Undcvr-
I gave my doctor a copy of Dr. Lerner's May 2010 paper (it can be accessed for free on his website) and I can't recall exactly the length of time he describes folks being on the antivirals but it's something like 2.4 years average. I've been on Valtrex and Valcyte for about 5 months now, and after bottoming out am finally getting better, very slowly but surely. I was very frustrated by not seeing results in the 2-10 weeks Dr. Lerner writes about in that paper, and decided to stick with it after posting on this site and reading responses from folks like sickofcfs. In Dr. Lerner's October 2010 paper, also accessible on his site, he describes longer times before folks start feeling better, like 5 months.
I invested in a Heart Rate Monitor, which has helped me immensely in seeing the very small, gradual progress I am making. I don't know if I'd find it very useful if I was functioning at a level 7 or so, but I function at about a 4 on Dr. Lerner's scale. The improvement in heart rate (It used to beep constantly if I tried to do something as simple as walking across the house at a normal pace) has been a vivid and objective measure of improvement. I have also found that using the HRM helps me to figure out when a crash is coming and to avoid it, as I tend to just try to work my way through being tired. Now that I'm getting better I'm using the HRM to help make sure I don't overdo it, because when I started feeling better a few weeks ago I kept overdoing it because I was feeling better and then I would crash for several days and wonder if I was really getting better or whether I had imagined feeling better and was just fooling myself.
I have also found a significant reduction in formerly chronic low-grade ENT infections with the antivirals. Chronic ear, sinus, eye, tonsil and gum infections, some of which I've had for 40 years, are basically gone.
It seems to me that if you aren't having any significant side effects from the medication and you can arrange it with your doctor, it would be worth it to extend your trial period on the Valcyte before determining whether or not it's helping you.
Good luck with it all.
Alice