Dr Myhill not allowed to prescribe Valtrex any more

[tinacarroll27]

Dr Myhill has been treating me with Valtrex for high EBV but this morning got this email from Dr Myhill:

"13 August 2016

We have a problem with me prescribing valacyclovir


Yesterday I attended my annual appraisal. This is something all doctors have to do in order to revalidate with the General Medical Council. The appraisal is done by another doctor who looks at all aspects of one's medical practice to make sure that professional standards are being maintained..


My appraiser was concerned about the idea of me prescribing valacyclovir for EBV post viral chronic fatigue syndromes. Whilst valacyclovir is licensed for acute viral infection it is not licenced for post viral chronic fatigue . What this means is that should anything go wrong, (and that may not even be the prescribing which is at fault), then I would be blamed and be left without any defence. My appraiser would also be part responsible. If I should go ahead and prescribe valaciclovir for post viral CFS then I would not be revalidated and then I would lose all prescribing rights. The fact that I would be following the guidelines as developed by Dr Martin Lerner is of little or no consequence.


The bottom line is that I cannot prescribe valacyclovir for post viral CFS until either the drug company (Glaxo Smith Kline) has a license to use this drug for post viral chronic fatigue syndrome or I can get ethical committee approval to do this.


Of course I shall be writing to the drug company and also to local ethics committee to see this can be put in place.


In the interim I cannot prescribe valacyclovir for post viral chronic fatigue syndrome. This is very disappointing because I now have several patients who have seen marked benefit as a result of this drug in the prevention of viral flares."

Really sad news as I felt it was helping me and for all it has not cured me it did improve my fatigue.

 

[Abha]

Sorry Tina to hear about the stopping of your valacyclovir treatment(under Dr Myhill) for your EBV problem.However, I'm not surprised as such patients are just being left to suffer(under NHS).I also have EBV problems that have never been mentioned under such a system.I'm left to deal with such myself as many others here are doing too..Hopefully for you Dr Myhill/team may be able to reverse such policies but it appears very doubtful.

 

[Hutan]

6 months or so into my ME illness I started getting relentless cold sores. I was prescribed Valtrex to bring them under control.

(It was very effective in doing that. For a while, if I forgot the twice-daily Valtrex for a day or two, I would get a cold sore. But after about 18 months of Valtrex I stopped getting cold sores and haven't had one since. TBH, I'm not sure how much good the Valtrex was for my ME symptoms, but, being cold sore free must have reduced the stress on my body a bit.)

My point here though is, I expect that Valtrex would be approved for the treatment of troublesome cold sores in the UK, as it is in my part of the world. For those with both cold sores and ME, this may be a way around the problem.

 

[Abha]

My point here though is, I expect that Valtrex would be approved for the treatment of troublesome cold sores in the UK, as it is in my part of the world. For those with both cold sores and ME, this may be a way around the problem.

Hi Hutan...I don't know where you live but in the UK GPs(at least in my case) don't prescribe such drugs for cold sores/ME because of the expense involved.At one stage a year or two ago my GP checked up on such a drug(valtrex?) and said it was too expensive.It may be different in other parts of UK but that is my experience.

 

[Hutan]

I don't know where you live but in the UK GPs(at least in my case) don't prescribe such drugs for cold sores/ME because of the expense involved.

I was in Australia at the time. Although the government subsidised it a bit, it was still expensive (and Famvir which I tried for a couple of months (ostensibly still for the cold sores) to see if it was better for my ME symptoms (it wasn't), was even more expensive).

It looks as though Valtrex is readily available in the UK online without a prescription. e.g.
https://www.medexpress.co.uk/clinics/sexual-health/genital-herpes
At 99 pounds for 84 500 mg tablets, it isn't cheap though.

 

[ebethc]

Dr Myhill has been treating me with Valtrex for high EBV but this morning got this email from Dr Myhill:

"13 August 2016

We have a problem with me prescribing valacyclovir

<snip>

Really sad news as I felt it was helping me and for all it has not cured me it did improve my fatigue.

I couldn't tolerate high doses of AV's (GI symptoms), so I started taking high doses of olive leaf extract.... I've found it to be effective without side effects, and it also seems to be reducing inflammation.

I have an integrative doctor who says that Olive Leaf and Andrographis are just as effective for her patients... She's also Rx'ed AV's to ppl who want them, so she's truly open to whatever works for a patient (herbs vs Rx), so I trust her opinion on this.

Two caveats:
#1 . quality matters...I bought a different brand of OLE extract and June and had a big set back. I believe this is due to the extraction process, which can use some chemicals that are likely toxic for me personally. May not matter for others, but for me the brand that work best are Pure Encapsulations and Designs for Health.

#2 . blood pressure may be affected.. not for me, but a heads up in case you have POTS or something that may have the potential to cause a conflict w this course of tx....

here's one of the olive leaf threads on PR, and good luck!
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/olive-leaf-extract.823/