viral test

Here are some questions that we ask ourselves when antivirals appear to stop working.

Have you recently changed the brand of antivirals? Some generics like Mylan are known to be impotent.
Have you controlled your arginine intake?
Are you taking lysine daily on an empty stomach?
Are there new stressors in your life?
Have you tried bumping back up to the max dose?

 

I dont think there is a test for virus that would tell anything useful. We all have evidence of having had herpes infections like chicken pox, cold sores, mono etc etc etc. I believe the tests for these things require a lot of i terpretation and no one knows which of these might be involved with mm, they just know for many people (but certainly not all) antivirals are remarkably effective. In my case, i do knw i had a severe and lingering cmv (hsv5) infection about 10 months before i got cochlear hydrops. However, even though avs made a huge difference for me, i also know that there were other factors such as an auto immune response to surgery on the other ear years before. Allergy treatment also helped me. I would suggest you look for any wa y you might relieve stress on your body, even things like getting more sleep, lessening exposure to any possible allergens. I think itis often a perfect storm of assaults to the body that brings out this immune system reponse that affects our ears.

 

ckdk - Like you, I was doing FABULOUS for about 5 months on Valtrex (Northstar brand) and then after a 2 week trip to Europe had a terrible setback and haven't quite recovered. I emailed Dr. Gacek directly and he replied within the day. He told me that it wasn't uncommon for the body to build up a resistance to a certain antiviral and to give a different one a try.

His exact reply was the following:
The response you had was typical for the antiviral effect. Since you were on the full dose for so long, it is possible that the virus strain has developed a resistance strain to that particular antiviral.

So I am now on Famvir. I've never gotten back to how good I felt before, but I am somewhat better (although I also started taking allergy medicine and getting allergy shots so I'm not sure where the improvement came from exactly). You can always try a different antiviral though and see if it helps? Good luck!

 

I did not. I'm not sure they can test for that.

I hope you find relief soon. This is a real drag.

 

ckdk and all, if you are not sure if you have ever been infected with any type of herpes, or you are already on antiviral dose with unsuccessful results so far, antibody test will be helpful in determining the courses of actions. One of the folks here have taken antibody to confirm that she is HSV-1 positive, and antiviral treatment has been very effective for her. I confirm that I am HSV negative so that I can completely got rid of antiherpetic treatment (acyclovir / lysine). And I went on dental and cervical paths as well as circulation improvement that reached totally symptom free since then.

Most dermatologist may suggest IgG antibody test while others may recommend IgG and IgM antibody at the same time. Whether you have any herpes or not is more important than determining which of 8 different herpes types it may be. The test result helps you focus on the right approach and save time and effort.

 

Everyone has been infected by multiple herpes viruses before adulthood. They are ubiquitous.

 

World infection rate of HSV-1 is estimated as 67% and it depends on country/region.
HSV-2 is 417 million or 8% population.
Most adults in the U.S. (and other countries as well) have not had shingles vaccine.
These numbers are not exclusive each other, so multiple infection is possible.

The fact above is the counter evidence to the claim that everyone has been infected.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/herpes/en/

 

For me, it was hsv 5 a mono virus. I also have an apparent problem where each hsv infection looks like it is a first time infection which is highly unlikely per my doctors. That implies i may have a hard time holding on to antibodies which of course wouls skew the tests. If the antivirals work they work, if they dont they dont. Tests arent designed to answer our particular question, unfortunately. I will say, contrary to gacek, i took the avs once, that is over a period of perhaps 5 months and occasionally later for a month at a time. I did not take them forever and it did not seem to be needed. As i mentioned above, i think it is the the totality of the assault on the immune system no matter the source. I also think, weakening the immune system, however, can make one susceptible to subsequent attacks of new or recurring hsv viruses. And all this, for us, affects our weak spot, the inner ear.

Watch closely what works for you. Do not worry about anyone's theory. The answer is not known and it is likely that your answer will not be exactly the same as someone else's but you can get hints and clues. Unfortunately, your doctor is equally clueless but the dr can guide you from doing something harmful. The good news in my experience is most people are able to find a path to relief. Good luck, keep going, continue to be patient, persistent and hopeful.

 

Keep us posted!

 

Thanks for the update. So we are certain that antivirals and lysine will be good for you. JOH will help too as many of them are antioxidant.

 

Any improvement on symptoms in the past couple of weeks?

 

Hopefully, it keeps getting better!