went crazy or something along those lines)

thanks

 

[Geminij]

Oo me too ... What are the side effects of long term suppressive therapy?

[WCSDancer2010]

First - why do you need "Horror stories"? Why does it need to be such a negative way to look at "side effects"? The reason I say this is to urge you to think about the power of your words.... yes, sometimes things go badly wrong, but using the phrase "horror story" can make quite minor things seem a lot worse.... hows about rephrasing it to be "suppressives-success and problems stories please" (or non-success/side effects/whatever). You'd be surprised at how the whole discussion will read differently with a less-dramatic wording ;)

 

To my knowledge there are no "long term" effects although I have read that if you have Kidney issues then you need to discuss the anti-virals with your Dr.

 

Personally, I don't know anyone who has been on them for a long time, but I've been on them for 3 yrs at one point and didn't have any issue with them.

 

The bigger issue for many is nausea and other "minor" side effects early on ... some of which seems to be eased if you take it with a meal, and some which may be alleviated if you split the dose or go on acyclovir (as it's a 2x/day med).

 

I am also against medication and rarely take any. But I went on them for one BF for 3 yrs. Except for that time I've just kept them handy for OB's and take them at the first sign of an impending OB... and that usually means I take 1-6 doses of Acyclovir (1/2 - 3 days) to knock it back. Perhaps you can consider using the meds that way - only when you need it. That way, you assist your body to keep it from getting out of control and then you let your body finish it off. Over time, you will need fewer doses to control it. I rarely take more than 2 doses now ;)