For those who have taken Valtrex for viruses, do you feel it helped? How long did you take it? Did it make your Lyme symptoms flare?
Any information you can share will be greatly appreciated.
Posted by Dogsandcats (Member # 28544) on :
The only thing I remember is a nasty headache.
Posted by willbeatthis (Member # 31111) on :
I have been on it for months -- at least six and 1 gram twice a day. I tried to go off of it and my eyes were swollen underneath- my hallmark for EBV. I have not had any negative side effects. And yes, I do think it has helped with my viruses.
Posted by WhitneyS (Member # 25666) on :
i have taken it....forever. LOL. All i know is that before taking it my viral load was much higher and now its much lower. (via blood test).
I was taking 1 gm per day and since I changed Drs i now take 1 gm x3 a day, and have notice a change.
No side effects
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
I've been taking 1GM 2x per day for a long time. I started because I had many viral symptoms when starting lyme treatment.
I haven't noticed any side effects but when I go off one whole side of my head gets hyper sensitive and/or I get tons of sores in my mouth.
Terry
Posted by Sammi (Member # 110) on :
Thank you all for your replies, it sounds like it is helpful.
Dogsandcats was your headache a side effect from the med?
Posted by nonna05 (Member # 33557) on :
I was on it 2 months ..then doc took me off ,4 weeks.. Asked what I thought.. All i could say was I think it was helping in some way, but not sure how or what.. He put me back on.....3 days now. We'll see
Posted by Sammi (Member # 110) on :
nonna05, I hope it helps you again.
Posted by Dogsandcats (Member # 28544) on :
Yes, it was a side effect.
But not for everyone. So don't worry about it.... I am kind of a wuss.
It was not bad just obnoxious..
Posted by Sammi (Member # 110) on :
I have been getting a pretty wicked headache. I don't know if it is from Valtrex or from Babs.
Dogsandcats did you have the headache the whole time you took Valtrex or just in the beginning?
Posted by timaca (Member # 6911) on :
I was on valcyte for 9 months, acyclovir for some time and have recently switched to valtrex. I had a herx to all those meds. I started off with 250 mg valtrex (had a herx), recently upped it to 500 mg. I see my doctor in a couple of weeks and he will likely up it to 1 gram a day.
Best, Timaca
Posted by dbpei (Member # 33574) on :
I've been on Valtrex since October to with hope of reducing symptoms of ear fullness,tinnitus and hearing loss.
So far, it seems to be helping. I can hear better and my tinnitus is toning down a bit (But I get some occasional bad days...) Ear fullness has definitely improved.
I also take lysine 1000 mg 2 x day at different times than Valtrex.
I don't think it has given me any side effects.
Posted by Sammi (Member # 110) on :
timaca, which symptoms do you think got worse from Valtrex?
I am having more fatigue and malaise but those are also symptoms of Babesiosis. I started off with the full dose which I think is one gram twice daily.
Posted by Sammi (Member # 110) on :
dbpei, I am glad it is helping you with no side effects.
Thanks for the replies!
Posted by annxyzz (Member # 20404) on :
My doc gave it to me ( infectious disease doc) for chronic EBV years ago . I was bedbound and desperately sick , had no idea I had lyme. I felt worse for a little while, then began to get out of bed and viral titers came down. It is used a lot in CFS .
Posted by timaca (Member # 6911) on :
Sammi~ My herxes are very defined. With valtrex I had severe pain in my rib cage and significant nausea that lasted one night. Followed by tachycardia a few days later.
Best, Timaca
Posted by nonna05 (Member # 33557) on :
so valtrex affects the heart...or your herxes do??? Is tachycardia like long QT's on EKG????
Similar????
Posted by timaca (Member # 6911) on :
I had 9 bouts of tachycardia in 2011. 7 of the 9 were directly related to my starting either an antiviral or an antibiotic, or having a reactivation of a pathogen.
I work closely with my cardiologist. He says I don't have a cardiac problem. I have a pathogen problem that is affecting the electrical conduction system of my heart.
My ID doctor has seen me in tachycardia after starting an antibiotic. (In fact, he's seen me in tachycardia 3 different times.)
If I'm lucky the tachycardia goes away in less than a minute. But it can go on for hours. I think the longest episode in 2011 was 15 minutes (in front of one of my doctors).
Best, Timaca
Posted by nonna05 (Member # 33557) on :
what is it like?????how it feels and how you feel while happening???Would an EKG show signs of it when it's happening? any prolong QT's???????????????///// Thank you timica for your time....any body else??
Posted by timaca (Member # 6911) on :
nonna~ My heart races and pounds. One doctor was amazed and said he just had to watch my chest pound to count my pulse. My pulse is about 160 and my BP is high during the tachycardia. It is very uncomfortable for me and I have to get horizontal. An EKG shows it when it is happening (we've caught it on two EKGs) but my EKGs are normal otherwise. It doesn't have anything to do with QT intervals.
If you are concerned about your heart then see a cardiologist. I know mine quite well. :-)
Best, Timaca
Posted by amk33 (Member # 13206) on :
Timaca, I have the same thing, which has been diagnosed as PSVT. My heart first does a "twitch/heart stop", then starts racing and pounding. After some time, it does another "twitch" then goes back to normal. My bp is also elevated to around 160/80, as well. Otherwise, I normally have low to normal bp.
It is very scary, and if it lasts for a long time, I get lightheaded. Something that has helped for me is if I lie down on my left side, and try to relax, my heart rate will return to normal.
Unfortunately, I can't always do this, and I have had episodes last for an hour. Of course, the really scary ones never happen during a halter monitor test or EKG for me.
I've had nuclear stress tests, echocardiograms, halter and loop monitors, and everything seems to be normal, otherwise. The cariologist just wants me to take medicine like Toprol to lessen the severity of them, but, I stopped because they were making me tired. He doesn't think that I should get ablation, but, I think I may push for it someday, because they are getting more frequent, and interfering with work, and the rest of my life.
Do you think that your heart issues are from lyme/coinfections or viruses? I have pretty much all of the viruses, and lyme. However, I did 6 months (I think) of Valcyte awhile ago, and it didn't help me. My viral numbers actually went up!
Posted by timaca (Member # 6911) on :
Hi amk~ Yes I do think my tachycardia is from chronic bacterial and chronic viral infections. The tachycardia was one of the first symptoms of my illness, and it took me to the cardiologist, who found nothing wrong with my heart. Since then I've been seeing him for 8 years (as long as I've been sick)...I see him once a year at least, sometimes more.
I had 9 bouts of tachycardia last year, 7 of those nine were because I started an antibiotic, started an antiviral, (herx reacations to those drugs) or had a reactivation of a pathogen (low WBC accompanied this).
My cardiologist recently said to me "You don't have a cardiac problem. You have a pathogen problem that is affecting the electrical conduction system of your heart." I agree. I think my ID doctor does too.
If I were you, I'd keep close record of how often you have tachycardia and for how long. Keep track from year to year and you can see if your tachycardia is getting worse or not.
I have metroprolol on hand to take if needed to stop the tachycardia, but I did not take any in 2011.
I would hesitate to get an ablation since it may not work well if infections are causing your problems (and the infections have not been adequately dealt with). I do know one person who has chronic viral issues. He got an ablation and he is worse off now.
With regard to valcyte and antibody titers....what were your titers before and after treatment?
Take care....Timaca
Posted by Sammi (Member # 110) on :
Thanks timaca.
Posted by BugBit (Member # 7829) on :
I took Valtrex years ago - I loved the stuff. However, it is not a treatment, per se, it simply reduces the symptoms. It doesn't kill anything.
Posted by Dogsandcats (Member # 28544) on :
Sammi-it wasn't a BAD headache, just really annoying. But others have taken it and were fine..... Every person reacts different. Good luck