About Valtrex, LDN, natural anti-virals

[Guest guest]

I have been getting a lot of personal e-mail enqueries about Valtrex, and here

is some info I recently posted onto the doctors' list:

There are no published pediatric dosages, as valtrex is not approved for use in

children and pharmacokinetics have not been evaluated for them. However, it is

a very non-toxic medication for anyone without liver or renal disease, and

extrapolating from what adults need (3000mg a day) and based upon what Dr.

Goldberg was recommending when I first started using Valtrex in 1999, I

give 3000mg/day to adults and kids over 100# (it comes in 1000mg and 500mg

tablets - the blue coating should be peeled off and discarded), 2500 at 65# or

over, 2000 between 45 & 65#, and 1500 from 30-45#. Valtrex is converted to

acyclovir in the body immediately upon ingesting, but is 6X more bioavailable.

In kids less than 30#, I start with acyclovir in a syrup, 1600mg, or two 800mg

tabs (it comes in 200,400 or 800mg tablets - Zovirax) three times a day;

acyclovir is generic and much less expensive and more easily available than

Valtrex, and available in regular pharmacies as a flavored liquid for kids who

cannot swallow the tablets. Acyclovir has been approved for use in chickenpox

for children. I ask parents to keep their children on acyclovir or valtrex for

at least 2 months to see gains. Valtrex is not effective against measles

viruses; other than meticulous diet, supportive anti-inflammatories, and

anti-fungals/bacterials for good gut health, the only remedy I know for measles

other than immune enhancers is Vitamin A, and I have had some good responses

with the high-dose protocol with no lasting bad side effects.

This was not on my post to the docs, but I have also been getting enquiries

about LDN vs Valtrex. LDN is a general immune enhancer/modulator, and will help

the body address any pathogenic infestation, as the shift from T2, or humoral

immunity, towards T1, or cellular immunity and increase in the Natural Killer

cytotoxicity effectiveness heightens the macrophages that are specific to target

particular pathogens. Valtrex, being specific to herpes only, will help in many

cases (not all) lower the body load of that particular species of pathogens.

Many parents recently have posted that stools are much better with LDN, but

others are reporting yeast infections soon after starting it, so it appears that

it is not only a viral but also a fungal activator, not surprising, actually. I

am still trying to understand this " activating " process when starting either LDN

or anti-virals, and have put out a request for any understanding that my doc

colleagues may have about this phenomenon.

In my mind, I would rather have my immune system effective enough to go after

all infections. However, herpes is ubiquitous and almost all of us have these

viruses in our bodies - when I do a viral panel testing that shows an elevation

of the IgM (or IgA) value, meaning that there is a current infection, in the

past I always treated with acyclovir or Valtrex, depending on the size of the

patient, sometimes with great results and other times with no response. Now

that we have LDN, I am more tempted to use this first before valtrex for the

above stated reasons. Using both may be unnecessary unless the IgM values are

very, very high and I want to lower this herpes load sooner that it may take LDN

to do its work of re-orienting the immune system. High IgG values indicate past

exposure or infection, and by the time we are adults the majority of people have

this on testing. I do not think there is harm in using both LDN and Valtrex at

the same time, though it probably is not necessary in most cases, nor is there

harm in using the very effective natural anti-virals anytime (except they taste

terrible). Many patients over the years have said OLE also has a mood-elevating

aspect and they feel good on this - whether there is something other than the

anti-viral action I don't know. In preparing for my presentation at DAN! on

anti-viral treatment, I asked my colleague to do some research, and she

found many good studies attesting to the effectiveness of my two favorite

naturals, Lauricidin and Olive Leaf Extract. Parents have also reported

excellent results with these two and also Virastop, an enzyme preparation that

disables the viruses by some enzymatic action (nothing reported in the

literature specifically about this product, however). For those in my LDN

study, I would obviously prefer unless values are very high and the person or

child is not doing well in general, that they use the LDN and wait until the

study is complete before using Valtrex, as I will have to have a separate group

who used both as I do not know whether Valtrex will change the immune parameters

we are looking for in this study. Though I don't believe it will, I do not know

for sure. Dr. JM