Docosanol anti-viral topical lotion.

Posted , 4 users are following.

Hi everyone,

This is my firsty post here.

I've been searching everywhere online for anyone who has any experience with using a topical anti-viral lotion, there's not that much info, that I could find.

I have been using a 7% Docosanol topical lotion for about 4 months now. I usually get an outbreak once every 4-6 weeks, but I have been applying the lotion pretty liberally and it seems to be helping.

I have reached four months now without an outbreak, I've also stopped taking oral acyclovir(sp) pills about 2 months ago.

Just wondering if anyone had any feedback or thoughts on using a topical anti-viral for outbreak suppression.

Thanks in advance for any input : )

1 like, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Posted

    I have not but would love to get more information on it. Was it prescribed by your doctor?
  • Posted

    It's not uncommon for outbreaks to start occurring less and less frequently as time goes on, some people never even have an out break. I was diagnosed 2 years ago and I've never had any symptoms and who knows how long I had it before then. I don't see how a topical could work for suppressive therapy. Even though as I said I've never had an outbreak I take 500mg of valacyclovir daily.

  • Posted

    No experience of using it, but I understand it's the active ingredient in Abreva/Blistex. I agree with Sadpanda on how a topical treatment can't be used as true suppressive therapy, nor is any topical treatment intended for such purpose and prolonged, regular usage (hence the tiny tubes!). More importantly, no topical treatment can eliminate asymptomatic shedding and sexual transmission like the approved oral meds can. Worth noting.

  • Posted

    "I have not but would love to get more information on it. Was it prescribed by your doctor?"

    Hi, sorry for the late response.

    I wrote a post 5 days ago, but it got flagged for moderation bc I included a link to a patent/study about the use of a 10% docosanol antiviral lotion.  I sent a message to the moderators 3 days ago to see if there was anything wrong with the link I included, but have not received a response.

    It's an interesting study about the use of 10% docosanol lotion for viral suppression.

    But, the 7% docosanol lotion that I have been using is OTC.  

    I do not currently have medical insurance.  I was getting my acyclovir pills from a relative that has good medical insurance, but my supply ran out I am no longer taking them, so my options are a little limited.

    Luckily, I am still currently able to suppress outbreaks, so far, but I can't find any solid documentation about wether using a daily topical docosanol lotion could have any adverse effects.

    Thanks a lot everybody for your thoughts and help : )

     

  • Posted

    "I don't see how a topical could work for suppressive therapy."

    I actually found an interesting study done by Pubmed about the effectiveness of 10% docosanol cream. (although, I am using a 7% Docosanol lotion.....)

    It's effectiveness seems pretty promising.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11464183

    There should be a lot more companies manufacturing this OTC stuff......

    Am I the only one using this stuff....???

    Thanks for any comments or thoughts : )

    -Rachel 

    • Posted

      This is just episodic treatment. Also, aborted episodes were almost identical between cream and placebo. Asymptomatic shedding was not examined. Sounds like it's good for episodic treatment, but not necessarily more than that.

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