Valtrex

[Adjusting1]

Hi - I had posted an earlier thread titled timeline for seroconversion.  I had some remaining questions at the end of that thread and had not seen a response on them.  I am posting a new question containing those questions plus one additional.  To summarize the previous conversation....I have a Western Blot positive for HSV2, have never had any symptoms.  My partner has not been tested and I'm unsure I can convince him to get tested.  We continue to have unprotected sex.  I am now taking Valtrex daily.  The questions I had posted before are copied and pasted here:

Thanks. I have started daily Valtrex to reduce the risk of transmission to him. After much discussion, he has agreed, reluctantly, to find out his status. If he's positive for HSV 2, I'll discontinue the med. If he's negative I will keep taking it. I got your book recently and will I'm sure get a lot of information (and much needed strategies for getting my head around this) from the book. Two final questions for you:
1. Am I correct that my chance of transmitting to him is around 3 percent in a year of unprotected sex, and the Valtrex drops the risk by half?
2. My internist mentioned the idea that I might not have had any symptom or outbreak because my body might have effectively cleared all of the virus from my system. Your thoughts about that?
Thank you for all of your help.

My other question has to do with Valtrex side effects.  Since I started taking the medication I feel an upset stomach, bloating and gas daily with some gastrointestinal upset.  Can I expect these side effects to decrease as I continue to take the medication?

Thanks again.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

You're welcome, for sure.
Terri

[Adjusting1]

No, I live in the south. Thanks much for the ideas how to reduce side effects...I will definitely try those ideas. If I can get my partner to follow through on testing, I will let you know his results. Thanks again!

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

1.  The usual quoted rate is about 4%, and valtrex cuts it by half, that's correct.  
2.  I think your internist is completely misinformed as to how herpes viruses work and behave in the human body.  All eight human herpes virus share the characteristic of life long latency in the human body.  You can't clear the virus from your system.  Sometimes people with low positive index values write me that they have cleared the virus, gone from a positive to a negative value!  But that's really because their ELISA result was a false positive the first time (low positive) and the second time the test was correctly negative or a confirmatory test such as western bot was negative.  For you, with a positive western blot, you need to believe that you are both infected and infectious to others.  I'm quite shocked that you internist would be so uninformed but this is not the first time I've heard such an error made.  

There are a few things you can do to try to reduce these symptoms.  Take your medicine at might rather than in the AM.  That way, you may notice those side effects less.  Another thing you could do is to cut the dose in half and gradually increase to the therapeutic dose.  For most everyone, these side effects go away in a few weeks.

I'll be interested in the results of your partner's test results.  

Do you live in Portland?

Terri