Valacyclovir (Valtrex) Shortage?

[Jackal]

Is anyone else dependant on Valacyclovir having a problem sourcing it?

I've been buying boxes of Valtrex 500mg x 42 for years without problems from 4NRX until they went out of stock about 6months ago and reporting supplier can no longer provide.
Reluctantly I starting buying from Buy-Pharma (hassle with Bitcoin I cba with), but had to get 1000mg x21 and cut/snap in half. They now tell me they are out of stock and supplier can no longer provide any more.

Same response from an enquiry to PharmacyGeoff.

Of the other online pharmacies the prices are anything from 2x to 4x more expensive for the same thing.

I'm assuming these shortages are due to the, er...."mysterious" reactivation in so many of shingles/Herpes Simplex related problems, but not actually sure how the whole pharmaceutical supply chain operates, so could be wide of the mark there.

So, is anyone else experiencing the same problems with supply of Valacyclovir?

Does anyone kindly have a decent online pharmacy recommendation charging normal prices (£36-38/$41-44) who deliver to the UK please?

I wouldn't care, I'm currently having the best time of it, physically, that I've had in years, the last thing I need is a crash for lack of meds! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I do have a back up of a months worth Acyclovir (Lovir) but feel strongly that Valtrex works better for me. I'm also bricking it that Valacyclovir becomes unobtainable at an affordable price because you simply can't get any meds at all prescribed for ME on the NHS in the UK.

 

[hapl808]

Is Valtrex the main thing you attribute to your current health? Hope you're able to source it.

 

[heapsreal]

Is anyone else dependant on Valacyclovir having a problem sourcing it?

I've been buying boxes of Valtrex 500mg x 42 for years without problems from 4NRX until they went out of stock about 6months ago and reporting supplier can no longer provide.
Reluctantly I starting buying from Buy-Pharma (hassle with Bitcoin I cba with), but had to get 1000mg x21 and cut/snap in half. They now tell me they are out of stock and supplier can no longer provide any more.

Same response from an enquiry to PharmacyGeoff.

Of the other online pharmacies the prices are anything from 2x to 4x more expensive for the same thing.

I'm assuming these shortages are due to the, er...."mysterious" reactivation in so many of shingles/Herpes Simplex related problems, but not actually sure how the whole pharmaceutical supply chain operates, so could be wide of the mark there.

So, is anyone else experiencing the same problems with supply of Valacyclovir?

Does anyone kindly have a decent online pharmacy recommendation charging normal prices (£36-38/$41-44) who deliver to the UK please?

I wouldn't care, I'm currently having the best time of it, physically, that I've had in years, the last thing I need is a crash for lack of meds! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I do have a back up of a months worth Acyclovir (Lovir) but feel strongly that Valtrex works better for me. I'm also bricking it that Valacyclovir becomes unobtainable at an affordable price because you simply can't get any meds at all prescribed for ME on the NHS in the UK.

Alldaychemist.com

 

[Jackal]

Alldaychemist.com

Awesome, thank you my friend.

Do you know, I thought I'd tried just about everyone on this list, don't know how I missed it!

https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...thy-prescription-free-online-pharmacies.8113/

 

[Jackal]

Is Valtrex the main thing you attribute to your current health? Hope you're able to source it.

Yes. Without question.

+Diet
+Quercetin

Initially, I took it for a few months to see results, around 4 I think (I was on the verge of quitting).
500mg x6 daily.
My GP is pretty cool, although he won't prescribe it for me he orders quarterly liver/kidney function blood tests to keep an eye on possible side-effects. I've been fine for a few years now, no adverse effects.

I've stopped taking it twice and both times had relapses to bed-ridden, and on third and fourth occasions, reduced the dosage (due to cost at the time) and my endurance significantly fell off.

I don't know if I'm just less special, but my trigger virus seems to be VZV rather than EBV, so Valacyclovir working for me makes sense. My biggest worry is that they get somewhere near a cure and it excludes me!

I take a few supplements, usual suspects turned up in blood tests, Vit D, Folate, Calcium, but also take Fish Oils, B vitamins etc.

Recently, the other thing that has given me a significant boost is upping my dosage of Quercetin. Taking 1500mg daily currently (well spaced from B vitamins). I was trialling Resveratrol and read a published paper that that claimed Quercetin was of complimentary benefit so I upped it. Turns out the Resveratrol didn't work (making me more tired at 340mg daily) but the Quercetin dosage change did! I'm planning on giving the Revesatrol another go at lower dose.

So yeah, can't live without Valacyclovir/Acyclovir, and Quercetin makes a big difference. I still couldn't hold down a job, but went from severe to moderate (often the mild end of ), but then these are just physical effects, the cognitive stuff seems to have no rhyme or reason past a certain point of improvement ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Tammy]

I've stopped taking it twice and both times had relapses to bed-ridden, and

How long were you off the Valacyclovir before you noticed symptoms coming back?

Was 500 mg x 6 daily the dosage you took to begin with or did you work up to that dose?

Also, Is this your daily maintenance dose?

 

[hapl808]

I've stopped taking it twice and both times had relapses to bed-ridden, and on third and fourth occasions, reduced the dosage (due to cost at the time) and my endurance significantly fell off.

Thanks, that's very interesting and obviously more convincing when there's a repeated observed connection. Is there a reason you think VZV? I'm pretty sure I got chickenpox in high school and then EBV in college, but my serious health problems didn't really start until getting some kind of virus in SE Asia (enterovirus maybe).

Quercetin has helped me a bit in the past, although I think I never took more than 800mg in a day. My doctor did suggest trying it again, so that's something I may experiment with.

Thanks for the info on the Valtrex. I have only tried natural antivirals (monolaurin, andrographis, allicin, oregano oil, thyme, etc) so the RX antivirals are something I may try. Unfortunately blood tests crash me horribly, so monitoring safety is more challenging.

 

[godlovesatrier]

The price has doubled for non generic valtrex. Although buying it from 4nrx has been impossible for over 6 months from memory.

At any rate as heaps points out generic valtrex you should have no problem getting. But if you want the good stuff there does appear to be something going on.

 

[Jackal]

How long were you off the Valacyclovir before you noticed symptoms coming back?

Was 500 mg x 6 daily the dosage you took to begin with or did you work up to that dose?

Also, Is this your daily maintenance dose?

I was off it for about 2-3 weeks roughly I think. Was like falling off a cliff.

I think I started on 500mg x 4, hard to recall to be honest, but was definitely up to x6 because I remember the cost decision and having to drop down to x4.

I have taken 500mg x6 daily now for as long as I can remember, although I am pretty crap at remembering my morning dose at times as my 'reminder' alarm is the same time as my 'get out of bed' alarm to take my kid to school - not great at getting up with a clear head when not waking/getting up of my own accord!

 

[Jackal]

Thanks, that's very interesting and obviously more convincing when there's a repeated observed connection. Is there a reason you think VZV? I'm pretty sure I got chickenpox in high school and then EBV in college, but my serious health problems didn't really start until getting some kind of virus in SE Asia (enterovirus maybe).

Quercetin has helped me a bit in the past, although I think I never took more than 800mg in a day. My doctor did suggest trying it again, so that's something I may experiment with.

Thanks for the info on the Valtrex. I have only tried natural antivirals (monolaurin, andrographis, allicin, oregano oil, thyme, etc) so the RX antivirals are something I may try. Unfortunately blood tests crash me horribly, so monitoring safety is more challenging.

I had Chickenpox as normal as a kid. My daughter had it about ten years ago and I caught it again from her. Then she caught it again, as did I. we both had it confirmed by a doctor with it being unusual. My daughter had a third confirmed infection/outbreak.
My young nephew was visiting a few/couple of years ago while having Chickenpox and coincidentally while I was off Valtrex, so I purposely succeeded in contracting it from him (had him use drinking straws which I shared all weekend). Unfortunately my usual GP was on holiday and although I gave a blood sample for testing, the GP I saw managed to f**k it up (I even went to the labs to retrieve the sample to try and get it tested privately but it was too late).
So it seems like its a genetic thing. I've had Chickenpox x4, and my daughter x3.

I've never had Shingles, but I do periodically get incredibly sore and sensitive patches of skin on the back of my neck and on my lower back flanks when I'm not doing so well. The skin never blisters, but is so painful to the touch it can feel like a burn.

I read Lysine is supposedly effective against Herpes viruses, and take that as a supplement too.

I am 100% that Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) is the Herpes virus that is 1 part of a 2 part puzzle for me, much as with other ME/CFS sufferers it seems to be a prevalence of EBV.

I originally read that Valacyclovir was part of a Stanford protocol (I think), and only persevered past 3 months on reading accounts from that protocol. I specifically recall talking to my wife at that time and us agreeing to buy another months worth despite no results...cannot believe how life-changing that single decision was!

Re: Quercetin
Yeah, I read a PubMed article on Quercetin at high doses, think it was 5gms daily, stating that it was safe. I couldn't/can't afford to take that much daily, so upped my standard daily supplement from 500mg to 2500mg and had a brilliant week, but then became tired and eventually settled on 1500mg and have been going really well with it (and a found a brand that seems to suit me best).

In another PubMed article I read about Quercetin and Resveratrol complementing each other, but think my Resveratrol dose was too high, I'll go back to it later for another try at a lower dose (and different brand if required).

Sorry if I'm not clear or details vary between posts, my cognition and memory are terrible at times these days.

 

[Jackal]

The price has doubled for non generic valtrex. Although buying it from 4nrx has been impossible for over 6 months from memory.

At any rate as heaps points out generic valtrex you should have no problem getting. But if you want the good stuff there does appear to be something going on.

I was reading a pharmaceutical sales report by product, and Valacyclovir sales have gone up 50% in 2021. Sorry, I don't have a link. It was just a cursory search on either Brave or Google.

There seems to be no immediate search results as to why the sudden surge in sales. I had originally thought it may have been a component shortage brought about by the response to Covid, but it just seems like the good stuff is not getting to online pharmacies. It's getting used somewhere?!?

 

[heapsreal]

I had Chickenpox as normal as a kid. My daughter had it about ten years ago and I caught it again from her. Then she caught it again, as did I. we both had it confirmed by a doctor with it being unusual. My daughter had a third confirmed infection/outbreak.
My young nephew was visiting a few/couple of years ago while having Chickenpox and coincidentally while I was off Valtrex, so I purposely succeeded in contracting it from him (had him use drinking straws which I shared all weekend). Unfortunately my usual GP was on holiday and although I gave a blood sample for testing, the GP I saw managed to f**k it up (I even went to the labs to retrieve the sample to try and get it tested privately but it was too late).
So it seems like its a genetic thing. I've had Chickenpox x4, and my daughter x3.

I've never had Shingles, but I do periodically get incredibly sore and sensitive patches of skin on the back of my neck and on my lower back flanks when I'm not doing so well. The skin never blisters, but is so painful to the touch it can feel like a burn.

I read Lysine is supposedly effective against Herpes viruses, and take that as a supplement too.

I am 100% that Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) is the Herpes virus that is 1 part of a 2 part puzzle for me, much as with other ME/CFS sufferers it seems to be a prevalence of EBV.

I originally read that Valacyclovir was part of a Stanford protocol (I think), and only persevered past 3 months on reading accounts from that protocol. I specifically recall talking to my wife at that time and us agreeing to buy another months worth despite no results...cannot believe how life-changing that single decision was!

Re: Quercetin
Yeah, I read a PubMed article on Quercetin at high doses, think it was 5gms daily, stating that it was safe. I couldn't/can't afford to take that much daily, so upped my standard daily supplement from 500mg to 2500mg and had a brilliant week, but then became tired and eventually settled on 1500mg and have been going really well with it (and a found a brand that seems to suit me best).

In another PubMed article I read about Quercetin and Resveratrol complementing each other, but think my Resveratrol dose was too high, I'll go back to it later for another try at a lower dose (and different brand if required).

Sorry if I'm not clear or details vary between posts, my cognition and memory are terrible at times these days.

Similar story to me. Chickenpox as kid andxas an adult and multiple cases of shingles. But I also thing I deal with cmv. I tend to do much better on the famvir then valtrex but if valtrex works that's good, it's a cheaper drug

 

[Jackal]

Similar story to me. Chickenpox as kid andxas an adult and multiple cases of shingles. But I also thing I deal with cmv. I tend to do much better on the famvir then valtrex but if valtrex works that's good, it's a cheaper drug

Did you start with Acyclovir/Valacyclovir first, or is it a fallback?

What dosage of Famvir are you on?

How great a difference did you find between Valtrex and Famvir?

I think I always just excluded Famvir because of cost, I'd forgotten about it tbh but could be an option if pricing gets silly for Val/acyclovir.

 

[heapsreal]

Did you start with Acyclovir/Valacyclovir first, or is it a fallback?

What dosage of Famvir are you on?

How great a difference did you find between Valtrex and Famvir?

I think I always just excluded Famvir because of cost, I'd forgotten about it tbh but could be an option if pricing gets silly for Val/acyclovir.

It was along time ago I started antivirals but basically we were chasing cmv as well and there was information getting around where famvir has some or more of an effects on cmv/hhv6 than valtrex.

I did a couple of small one week trials of both but such a short time to notice anything but we went with famvir. It took a few months to notice positive effects but after 12 months I felt quite good. My T cells that we were monitoring all came down and almost completely normal.

The famvir was quite expensive from local pharmacy's here so I moved to valtrex as it was much cheaper. 2 or 3 months later I felt like crap. My total lymphocytes and t cells were high back where they were before I started famvir. That's about the time where I said bugger this I'm going to buy stuff online etc which was initially abit scary but saved me a fortune.

After several months things improved on famvir again. So I'd been on antivirals 6 or 7 years and wanted to come off. I had my immunity to varicella checked as it was an initial cause with cmv for my cfs. The test came back saying i had good immunity to varicella. Within a week I had a shingles outbreak, so back on famvir. 12 months later wash and repeat the same thing. My dr at the time said its possible the test showing good immunity was actually showing an active virus. I can't get viral titre numbers done here which us why we go of t cell testing. So it's abit of a guess cmv is an issue and we know varicella is because of the shingles.

So I stayed on famvir. Whenever I stop I get worse. Just as covid hit there were supply issues with famvir in Australia and I went on valtrex. I think valtrex was better than nothing but I went down hill with weird and unusual headaches for me. T cell tests were all high. Problem last 12 months I've been regularly on famvir. Recent blood work showed t cells all good, but I still have these ongoing headaches(maybe pist hermetic neuralgia)which just might be some damage from having to stop famvir the last few years????? I still get shingles outbreak always on the side of my head but still painfull but I believe not as bad as they would be if not on any famvir.

I think if it was just shingles I'd be fine on valtrex but because I need famvir, I think cmv is pulling some strings.

Dosage, the first few years I took 250mg twice a day. Now on 500mg twice a day.

I hope that helps

 

[vision blue]

Since covid and vax have both been reported to reactivate herpes viruses, wouldn't that explain an increase in scripts? I may have misunderstood something you said.

Ditto i tbink i misunderstood: how long have you been on valrex? Thats a high dose too- its interesting a lower preventative dose isnt helpful for you

Wonder what the genetic badis is. Woukd ve curious to inow yourr igg subclass numbers - i think lower ig3 (which i have) goes along withsome recurrent herpes viruses

As ive losted on tbis list before, have been plagued with a recuurent berve/rash virus that heralded stage 2 of my cfs. At first i thought shingles but now think more likely hsv1.

As ive also posted, am so envious of those of you who dont get sick from valtrex or acyclovir.

 

[heapsreal]

Since covid and vax have both been reported to reactivate herpes viruses, wouldn't that explain an increase in scripts? I may have misunderstood something you said.

I can't really say. My last lot of issue happened at the start of covid before there were issues in Australia and well before I got vaccinated and I haven't had covid yet?? Had to stop famvir as there was no supplies left, then I went to crap. Covid stuff when it started, just caused shipping issues with certain products etc. More a logistics issue.

 

[ruben]

Just had my Valtrex arrive. 30 tablets. Anyone know how long it may be before I notice something positive.

 

[godlovesatrier]

3 months.