picante
Senior Member
- Messages
- 829
- Location
- Helena, MT USA
Since I started taking Valtrex (500 mg bid) Saturday (3 days ago), this is what I've noticed:
1. Neck spasms are milder, neck lymph channels congested less of the time. (I associate this cluster with immune activation.)
2. Air hunger (and accompanying heart sensations) is less severe and less frequent, so
I still have groggy/foggy brain in the afternoon + inflamed sinuses + blurred vision. (I associate this cluster with neuro-inflammation.)
I noticed some improvements with the first dose. Has anyone heard of an antiviral working this fast?
I took Acyclovir in 2012 for shingles (800 mg every 4 hours), and it reduced all of my ME symptoms for 2 months after the 10-day treatment. But I don't remember it reducing them that quickly!
I had quite the exhausting discussion with an infectious disease doc last week, trying to persuade him to get me tested for more pathogens, as I haven't had tests for most Mycoplasmas or any enteroviruses or even the Varicella zoster that's associated with shingles. No luck there, but...
I managed to reason with him on trying the anti-viral, once he found out about my experience with Acyclovir. He was very resistant. ("There's no evidence that these treatments help ME patients.") I told him that depends on the patient. They help some people and not others. So if you average everybody together, I suppose you've got "no evidence".
1. Neck spasms are milder, neck lymph channels congested less of the time. (I associate this cluster with immune activation.)
2. Air hunger (and accompanying heart sensations) is less severe and less frequent, so
→ I spend less time lying down, I'm more able to do tasks like dishes/laundry, go up stairs
→ I take less potassium → so I don’t need as much Zn and B1, either
3. I’m tolerating more supplemental thyroid. At a tiny dose it was triggering frequent ravenous hunger, but without it, I was having food intolerance/gut-aches. Taking a bitty dose was like flipping a neuro-switch from "No Food, Please" to "Must Eat Now". (Without the thyroid, my TPO antibodies have been in the 1400-1700s, FT3 is tanked, FT4 is low.)→ I take less potassium → so I don’t need as much Zn and B1, either
I still have groggy/foggy brain in the afternoon + inflamed sinuses + blurred vision. (I associate this cluster with neuro-inflammation.)
I noticed some improvements with the first dose. Has anyone heard of an antiviral working this fast?
I took Acyclovir in 2012 for shingles (800 mg every 4 hours), and it reduced all of my ME symptoms for 2 months after the 10-day treatment. But I don't remember it reducing them that quickly!
I had quite the exhausting discussion with an infectious disease doc last week, trying to persuade him to get me tested for more pathogens, as I haven't had tests for most Mycoplasmas or any enteroviruses or even the Varicella zoster that's associated with shingles. No luck there, but...
I managed to reason with him on trying the anti-viral, once he found out about my experience with Acyclovir. He was very resistant. ("There's no evidence that these treatments help ME patients.") I told him that depends on the patient. They help some people and not others. So if you average everybody together, I suppose you've got "no evidence".