How to get antivirals quickly

[Anna01]

So is there some way to get medication quickly. Planned parenthood has like a month wait before I can go in and so does Fast Med. Should I set up an appontment with a OBGYN at the hospital?

[2Legit2Quit]

Who did you get antivirals from initially?

[Anna01]

I haven't gotten any yet. I haven't need it but now I am interested in someone and I really want to just be prepared for a just in case kind of situation. I would like to have it to even make kissing less risky.

[NothingGoodGetsAway]

I would recommend an OBGYN - if you don't have one, or one that can't get you in, try ZocDoc. They have same day appointments with a ton of doctors, it's how I got in quickly to get my cervix checked out with an OBGYN (the day I was diagnosed with herpes, they also saw "abnormalities" there. Fun day for me!)

 

I doubt you'll find "the" doctor you want, but at least you will get in VERY quickly and as long as you tell them that you are in a relationship and/or having anxiety about outbreaks, they will prescribe you suppression medication!

[Anna01]

@NothingGoodGetsAway Thanks!

[WCSDancer2010]

"Fast-Med" has a a month wait ...

 

Am I the only one that finds that to be an oxymoron?

[Anna01]

@wcsdancer2010 I know right! Honestly they were kind of a mess the whole time I was there. The Doc didn't know squat, I had to remind them I was waiting for my blood samples for an hour and a half in the waiting room (ugh), then I had to call them to get my western blot results....twice. The second time I called the lady said "We don't have them yet" I said "it takes days but I have been waiting weeks." She said "well let me check one more place" and Ta-Da! They magically appeared. I was like HELLO I am someone dealing with some heavy stuff hear. This is very important. Thank God I am not in a dark place regarding this because all of the waiting would've been extremely frustrating. They just suck in my opinion. Oh yea and my results confirmed HSV+ 1 & 2

[Anna01]

@WSCDancer2010 @NothingGoodGetsAway So how long does it take to get a prescription after you visit the Doc? Is it as quick as same day or next day?

[NothingGoodGetsAway]

Mine was same day, she wrote it on her pad (with 12x refills for a year) and I was off to the pharmacy.

 

The other thing I will mention is that in addition to getting the daily suppression, also ask for something like an additional 30 pills (or whatever the doctor recommends). Reason being: if you take a monthly refill, but you know you're in a stressful/trigger situation, or want to take an extra because you feel some symptoms, you don't want to take one of your 30 days and then run out before the month is over!

 

Good luck!

 

[Anna01]

@NothingGoodGetsAway Thank you so much. So I used ZocDoc and got an appointment with and OB-GYN for a OB-GYN consultation. Is that the what you did?

[NothingGoodGetsAway]

Yup that's exactly what I did!

 

My doctor was hesitant (and honestly a bit uninformed) and said the pills "affect your liver" and she didn't recommend suppressive therapy. But I insisted - I told her I'd done research, that I needed this peace of mind, and if you tell her there's a partner you need to protect - antivirals take I think at least 5 days to a week to be effective! - then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to get suppressive therapy.

 

Also, my doctor didn't run any tests, which was great because then I was only charged for a consultation and was able to get my prescription!

 

Finally, you might want to consider your dosage - especially if your doctor isn't well read up on herpes like mine. I believe the recommendation for Valcyclovir is 1g/day for 10+ outbreaks a year, 500mg a day for less than 10. Out the gate, because I was new I guess, my doctor prescribed me 500mg 1 pill a day. On that, I had 2 more small lesions, 1 after another. I got a secondary 500mg refill for the stressful times, and I've been taking one in the morning and one at night and I haven't shown any symptoms. I think I'm going to go back to the doctor to talk about modifying my prescription up to 1g a day - I understand the desire to start us off at the lowest dose to see what works, but I'd rather start with the big guns and then back off later in the year once my body has had time to adjust!!

 

PS I know it's been said before, but one of my doctors that I saw said that Valcyclovir is one of the safest drugs out there - people take it for other (non-herpes) related conditions at rates of 4g/day - NOT saying that is anywhere what we would do, of course, but it gives me peace of mind.

 

Best of luck!!

 

[2Legit2Quit]

Most get prescribed 500mlg a day. I can tell you right now, I wlhad 5 back to back obs and was taking 2000mlgs kf valtrex q day and it didn't do a damn thing to stop it. So since it wasn't stopping it, I went back to 500 and now today I'm almost cleared up... Very frustrating.