February 6, 2015 at 11:06 pm #3582

Participant

Hi Terri,
Thanks for your previous help. I would like to ask my third question now.

I went off the Valtrex (1 gram daily dose), for the most part, a few weeks ago. I did take 250 mg (cut some 500 mg tablets I had in half) per day, probably foolishly thinking that perhaps a small amount would protect me/reduce shedding to some extent.

I developed a very active cold sore overnight, and this morning my (nearly 14 month old) son touched my mouth/the sore twice, and then immediately rubbed his eye. What is the risk of him developing ocular herpes from this type of exposure? And for what sort of symptoms should I watch (I’m guessing actual blisters, redness of the eye, etc)?

Ironically, I went to a new (my former) OB yesterday, as the OB I had been seeing wanted me to transfer to a high-risk doctor, since I will be 40 years old by time of delivery. I couldn’t get into the high-risk dr for another month, however, and I needed to have an initial ultrasound, to check on the baby and heartbeat, so I just went back to the OB-GYN I had seen for my last pregnancy. (I only switched from him because he is the busiest OB in town, has less time for his patients, and the wait times to see him are extremely long.) This OB said there is no issue with taking Valtrex, even now (still in first trimester). He did recommend that I drop from the 1 gram dose to 500 mg/day, and he even wrote me a prescription for the 500 mg suppression dose. He said the medicine is safe during pregnancy, and that if I am worried about transmission to my son, he would advise that I take it. Of course, that doesn’t help me now with regard to today’s incident, but it is very interesting how opinions can differ across doctors. Admittedly, this doctor is known to be less cautious than the other OB, but he is also very experienced (again, has the most patients of any doctor in town). And by the way, the baby looked great on the ultrasound!

Anyway, please let me know about the risk to my (nearly 14 month old) son from today’s exposure. I am very worried about him developing ocular herpes as a primary infection.

Thank you!