There may be many reasons for patient with herpes to find out about the typical schemes for treating herpes. Herpes virus is usually treated with acyclovir, or medicines which contain acyclovir, such as Neovir, Zovirax, Valtrex, Famciclovir, Valacyclovir, and others. There are many generics available on market today, and all of them contain acyclovir. Acyclovir is main ingredient of all anti-herpes medications today. It is very effective against herpes of all types, especially herpes on lips, herpes simplex, genital herpes and herpes Zoster (shingles). Acyclovir is approved to be applied even in children, pregnant women and older adults.

So, if you have herpes, you need anti-viral medication. Treatment of herpes stops the outbreaks, reduces symptoms, but is unable to cure herpes and to remove it from your body. If you have herpes shingles or not recurrent herpes on lips, you need only symptomatic treatment, e.g. treatment during herpes outbreak episode. If you have genital herpes or your herpes outbreaks happen very often (more than 7 times a year), you may need suppressive therapy, e.g. you will have to accept anti-herpes medicines every day during 4-6 month.

If you have herpes on genitals and the symptom have passed, you need to tell your partner about the possibility of transmission of your herpes to him or her during the sexual contact. This may happen even not during the outbreak, because herpes settles in nerves of your body and can be transmitted during the contact with zones near your genitals for example during oral sexual contact. Condoms significantly reduce the possibility of herpes sexual transmitting.

Below you will find dosing instructions doctors usually give to patients. However, these doses are given here just to illustrate the schemes of treatment. To find out the doses which fit you personally, please consult your doctor, pharmacist or healthcare provider. Do not follow these dosing schedules without consulting with your personal doctor.

If you have genital herpes for the first time in life, the following dosing schedule is advisable.

Take Acyclovir pills in amount of 400 mg by mouth three times a day. The treatment should last for 7–10 days in row. The other variant of treatment I Acyclovir 200 mg orally five times a day. The treatment lasts for 7–10 days either. If you have Famciclovir, take 250 mg orally three times a daily for 8–10 days. Valacyclovir or Valtrex is prescribed in amount of 1 g to be taken by mouth two times a day for 7–10 days in row. After treatment symptoms should disappear. If your symptoms (sores on genitals and in nearby area) still bother you, you should continue treatment until they disappear.

If genital herpes (HSV-2) bothers you frequently (7 or more times a year), you should use suppressive therapy scheme.

In this case, Acyclovir 400 mg is taken orally twice a day or Famiciclovir 250 mg orally twice a day. If you want to take pills for your suppressive therapy only once daily, chose Valtrex or Valacyclovir and take them once daily in amount of 1 g or as your doctor prescribes. This scheme is used only during the interval between herpes episodes, not during the outbreaks! Suppressive therapy gives you a good chance of the disappearing of your herpes episodes at all (during this treatment and sometime after).

For treatment of further genital herpes episodes (not first in life), usually the following scheme is advised: adults take 400 mg of Acyclovir 3 times a day for 5 days in row, or take 800 mg of Acyclovir pills twice a day for 2 days. The same effect will have Famciclovir, it can be taken by 125 mg orally twice daily for 5 days or by 1g for only one day.

As for Valacyclovir or Valtrex, you may take it for treatment of genital herpes in amount of 500 mg orally twice a day for 3 days or 1000 mg orally once a day for 5 days.

Treat herpes and be healthy!