valaciclovir 500mg tablets

Acute treatment for each outbreak :-

You take one valaciclovir 500mg tablet twice a day for 5 days.

Caution:  It’s important to maintain adequate hydration while taking either of the treatments for genital herpes.

If you have six or more recurrent outbreaks of genital herpes a year or if your symptoms are very severe and causing you distress, you can take valaciclovir every day on a long-term basis. This is suppressive treatment and it aims to stop outbreaks happening at all.

How often do I take suppressive treatment?

You take one valaciclovir 500mg tablet once daily.

The treatment is continued for six to 12 months. Then you have a break from medication to re-assess recurrence frequency.  Suppressive treatment may be restarted if you have further severe outbreaks.
Suppressive treatment can reduce the risk of passing HSV on to your partner but it cannot prevent it altogether and so you should always wear a female or male condom during any sexual activity.
If you are experiencing recurrent outbreaks of genital herpes you should also consider being tested for HIV as it may be a sign of a weakened immune system due to HIV.

Caution:  It’s important to maintain adequate hydration while taking either of the treatments for genital herpes.

Common side-effects:-
Abdominal pain
Nausea and vomiting
Fatigue
Headache
Diarrhoea
Light sensitivity
Itchy skin and rashes
 

Valaciclovir is a "prodrug" meaning it is converted into aciclovir by the body. The effectiveness is similar but valaciclovir is better absorbed by the body and therefore can be taken less often. Valaciclovir is also known by the brand name Valtrex. Valtrex is much more expensive than valaciclovir but both are identical medically are equally effective.

Whereas the treatment for each separate outbreak of genital herpes is one aciclovir 400mg tablet three times a day for a total of 5 days you only have to take one valaciclovir 500mg tablet twice a day for 5 days.

For suppressive treatment you have to take one aciclovir 400mg tablet twice a day but only one valaciclovir 500mg tablet daily.

Patient Information Leaflet for Valaciclovir 500mg tablets