Hi there! Which is better - Valtrex or Acyclovir?
I usually use Acyclovir for my cold sores and this works pretty good for me if I catch an out break in time... but is Valtrex better? Just wondering!

For coldsores you should not really take RXs unless you have an actual outbreak. Coldsores are minor and can be taken care of with supplements. One supplement I do recommend is lysine. Others will recommend garlic oil and oil of oregano. You should also take vitamin c to promote a healthy immune system. You should also eat a healthy diet and avoid the trigger foods.

Popcorn
peanuts
caffeine
hot sauce

STRESS*

PS. The answer to your question is NONE. The drug companies make a killing on these and they are not any better than supplements. GOOD LUCK in your choices.

Lysineuser - Thank you for your reply. I have used the supplement lysine in the past and it just has not worked for me. My outbreaks are usually 3-5 times a year and are quite severe. They end up probably bigger than the size of a nickel, collectively. Ever since I have started using Acyclovir at the first sign of a breakout (the tingling and burning sensation) I usually can catch it in time where it doesn't even form blisters. But if it gets to the point where I see the little red dots forming (maybe the tingling sensation was in my sleep so I missed it!), it is too late, but still the Acyclovir shortens the cycle to like 1/2 the time. Why is it bad to use Rx?
I take a multi-vitamin, a vitamin B complex, and a vitamin E (1000 IUs) daily. I have never been able to link a breakout to a food, or at least a food alone. I can almost count on an outbreak if I have been highly stressed or emotionally upset. My last breakout was about a week ago when I was working at the restaurant on a busy night. I am new so I don't have everything down pat, and this other server was being SOOO mean to me cussing me out because I wasn't doing my side work right or some crap like that. At the same time, I had 4 demanding tables at one time and was just REALLY STRESSED!! I felt like I was doing nothing right! Half-way through my shift I go to the bathroom and I see two little red bumps under my bottom lip, and by the end of the night, they are 2 HUGE blisters!! UGH!! Well, since this job is just a second job for extra money, I was like this is NOT worth the stress. I have a REAL day job which I love and this job and that mean girl can kiss my you-know-what. She happened to be the team leader that night of the section I was working in and she's in charge of making sure everyone does their side work and cleans their section good before they go home. Because if you don't do it, the team leader has to do what the other servers did not finish. She kept saying to me over and over again "Don't forget to sweep under your table" and "have you rolled your silverware yet?" "blah blah blah"...like I was some sort of auditorily challenged person. Well, I decided to quit so I told the manager "I can't take this anymore, people here are too mean, I'm quitting", and walked out without even finishing my side work or cleaning my tables and stuff. So I got her back, but still suffered a week's worth of coldsores!! It's finally going away now though, thankfully.
Okay, sorry that was a BIG tangent, but you know how it goes.
To me, the biggest pain of all during an outbreak is not being able to kiss my boyfriend!!!! It's torture, LOL!

According to what I read in the pdr (Physicians desk reference on meds) Valtrex is actually a more potient form of acyclovir. THey are similar drugs yet dosing is much easier with Valtrex.

Dear Tigershine, I am so sorry to hear that you broke out. It sucks when people treat you like ****. For me I have not had another outbreak since my first outbreak. I have been taking lysine and watching what I eat. I realize that food plays a big part in the tingling sensation (a sensation one cannot mistake). Which type do you have HSV1 or HSV2? Have you try oil of oregano or garlic pills? Alot of people on this board said that they are great. You should try grinding lysine pills and mixing it with vaseline or vitamin e oil and placing it on your blister. It will speed the healing process. A friend of mine does that and it works. I just don't think that medications are the way for cold sores but that is just my opinion. You should see what others have to say about the issue. GOOD LUCK! I am here if you need support.

lisa

1badgirl - Thanks for the info! I was pretty sure that was the case, just wanted to hear if people had any better experiences with one or the other. I am tempted to try Valtrex, but you know the saying "If it's not broke, don't fix it!" LOL :)

Lisa - Thanks for the support! It's nice to know that people understand where you are coming from. I actually have HSV1. I have not tried oil of oregano or garlic pills. I will have to give those a try. Should I take them together? Do you take those on top of taking Lysine? There are now a couple little bumps around my healing coldsores that look like little zits, do think they are new cold sores forming or just zits from applying Abreva like 3 times a day? Maybe my pores are just clogged from it. Sorry for all the questions! Thanks again!! :angel:

Again I am not one for medicine so I cannot answer your question on abreva. Oil of oregano and garlic pills (I guess you can take them together). I take Lysine, vitamin C, Vitamin E and super vitamin B Complex. To me, it is all about strengthening your immune system so that the virus does not immerge. As for the pimple like things that are coming up over your outbreak, they could be pimples or they could be another outbreak. You should since it is natural...grind some lysine and mix it with vitamin E or vaseline and rub it on it. It is worth a try and you don't have to use unnecessary medications. GOOD LUCk!


PS. Another thing I do to make sure that my lips are protected is that I put on Blistex (All but mainly the one in the blue container) daily and before bed. Especially in the winter.

I believe that there is also an acyclovir topical cream...have you tried that? Does Abreva help? I don't have cold sores but my BF gets them and they get huge too...like the size of a nickle too!!!!!! I wanted him to try Abreve because nothing is helping...they last over 2 weeks everytime he gets one!!!:confused:

Tigershine,

Wow - your approach to managing HSV1 cold sores is just like mine. I've had teh f*#$&@ckers for 22 years now - I'm 32, and without management, they get huge - at least the size of a nickel, but easily a quarter. So at the first sign of a sore (which happens about 7-8 times a year) I take about 600 mg of acyclovir, and as long as I get it at the very start of the outbreak, it stops it in its tracks, and it won't get any bigger. If some of the blisters have begun to swell, I'm screwed, but while the blisters will swell, it will still stop new blisters from forming.

I've found that valtrex isn't useful because it's a delayed-release formula. When I see a cold sore forming, I need a quick hit of medication - so the acyclovir is important because it isn't delayed-release.

Since I only have cold sores on the mouth, and not down south, I don't feel that I need daily preventive therapy. I'd rather limit the meds to when the blisters begin to form, rather than taking them every day. I'd probably feel differently about that if I had genital herpes - which would really be awful.

When I use acyclovir for cold sores, I only use it for 24 hours. I've found that taking more than 2 initial doses (1200 mg) doesn't help the sore heal any faster. It's always a 2 week wait for it to heal.

I tried lysine, but it does nothing for me. I think that when you are genetically predisposed to multiple bouts of cold sores, the meds are the best route. When I started getting them at 10 (before I ever kissed a guy - I probably got it from my family like in sharing utensils or something because they all have them), before I discovered acyclovir, the darn things would start at the corner of my mouth and crawl all the way up to the side of my nose. I twas so disgusting! The acyclovir has really put an end to all that.

Since I started getting shingles outbreaks last year (have had it 4 times this year), I discovered that acyclovir works in the same way for shingles. Take a large dose at the onset of symptoms (you quickly learn to recognize them!) and the shingles outbreak will be halted.

I guess i should be counting my lucky stars and knocking on wood that I have only had one initial outbreak and that was so minor that I don't think anything bad of coldsores. Maybe I think that lysine works but in reality it probably does not because I might be one of those people who only get one outbreak and none after that? Is there a such thing as really bad HSV1 and Mild HSV1? Hearing how huge your sores are freaks me out but again I believe it is what you eat. How do you think our ancestors dealt with their coldsores back then? Home remedies. That is what they did and they dealt with it the best way they knew how. I know this sounds very disgusting but I have read that a couple of people use earwax at the first sign of a cold sore and it never appears. Yeah I know that sounds disgusting. Let me know if anything at all (other than meds) has worked for you.

EARWAX???????!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT?????? That's a new one!!!!:dizzy: There's also an old treatment for stys in your eye that's to simply rub a gold wedding band on the sty and it goes away...I have personally tried it and believe it or not, IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!

I think I am going to try Valtrex, just because I hear it stops spread to a partner. To be honest, herpes doesn't bother me at all in the physical way, because all I have is a little red line on my penis that although is consistent, doesn't hurt at all. It just looks unattractive. The only thing that bothers me about herpes is that I hate relationships, I love one night stands, and will never get to experience one again.