Get Informed: Acyclovir

30

Patient Comments about
Acyclovir

Active Ingredient(s)

Acyclovir

What does it do?

Acyclovir

This product is used in the treatment of Herpes or Chicken Pox. It is an anti-viral which acts to inhibit one portion of the virus reproduction.

Last Text Update:
 2009-Nov-21 12:07 AM
Last Data Update:
 2009-Nov-20 6:52 PM

Other Names

  • Acyclovir
  • Zovirax

How Safe Is It?

Your Risk Rating
Please log in
Average Risk Rating
0: On hold
Pregnancy Category:
B
Black Box Warning:
No

Facts & Figures

Date Approved
29 Mar 1982
Est US Patients*
384,800
Generic Available
Yes
OTC Available
No

User Age Distribution*

22

< 21

17

21-39

35

40-59

26

60+

Age (Years)

* Estimated number of US people currently taking Acyclovir or its active ingredient based on population adjusted patient numbers registered with iGuard.org.

Other Resources

Recent alerts for Acyclovir

There have been no alerts regarding Acyclovir during the past year.

Acyclovir Safety Report

0: On hold

The iGuard risk rating for Acyclovir is on hold. It means that we're waiting for more patients taking this medication to join iGuard before we can provide a more accurate safety assessment of this product.

Learn more about iGuard's risk ratings

  • Please login or register (it's free) so iGuard can check how Acyclovir interacts with other drugs and diseases in your profile.

What is Acyclovir used for?

iGuard.org is currently tracking more than 2,200 patients that use Acyclovir (or similar drugs with the same active ingredient(s)). Use the table below to learn why iGuard users take this product; click on any underlined condition to get information on other medications used for treatment.

Disease / Condition % Average Severity
Genital Herpes 55% 4
Cold Sores 33% 5
Shingles 6% 5
Ocular Herpes 3% 8
Other 3% 3

How well does Acyclovir work?

iGuard.org regularly polls our more than 2,200 users taking Acyclovir (or similar drugs with the same active ingredient(s)) using the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medications (TSQM) . This feedback is continuously updated in tables below for the benefit of the iGuard community. To request scores for specific patient subgroups, please contact research@iguard.org.

Average Satisfaction Score

(out of 10)

Average Effectiveness Score

(out of 10)

81 78
93%
of patients are confident that the good things about Acyclovir outweigh the bad things.
6%
of patients wish they were told more before they started taking Acyclovir.

Common Side Effects of Acyclovir

iGuard.org regularly polls our more than 2,200 users taking Acyclovir (or similar drugs with the same active ingredient(s)) to monitor the development and frequency of side-effects. This feedback is continuously updated in tables and graphs below for the benefit of the iGuard community.

7%

7% of patients experience side-effects on Acyclovir

3%

3% of patients experience signifcant side-effects on Acyclovir


Most Common Side Effects...

  • 5% Fatigue
  • 5% Bone/Joint Pain
  • 5% Headache
  • = 10%

Global Patient Feedback for Acyclovir ( Post a comment )

Comments, Questions, and Answers
Show Newest | Oldest first

Question/Comment:

The second I feel a cold sore coming on I take 1600mg of Acyclovir. Then I take 800mg daily for a couple more days. This ALWAYS reverses the outbreak before it gets bad.

52 year old Male

Posted: 2009-11-04 14:34:29

Question/Comment:

I have been taking Acyclovir for 10 years. I take it "as needed" when an outbreak occurs, and
I find that it works really good. When I first started the Acyclovir I experienced "minor" joint
pain, but that went away after about two (2) years or I just got immune to it.

53 year old Male

Posted: 2009-08-22 13:48:13

Question/Comment:

After my first outbreak, I started taking Zovirax daily for preventive treatment. After only a couple weeks I started haveing servere digestive problems, I continued treatment for another month, At which time my prescription drug coverage changed I immediately started on Valtrex and haven't had any problems. I can't speak to how well it works since I only took it for a short time and have only had one outbreak, And that outbreak was two years after I tested positive for HSV

24 year old Male

Posted: 2009-08-14 07:56:31

Answer/Reply:

I have taken one 400 mg dose of Acyclovir daily for years and can't remember the last time I had an outbreak. If I feel one coming on I take 5 Acyclovirs for a couple of days and the feeling goes away. I have not tried Valtrex but if it ain't broke, why fix it?

59 year old Male

Posted: 2009-08-18 22:04:39

Question/Comment:

Has anyone been given this medicine for Bells palsy? I have been this past week 8/7/2009 along with a steroid and them seem to be working so far...any thoughts?

43 year old Female

Posted: 2009-08-10 03:05:58

iGuard.org Answer/Reply:

Acyclovir has been used "off-label" in the treatment of Bell's palsy with a steroid, typically prednisone. "Off-label" means this is a non-FDA approved indication, meaning acyclovir has not been reviewed and approved by the FDA for use in Bell's palsy cases. However, there have been a few studies that compared the combination acyclovir and prednisone to prednisone alone in the treatment Bell's Palsy- one study showed that the recovery rate in the the acyclovir plus prednisone group (81.8% of patients at 2 months and 93.1% of patients at 6 months) was better than the recovery rate of the prednisone alone (74.4% at 2 months and 85.1% at 6 months) and one studied showed no difference in recovery rates between the two treatments.

Although these two studies differ, the American Academy of Neurology states in their practice guidelines that the loss of movement or impaired movement of the face caused by Bell's palsy may improve with treatment of acyclovir plus prednisone.

Posted: 2009-08-10 22:16:07

Question/Comment:

I used to take 400 mg per day. At my last 6 month check up/blood test, my doctor changed me to "only as needed" as he found research that unexplainably causes bone marrow loss in long time daily users. There is no warning for this marrow loss. He said to take 400 mg 4 times per day at first "tingling,burning" sensation. Dr Patil is well known and awarded for diabetic care.

53 year old Female

Posted: 2009-06-10 08:18:49

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