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Re:Researchers Find Herpes Viruses in Brains Marked by Alzhe... by rl3 on Thursday June 21, 2018 @09:48PM (#17370666)
Virtually any drug looks scary when viewing its side effects in totality like that. The throwaway you're replying to is correct in saying it's a pretty safe drug.

>But not a chance for a cold sore that’s nothing but a minor nuisance for a few days

Except the virus regularly sheds asymptomatically, and Valacyclovir reduces that risk significantly, thus affording far more protection to one's partners.

I otherwise agree with you, but for sexually active adults who are positive, taking it is virtually an obligation unless their partner(s) already have the virus as well.

Re:Researchers Find Herpes Viruses in Brains Marked by Alzhe... by throwawayj90 on Thursday June 21, 2018 @11:44PM (#17371124)
Exactly! It’s also way more than a “minor nuisance”. Try two weeks of painful, disgusting scabbing, washing your hands constantly (God help you if you self-infect your eye, which is totally a thing), and a decent amount of pain and self-esteem problems. Oh, and forget about using your mouth for pretty much anything besides eating, and even that can be difficult. It’s totallt a quality of life thing. I have so many outbreaks, which can be caused by something as benign as shaving or kissing someone with a beard (and I happen to be into dudes), that there really is no other option. I guess I could spend my life breaking out in gross herpes sores, or... I could take a pill every day like I have been for years with no ill effects, and enjoy the things that everyone else does.
Re:Researchers Find Herpes Viruses in Brains Marked by Alzhe... by rl3 on Friday June 22, 2018 @02:46AM (#17371935)
Good point. For some people outbreaks can be frequent and/or severe, and it really does become a quality of life thing in that case.