I am going to be vulnerable for a minute for the sake of the cause but only for a minute because I have a man code to live by. :0)
Here is my theory. My wife has herpes which probably means that I have it too. Hers has been confirmed by a doctor, they tested a sore on her finger underneath her nail. I have not been confirmed. We have both taken antiviral medicine, Acyclovir and Valcyclovir. I have taken a whole lot more than her.
I always thought I had post herpetic neuralgia because of the highly sensitive hearing, to light and nerve pain. We always have had very similar symptoms. But this summer mine got significantly worse and I was diagnosed with fibro.
She is feeling like me worse than ever, same symptoms.
Has anyone had herpes or taken antiviral medicine and do you think there is some kind of connection here?
My wonderful, cheating, lying, butt head first husband gave me genital herpes and I have been taking valcyclovir for about 15 years on and off. Never connected it to fibro. I will have to research that one. I have never had sores on any other part of my body.
Subj: Link between herpes, hypothyroidism, white blood cells, andfibromyalgia Date: 1/2/2011 I was prescribed acyclovir about 2 years ago for herpes associated pain that made me quite ill, symptoms were leg; hip; back pain; depression as I thought I had something really seriously wrong and probably because I never connected all the symptoms with herpes until the blisters appeared and as I never always had an outbreak of blisters, the connection wasn't always there.
I took the acyclovir for nearly 2 years until my doctor thought I should have a break. Since stopping I have experienced extreme pins and needles in arms/hands and leg/feet. Pain and stiffness in feet and ankles and a general feeling pain of stiffness all over my body. Occasionally when I still get a tingling sensation on my buttock where the blisters appear and take acyclovir for a day or two and most of my pain stops.
I have been tested for everything, blood tests for thyroid, vitamin deficiency, full blood count, neurologist examination etc. every test has been normal except I have a low white blood cell count. I have now waiting for results for subclinicalhypothyroidism T3/ T4 as I have all the symptoms. Is there a link with herpes,hypothyroidism, low white blood cells, and possibly fibromyalgia that my doctor thinks could also be the problem. I wasn't experiencing the pain when taking the acylovir, so is this my body weaning itself of the drug. I would be interested if others have experienced similar problems. Gail
AskDocWeb: When we hear that someone's fibromyalgia symptoms disappeared while taking a drug and reappeared when the drug was discontinued, it does make one wonder. This has been reported to occur with both Acyclovir and Valtrex. However, researchers have yet to make a connection. One of the problems with finding a treatment for fibromyalgia is that no single causative agent has been found. While researchers have identified some common risk factors for fibromyalgia, there are still many people with the disease who have none of those identified traits.
There is some evidence that a growth hormone deficiency may be involved in some fibromyalgia cases. A study in Oregon looked at fibromyalgia patients that were exercised to voluntary exhaustion on a treadmill. This is a standard test for growth hormone secretion. Unlike healthy controls, the fibromyalgia patients were unable to mount a growth hormone response to exercise despite reaching an anaerobic threshold, which indicates an adequate exercise workload. However, when fibromyalgia patients were given pyridostigmine 1 hour before exercising, they were able to mount a reasonable growth hormone response. Because pyridostigmine is known to reduce somatostatin tone in the hypothalamus, this result suggests that a growth hormone deficiency infibromyalgia cases may be a reversible problem that has a physiologic basis, i.e. increased hypothalamic somatostatin tone. (Source: press release from Eduardo S. Paiva, Atul Deodhar,
After more research it seems that I have been on the right track. Check out this article from the University of Alabama clinical trial on a new drug for Fibro.
I have no idea if the two (herpes and fibro or herpes meds and fibro) are related. You just never know. All I can say is that I'd want to kill my ex if that were so, only I can't because he's already dead.
i just read one of the links provided below and I admit to being confused. Yes, I have both kinds of Herpes, 1 and 2, supposedly, and take Valcyclovar. I don't see any improvement in my fibro symptoms while taking Valcyclovar, in fact, my fibro seems to be getting quite a bit worse. Am I misinterpreting what you're saying? Do you think the drug makes the symptoms better or worse? The study noted below was in regards to people taking anti-herpes drugs for fibro (plus something else) and they responded positively to it. I haven't been treated with both drugs but as I said, the Valcycylover seems to be doing nothing to help my fibro, alas.
Though I am not a Doctor, I think it is entirely possible. This is a very strong med, and who knows what a strain or shock it could have been to your system.
Just the herpes vaccine is so strong that it can be given at a young age and shingles can occur in very late years, some cases severe, so now they want to put even more of this stuff into us, as a further vaccine! UM! My Chiropractor refused to allow his children this vaccine! As we know well, it takes strong meds for strong illnesses.
Everyone probably has some form of herpes, active or inactive, so don't worry about your man code, Andy! I hope that you can find an answer and some relief for you and your wife!
Hugs to you both,
SK
I just saw your link for UA, and will tell you that I battled fever blisters most of my life until someone recommended Lactinex and I later learned they were probiotics. Things traveled slow then, was no internet, but they made such a difference, even now I get an occassional small shingle and the minute I feel the itch, I mash up a probiotic, couple drops of water, make a paste put it on the shingle or fever blister and take a couple and sometimes it never even comes out, if it does, it is much milder and heals much quicker!!!
Yes, let me add that i hope you and your wife find relief for your symptoms, Andy. It's pretty awful when you're both suffering from fibro symptoms. What a cruel trick of fate! I take it that your wife has not yet been diagnosed with fibro? Awful.
Ok, I reread your message and now get the gist of it. Too much fibro brain earlier, plus the posting about using herpes meds to help fibro confused me. In answer to your question: my fibro is worsening and I'm on Valcyclovar. I honestly don't know if there's a connection or not, Andy. It's a thought, though would be helpful if more people would answer so we might have a better idea of the relationship, if any.
My Rheum is an assist Prof, he tells me FMS is a condition caused by chronic pain, so I am thinking that the med, or the virus, that caused the endocrine gland that produces the discontinuance of growth hormone being sent our into the body, could have caused the chronic pain, which caused the fibor and escalated the chronic pain!
OMG, we have a lot in common. My first husband is dead also. He died after we were married less than three years and before I foun do it about the herpes (or I would have killed him myself!).
I'm glad I don't have a teen and have to decide on whether or not to give them the vaccine. Cause on the one hand, it's scary to have herpes and be exposed to possible uterine cancer...but then again, we don't know the long term repercussions of the vaccine, do we?
I didn’t know they had a vaccine for herpes. I should get my stepdaughter to get one. She is about to turn 20 and has had more sexual partners than I have had my whole life- been sexually active since she was 14, maybe 13. She always says she is safe because she takes birth control but there are many, many worse things out there now than pregnancy.
It only works if the person hasn't already had the type I herpes and who doesn't currently have type II herpes (the sexually transmitted kind.)
I'm not sure I'd get the vaccine for my daughter, as I just went to herpes.org and found this:
Does a vaccine that “treats” GHI cause the body to kill the viral particles as they emerge? Is that the same thing as “producing an antibody against oneself”, as is what happens in the setting of Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, and other so-called “autoimmune diseases”? Does that mean that there may be a risk of inducing “autoimmune disease” by the use of a Herpesvaccine? No one knows.
That's interesting information. My doctor checked the growth hormone just recently, it was normal. Also he found that I had an elevated cytokine, one specific to inflamation. Next week he is doing a test for fibrinogen, that's another possible connection to fibro that they are looking into right now. This link mentions viral infections may lead to overproduction of fibrin, then fibrin is deposited in the vessels impeding oxygen, hence, fibro symptoms occur. Also, it mentions vaccines as a precipitating factor to this. Kinda ties in with your information.
Allergic, as always, this is good stuff, can't quite wrap my head around all of it right now, so far I get the blood flow part. Will get back to the rest. The mind is not handling it all yet! LOL!
Well, I thought it tied in with what Andy posted regarding the viruses and growth hormone. I know, it's lots of info, my brain gets tired sometimes and I have to go lay down. :')
Sometimes it's just the length and termonology, meaning how many things I have to look up to get the drift that wears me out! You have the advantage with the nursing degree, though I try desperately to always stay informed and up on everything,
I was always a prolific reader, collected a library that I always planned to read every page of, now I do better with articles than books. Unless they are short chapters, I just get lost, and find it very frustrating.
It is the pain, pure and simple, The Rheumatologist confirms! At any rate I will not give up my library of Egyptology books. I have some great ones, some first editions. I still have a considerable amount of them I plan to read, if I have to get someone to put them on to tapes or if I have to write them out on paper for that mind, hand connection to get the brain to absorb it!
And now I am rambling! LOL! Totally off topic and rambling! What's new, huh?