@
SOC has I think mostly answered this question, @
Gingergrrl43, explaining that Valcyte is a medication with potentially serious side effects, and so you'd want to think carefully about using it. But Valcyte does get results in ME/CFS patients, as it is significantly stronger than many of the other herpes family virus antivirals, and is effective for a wide range of herpes viruses.
The main herpes family antivirals used in ME/CFS are the following:
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Antiviral Drugs for Herpes Family Viruses
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Valtrex (valacyclovir) · · · EBV, VZV, HSV-1, HSV-2
Famvir (famciclovir) · · · · EBV, VZV, HSV-1, HSV-2
Valcyte (valganciclovir) · · EBV, HHV-6, CMV, VZV, HSV-1, HSV-2
Vistide (cidofovir)· · · · · EBV, HHV-6, CMV, VZV, HSV-1, HSV-2
Falcigo (artesunate) · · · · EBV, HHV-6, CMV, HSV-1
Nexavir· · · · · · · · · · · EBV, HHV-6
Foscavir (foscarnet) · · · · HHV-6, CMV, HSV-1, HSV-2
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Source:
here.
Note: the drugs in red above have potentially serious side effects.
Note: Valtrex (valacyclovir) is the prodrug of Zovirax (acyclovir)
Famvir (famciclovir) is the prodrug of Denavir (penciclovir)
Cytovene (ganciclovir) is the prodrug of Valcyte (valganciclovir)
As you can see, for EBV you can use Valtrex, Famvir, Nexavir or artesunate, which are pretty safe drugs, and are usually quite well tolerated (ie, you don't feel bad when you take them). Though they are not as strong as Valcyte.
Note that as far as viral testing is concerned, you don't always need high viral titers to benefit from an antiviral. There are people on this forum who have not had high herpes family virus titers, yet have still done well on Valcyte.
And indeed, in
this study by Dr Jose Montoya on ME/CFS patients with HHV-6 or EBV infections, he found that Valcyte treatment was just as effective in patients with mildly elevated viral titers as it was in patients with highly elevated viral titers.