Do I Have Herpes

Medicine can suppress herpes

Dear Dr. Donohue: I have a question about Valtrex and genital herpes.

I had a few outbreaks of herpes in a year and was advised to take this medicine daily to suppress them. I have been taking it for two years. It gives me peace of mind, but I worry about permanent side effects. Can you take it less often? Once a week? What happens if I stop taking it completely?

Dear Anon.: The herpes virus lives in an affected person for life. Those who suffer frequent recurrences or painful outbreaks have the option of suppressing those outbreaks by taking Valtrex (valacyclovir), Famvir (famciclovir) or Zovirax (acyclovir).

One method is episodic treatment, taking the medicine only at the first signs or symptoms of an outbreak. A second method is chronic suppressive therapy, the daily use of medicine to prevent outbreaks. The safe length of time for this therapy hasn't been established. A third option is to take no medicine if the outbreaks are not terribly painful or if they do not occur frequently.

Psychological distress and lessening the chance for spreading the virus are two other reasons for suppressive treatment.

No one can predict what will happen if you stop completely. You might have a few yearly occurrences, as you did in the past. Side effects from these drugs include headache, nausea and stomach pain. Serious side effects, which are quite rare, are blood clots, a decrease in blood platelets and kidney damage. Taking the drugs once a week doesn't work

You and your doctor have to decide if daily medication is appropriate for you.

The booklet on herpes explains this common infection and its treatment. Readers can order a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue — No. 1202, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-5475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 U.S./$6 Can. with the recipient's printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.

Dear Dr. Donohue: After two days of sinus headaches, I awoke with double vision. Doctors admitted me to a stroke ward. Then they determined that I had damage to cranial nerve III (3) and partial damage to IV (4). Can you shed some light on what happened?

Dear D.D.: The eyes view objects from a slightly different position. To fuse the images they get into a single picture, the six eye muscles of each eye and the three nerves that control them have to align the eyes in exact positions. If one or more muscles or one or more nerves are out of whack, people see two images.

How To Control Herpes Outbreaks

During the herpes outbreaks, the virus compromise your nervous system. The skin that they come contact with will experience changes in DNA. If you have herpes virus in your body, you will either encounter several episodes in a year or probably only once in your life. Usually you will have to deal with 4 recurrences in a year. The healing process will take about a week or more.

It is a tragedy when you are diagnosed with herpes simplex virus which is responsible for this unpleasant medical condition. What even more depressing is that there is no cure for this contagious disease. The scientists are working hard to find the best treatment. Meantime what you can do is to control the frequency of the outbreak. Reducing the outbreaks is the best way to deal with herpes.

To control the herpes outbreaks, you need to determine what causes the outbreaks in the first place. Not everybody will experience the same trigger. You have to find it for yourself. I have listed several possible triggers that you can use.

In many cases, stress has been identified as the main cause for the herpes episodes. Stress is not something you can get rid of for good. It comes and go.

However, you can reduce your stress level. One way to do that is to evaluate your lifestyle. Is it too hectic to for you? A balanced lifestyle may help to relieve your from unnecessary stress.

If you are a woman and planning to have a baby, you need to think about your child. The chances of the herpes virus affecting the fetus are very small. But it can be serious once the fetus is infected. Seizures and slow brain development are some of the outcomes that your child will experience.

Taking supplements can help to manage the disease effectively. Vitamin C, E and beta-carotene coupled with lysine, an amino acid have shown to accelerate the healing process and reduce the recurrences of the viral attack. Besides relying on supplements, you can increase the consumption of papaya, plain yogurt and whey which contain an abundance of lysine.

Every victim will go through different patterns of herpes outbreaks. It is recommended that you learn as much as possible about it. There are topical solutions can contain the virus. Some of them like Dynamiclear even reduce the outbreaks to the point you may not even have to deal with the symptoms at all. You may be skeptical and wonder if does Dynamiclear work ? No one can give you the perfect answer since each body is different.

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