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Share your experience: submit a drug review
Below are Valtrex (Valacyclovir) reviews, ratings, comments submitted by patients and caregivers. Based on a total of 15 ratings/reviews, Valtrex has an overall score of 8.67. The effectiveness score is 8.93 and the side effect score is 8.53. The scores are on ten point scale: 10 - best, 1 - worst. This information is not vetted and should not be cosidered as clinical evidence. | | Valtrex review by 59 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | |  |
| Effectiveness: | | Highly Effective |
| Side effects: | | No Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | shingles |
| Dosage & duration: | | 1000 mg (generic) taken 4 times a day for the period of still taking at 800 mg 3 times a day |
| Other conditions: | | developed Ramsay-Hunt syndrome prior to mega doses of acyclovir |
| Other drugs taken: | | acupril 20 mg od, estratest hs od | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | Prior to starting 1000 mg acyclovir QID, I was taking the standard 200 mg 5 times a day regimin. I devloped the shingles in the 5th cranial nerve. I had lesions following the entire nerve roots across my face, but had them internally as well. There were lesions in the ear canal, the side of my tongue and down my throat. I had taken a flu shot and had exposure to sun, as well as starting 2 new jobs about the same time as the first onset. I developed 1 blister which I thought was herpes. I had not had a herpes outbreak in years. I started the acyclovir and noticed more and different complaints every day. I first got a lesion on the entrance to the ear canal and more accompanying the first one on my lower chin. Then my lower teeth began to become painful, as if I had a great toothache. After about 4 days, I began to feel exhausted and unable to snap out of my fatigue. The next day I awoke and had a sensation that my mouth was not fully moving. Later the eye began to remain open and would not blink. The 3rd day of these symtoms, I devloped total paralysis of the left face. I saw 1 of my doctors immediately. He gave me a cortisone shot and told me the dose of acyclovir to take. He said it was bell's palsey. A friend called and said it was Ramsay-Hunt. I was on bedrest from Mid October until 2 weeks ago. I have very little stamina, and slowly I am getting more energy. The latest addition to my medication arsenal was Alpha-lipoic acid. I had statrted lysine and red marine algae. I stopped coffe, soda, most meat and ate only what little I cooked or made myself. I am pleased that most of my facial functions have returned, with the exception of the eye bliking completely, and a slight difference in my smile. I take at least 1 dose of ibuprophen every day due to neuralgia or a sense of swelling in my left face. |
| Side effects: | | I did not notice any. |
| Comments: | | acyclovir, rest. PRN doses of ibuprophen. Tape eye shut and use of moisture drops. |
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| | Valtrex review by 31 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | |  |
| Effectiveness: | | Considerably Effective |
| Side effects: | | Moderate Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | Herpes |
| Dosage & duration: | | 500mg taken once per day for the period of 1 month |
| Other conditions: | | none |
| Other drugs taken: | | none | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | Was taking this drug for herpes suppression. It is recommended by some to take an antiviral for one year after the initial outbreak so as to have less outbreaks over one's lifetime. I did get an outbreak while on the drug, however it was during a very stressful time so that is understandable. Also, it is nice that only one dose is needed per day for most people. |
| Side effects: | | Side effects included mild hair loss (had much more hair loss on acyclovir), random dry heaving (retching) for no apparent reason, and headaches. Although it seems that when I drink lots of water the headaches are fewer. |
| Comments: | | Took one pill per day at the same time everyday. It does and will stain things so be careful of the blue dye. |
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| | Valtrex review by 26 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Highly Effective |
| Side effects: | | Moderate Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | herpes |
| Dosage & duration: | | ? (dosage frequency: once weekly) for the period of 2 years |
| Other conditions: | | none |
| Other drugs taken: | | N/A | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | With the valtrex I was treat coldsores only and could aviod break outs yr long. If i stopped I was garenteed to get one |
| Side effects: | | I was taking them on an empty stomach and developed ulsers and Heart burn, acid reflux |
| Comments: | | pill form, once a day. But now because of side affects I only take it once a week or when needed. |
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| | Valtrex review by 43 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Considerably Effective |
| Side effects: | | No Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | Chronic Cold Sores |
| Dosage & duration: | | 4 Tablets then another 4 in 12 hours taken first sign of the cold sore for the period of 3 Separate Break Outs |
| Other conditions: | | None |
| Other drugs taken: | | None | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | The first time I took it the cold sore ended up just slightly smaller than they usually are. The second time it was about 1/2 the size. The third time it got red and itchy but it didn't actually blister. The forth time I didn't take the medication because it was only the size of a small pimple. I used to get them about every 4 to 6 weeks but the last one came about 4 months after the previous one. |
| Side effects: | | No side effects at all. |
| Comments: | | You take 4 pills as soon as you can tell the cold sore is beginning and then 4 pills 12 hours later. |
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| | Valtrex review by 40 year old male patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Moderately Effective |
| Side effects: | | No Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | herpes |
| Dosage & duration: | | 500 mg taken 2 times a day for the period of 10 days |
| Other conditions: | | none |
| Other drugs taken: | | none | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | To lessen the severity of an onset or outbreak of genital herpes. |
| Side effects: | | I had no noticable side effects to taking the medication. |
| Comments: | | I started taking the medication at the first signs of an outbreak (usually a brief sharp pain at the site). The medication seemed to shorten the actual outbreak time and lessened the pain and discomfort. |
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| | Valtrex review by 42 year old male patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Highly Effective |
| Side effects: | | No Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | genital herpes |
| Dosage & duration: | | 1 pill per day taken once a day for the period of three years and ongoing |
| Other conditions: | | none |
| Other drugs taken: | | none | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | |
After having this virus for many years I resolved that I was going to look for a possible suppressant. As the medical community acknowledges once you have contacted the virus it will be awaiting an opportunity to break through - especially in times of stress or tiredness. Prior to taking Valtrex I was having a viral herpes attack for about 10 days at a time at least four times a year, sometimes 8 times a year.
Valtrex is an amazing drug!
My experience has been that if you take a tablet each day you will not transmit the virus to your
partner provided that you pay attention to the first signs of the virus and abstain from intimate sexual encounters for five days or so or until you can feel or see no more signs of the virus.
To be honest it frustrates me that so many people suffer from this virus but are not informed as to how to treat the problem.
Hope this helps and gives encouragement. For me it has been on par with a miracle.
Since taking the drug once daily I have had one only one potential outbreak in the past two and a half years- at the onset of the potential outbreak I increased the dose to 3 tablets a day twice a day day for four days. This treatment suppressed the outbreak and the symptoms which I felt appeared very slightly and then disappeared within 48 hours.
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| Side effects: | | To be honest I have had no side effects that I can determine. |
| Comments: | | 1 tablet a day in the morning.
If symptoms beginning 3 tablets three times a day for 5 days or until symptoms have disappeared. |
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| | Valtrex review by 45 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Highly Effective |
| Side effects: | | No Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | cold sores |
| Dosage & duration: | | 4 tablets by mouth/twice daily taken whenever i felt a coldsore coming on for the period of have been using for 3 years |
| Other conditions: | | none |
| Other drugs taken: | | none | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | as soon as I took my first dose, as long as it was during the pre-sore/tingling stage, and continued to my second dose .... my cold sore never really appeared.
Or, if my coldsore had already started ... and I took my valtrex, the "blister" would not get any larger and would go away in half the time if I wasn't taking this medication |
| Side effects: | | There were no side effects at all. |
| Comments: | | Same as the treatment benefits. Preventative, if I could catch the coldsore before it broke thru, as well as successful in reducing the length of time and size of the coldsore itself. |
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| | Valtrex review by 54 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Highly Effective |
| Side effects: | | Mild Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | Herpes |
| Dosage & duration: | | 500 mg taken 1 per day for the period of still taking it |
| Other conditions: | | none |
| Other drugs taken: | | none | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | It drastically reduced breakouts all over my body therefore I did not constantly have flu like symptoms because of the breakouts. So even under stressful life events which usually results with a breakout the Valtrax stopped or reduced the frequency of breakouts. So far I have only been taking 1 per day and I have not had any breakouts for a month. |
| Side effects: | | It initially made me feel tired and lethargic. I believe it contributed to a short bout of stomach upset and heavy bowel movements however this problem subsided fairly quickly. I think it also contributes to my eyes feeling dryer than usual. Since I am post menopausal dry eyes is a huge problem. |
| Comments: | | I was supposed to take 2 tablets a day 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening. I followed this regimen for 1 and a half weeks then I decided to reduce the dosage myself to 1 per day. I checked with the ND and she said that protocol could be followed unless I felt that I was going to have a breakout then go back to 2 a day. I can take up to 4 per day if needed however so far the 1 per day has worked well for me. |
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| | Valtrex review by 25 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Considerably Effective |
| Side effects: | | Mild Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | cold sores |
| Dosage & duration: | | 500 mg taken twice a day for the period of 7 days |
| Other conditions: | | none |
| Other drugs taken: | | none | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | Valtrex tablets work by stopping the multiplication of the virus which causes herpes. They can reduce the length and severity of an outbreak of herpes, the duration of pain and shorten the time to healing of crusts associated with herpes. Valtrex tablets help the blisters to heal more quickly. If you start
taking them as soon as you feel an outbreak starting, you may actually
prevent the blisters from developing. |
| Side effects: | | I did not have any "observable" or noticeable side effects while taking Valtrex. However, I was forewarned that Valtrex has the following side effects: headache, gastrointestinal discomfort such as vomiting, nausea, diarrhoea,constipation, abdominal pain,indigestion). Also because I was taking Valtrex to prevent outbreaks triggered by laser treatments, I was advised that Valtrex causes sensitivity to UV light and my skin would be much more vulnerable to sunburn even during very short exposure to UV light. |
| Comments: | | I took Valtrex before a laser treatment to prevent the outbreak of cold sores or herpes virus. The first laser treatment without taking Valtrex caused a herpes/cold sores breakout on my face around the chin area. After consulting with my physician, he prescribed Valtrex to prevent the outbreaks in future laser treatments. I learned that the laser triggered the herpes outbreak, since the virus is in a dormant state until it is disturbed and activated by the laser. I was prescribed 500 mg of Valtrex to be taken 3 days before the treatment, the day of the treatment and three days after the treatment, for a total of seven days. I took the medication twice a day and started this seven day regime each and every time I had a laser treatment to prevent any outbreaks. |
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| | Valtrex review by 27 year old male patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Highly Effective |
| Side effects: | | Mild Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | Cold sores |
| Dosage & duration: | | 500mg taken as needed for the period of indefinitely |
| Other conditions: | | none |
| Other drugs taken: | | none | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | This particular treatment effectively eliminated all visible symptoms of oral herpes. In my case, the symptoms were increasingly worse. I would have an outbreak every two months that would last 14-18 days. Since treatment, I have not had one outbreak. Two years and counting. |
| Side effects: | | Fatigue, and possible water retention. I, nor my doctor monitored water retention or weight gain, but I am fairly self-aware. The doctor did mention possible fatigue and/or nausea. |
| Comments: | | Taken as needed when stress levels increase or over-exposure to sun. |
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| | Valtrex review by 33 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Considerably Effective |
| Side effects: | | No Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | Facial Herpes Simplex |
| Dosage & duration: | | 500 mg twice a day taken as needed, not regularly for the period of As needed for 6 years |
| Other conditions: | | None |
| Other drugs taken: | | None | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | By taking the pills anytime I feel the vaguest possibility that I might be getting a cold sore, I was able to reduce the number of outbreaks. The outbreaks that I do have (if, for example, I don't take the Valtrex in time) seem not as bad as they would be without the Valtrex. The outbreaks seem somehow less... viral. As in, the sores may still form, but the entire process of blistering/opening/scabbing doesn't feel quite as much like my face is a nuclear radiation site. |
| Side effects: | | None |
| Comments: | | I get horrible outbreaks in the center of my chin-- usually 5-8 sores clustered together all at once; really awful-looking. I'm aware of the things that trigger them, so when I realize there's a chance I might have an outbreak, even if I haven't felt the tingling yet, I'll take a couple of Valtrex and then I don't have an outbreak at all. I can't say for sure that it's the Valtrex stopping it (i.e. maybe I wouldn't have had an outbreak anyway in some cases) but it seems that way to me, and in any case it's nice to have some sense of control over the situation. Even though my outbreaks are awful, they only happen about 2x/year so I haven't felt it necessary to take the daily preventative pills. |
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| | Valtrex review by 36 year old male patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Highly Effective |
| Side effects: | | Moderate Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | Cold sore on side of face |
| Dosage & duration: | | 500 mg taken 1 tablet 2 times a day for the period of 7 days |
| Other conditions: | | None |
| Other drugs taken: | | None | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | Drastically reduced the amount of time the cold sores were present on the side of face. Medication also made the cold sore break out less servere. |
| Side effects: | | Side effects included initial headache until the body got used to the medication. Some dizziness and nausea was experienced, but minor. |
| Comments: | | Treatment included medication 2 times a day. Instructions were to keep the area around the cold sore clean and to not touch the cold sore directly with hands. This would ensure the spread of the cold sores was minimized. |
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| | Valtrex review by 41 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Highly Effective |
| Side effects: | | Mild Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | Herpes |
| Dosage & duration: | | 500mg taken 1 per day for the period of 3 years |
| Other conditions: | | None |
| Other drugs taken: | | Multi Vitamin | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | I used to have at least 3 herpes outbreaks in the course of a year. These would interfere with personal time with my spouse, backpacking trips, day to day comfort. In the time I have taken Valtrex I have not had one outbreak, and don't have to think about it any longer. |
| Side effects: | | In the first weeks 2-3 I would have frequent low grade headaches, and a generally tired feeling. But after I got used to the medication I didn't have any side effects. |
| Comments: | | Took one 500mg pill every morning. That's it. |
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| | Valtrex review by 42 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Moderately Effective |
| Side effects: | | Mild Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | Herpes |
| Dosage & duration: | | unsure (dosage frequency: once per day) for the period of 2 weeks |
| Other conditions: | | none |
| Other drugs taken: | | none | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | The product was used to clear up a primary outbreak of herpes. It was said to speed up the process of healing. I took the product for the prescribed amount of time and can say that it did shorten the timeframe in half. |
| Side effects: | | The first coupel of day, there was nausausness and some tiredness. |
| Comments: | | take one pill orally once per day for two weeks. |
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| | Valtrex review by 44 year old female patient | | | Rating |
| Overall rating: | | |
| Effectiveness: | | Highly Effective |
| Side effects: | | No Side Effects | | |
Treatment Info |
| Condition / reason: | | herpes cold sores around mouth and nose |
| Dosage & duration: | | 2,000MG day and night for one day taken a couple times a month for the period of 10 years |
| Other conditions: | | none |
| Other drugs taken: | | none | | |
Reported Results |
| Benefits: | | When I feel or see the signs of a cold sore coming, I take the valtrex and it is gone without a trace within 24 hours. |
| Side effects: | | none |
| Comments: | | You need to take the valtrex immediately after feeling the start of a sore for maximum effectiveness. If you wait until you have a red lump or blister, the valtrex will speed the healing, but will not eliminate the sore, which may last 7-10 days. |
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