Reply To: 5 days Valtrex prior to sex

[Westover820]

Thank you. Could you humor me on the mechanics/logic behind it then at least?

I have some background in biology and health so I find this stuff fascinating. Hopefully you can nerd-out with me for a moment on this:

There are steady state levels and there are peak plasma concentrations. But none of this really matters if youre trying to treat current viral activity. So while peak plasma concentrations occur within several hours, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the rumblings going on of the virus in the nerves and potentially towards the skin, have been “resolved“.

So how exactly do you remember them coming to this conclusion?

I have to admit that five days seems like a really long time for it to be effective. Especially if you’re in a phase already where you’re not exactly mid-outbreak. If you’re just relaxing in an asymptomatic time period, I honestly feel like you could probably take it for a day or two and be “good“ as far as transmitting. It’s always bothered me that people say five days because it is so excessively long .

Why do I care so much about this topic?

Because I get severe depression from Valtrex. neuropsychiatric symptoms which apparently have been acknowledged on the Mayo website, but not many other places. Lethargy, lack of motivation, depression, unexplained sadness, etc. It’s absolutely debilitating.

It I know that I’m going to be having sex soon, I don’t want to spend the entire week feeling completely horrible first.