Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 18, 2024, 10:20:59 pm

Login with username, password and session length


Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 772781
  • Total Topics: 66296
  • Online Today: 328
  • Online Ever: 5484
  • (June 18, 2021, 11:15:29 pm)
Users Online
Users: 1
Guests: 219
Total: 220

Welcome


Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and others concerned about HIV/AIDS.  Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning:  Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

  • The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own physician.

  • All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

  • Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators of these forums. Click here for “Do I Have HIV?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

  • We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are true and correct to their knowledge.

  • Product advertisement—including links; banners; editorial content; and clinical trial, study or survey participation—is strictly prohibited by forums members unless permission has been secured from POZ.

To change forums navigation language settings, click here (members only), Register now

Para cambiar sus preferencias de los foros en español, haz clic aquí (sólo miembros), Regístrate ahora

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the symbol in each box.

Author Topic: herpes medication suppresses hiv?  (Read 3392 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline positivmat

  • Member
  • Posts: 222
herpes medication suppresses hiv?
« on: March 12, 2009, 12:55:42 pm »
Has anyone read the articles about Herpes acyclovir suppressing HIV?  Does that mean that the person already infected with herpes (2) can be newly infected with HIV and it takes longer to seroconvert?  Does it mean that it stops the HIV infection from happening to someone on acyclovir?

Has anyone had experience with acyclovir slowing down the progression of HIV?

Matt

Offline carpediem98

  • Member
  • Posts: 66
Re: herpes medication suppresses hiv?
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2009, 01:33:03 pm »
What I've read is that Herpes medicines (valtrex, acyclovir, etc) are effective against HIV in tissues that are ALSO infected with actively shedding Herpes virus.

This might actually explain the viral spike that I reference in my post below yours... I had a first outbreak of herpes at the same time as a 50-fold viral spike (i.e. from about 2000 to about 100,000) in a shortish period of time.  When I started valtrex, the viral load returned to 9000.  My doctor said that the reason for this is that HIV and herpes seem to somehow aid one another's replication.  Therefore, if we stop one, we provide some benefit to the other.

That's the working theory, anyway, from what I'm aware of.  Perhaps someone else is aware of something else...

Offline Inchlingblue

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,117
  • Chad Ochocinco PETA Ad
Re: herpes medication suppresses hiv?
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2009, 05:22:25 pm »
It's been shown that Acyclovir can lower HIV viral load, but it's possible that it may lead to some NRTI resistance with HIV meds. I asked Dr. Joel Gallant about this and he responded:


QUESTION
I have HIV and I'm not on meds yet. I also have herpes although I have not had an outbreak in many years. My doctor has recommended that I take suppressive therapy dosing of Valtrex (500 mg./day) saying it can help with keeping HIV viral load down (based on some studies that have shown herpes meds also fight HIV).

I have come across an article on the internet that says that doing this may lead to emergence of multi-drug resistant variants of HIV (link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081106153636.htm)

What's your opinion about this? Thanks for your help and advice.

On Mar 5, 2009 Joel E. Gallant, M.D., M.P.H. replied:
The study mentioned above provides evidence for the first time that acyclovir (as well as Valtrex, which becomes acyclovir after administration) has modest anti-HIV activity. This may sound like a good thing, but as with entecavir (Baraclude, a hepatitis B drug), anti-HIV activity can lead to HIV drug resistance if the drug is taken by itself, without other anti-HIV medications. In the case of entecavir, the mutation selected is M184V, an important mutation that causes resistance to 3TC and FTC. The mutation that appears to be associated with acyclovir (in laboratory studies, not necessarily in humans) is V75I, a mutation that could have modest affects on susceptibility to ddI and d4T--drugs we don't use much anymore.

We've been treating people with acyclovir and related drugs for years, and haven't noticed that they have compromised the response to subsequent antiretroviral therapy. Nevertheless, this is interesting information, and perhaps should be yet another reason to ask, "Why not just treat the HIV from the beginning?"
« Last Edit: March 12, 2009, 06:53:41 pm by Inchlingblue »

Offline proud40

  • Member
  • Posts: 14
  • HIV/AIDS shouldn't be part of our normal lives.
Re: herpes medication suppresses hiv?
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2009, 03:20:57 pm »
"Why not just treat the HIV from the beginning?"

Because that is not the idea. The idea is to keep HIV alive so that it remains as a means of controlling humanity, having this disease as incurable.

Offline Ann

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 28,134
  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: herpes medication suppresses hiv?
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2009, 09:27:04 pm »
"Why not just treat the HIV from the beginning?"

Because that is not the idea. The idea is to keep HIV alive so that it remains as a means of controlling humanity, having this disease as incurable.

Eh?

Who designs your tinfoil hat?

« Last Edit: April 01, 2009, 05:33:40 am by Ann »
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

 


Terms of Membership for these forums
 

© 2024 Smart + Strong. All Rights Reserved.   terms of use and your privacy
Smart + Strong® is a registered trademark of CDM Publishing, LLC.