Aciclovir in 3rd trimester

[lvd90]

Hi everyone, I’m new to Mumsnet. I’ve just entered the 3rd trimester of my first pregnancy. I’ve developed a rash in an isolated area & the GP thinks it’s probably shingles. It was originally very painful, red, warm to the touch and itchy. He suggested taking Aciclovir 800mg tablets 5 times a day for a week. I feel really torn as I haven’t taken any medication so far in my pregnancy & this dosage seems quite high & I’m concerned about risks to baby. Anyone else had any experience with this? As the rash is isolated to one area, not sure if I should just wait to see if it clears up & goes away on its own first (it was very itchy & painful at the start - 3 days ago - but not so much now as it has now started oozing which I’ve read is normal & should start to scab over soon - I’ve kept it clean throughout). From what I’ve read there is no risk to baby from me having shingles, as long as I don’t have a live outbreak during labour/breastfeeding on my breast/genitals. The rash is currently on the top of my bum/lower back area so wouldn’t be high risk. Just trying to weight up the risks of taking/not taking the medication. Any advice? Thanks so much x

If you're not sure I'd ask to speak to your Dr or a pharmacist about the risks of taking vs not taking - you need to ask a professional I think.

I had shingles a couple of years ago pre-PG. I was told I'd left it too long when I went to the Dr and the medication wouldn't work (I'd had the spots for a few days thinking they were insect bites). Because I'd left it too long and there was nothing they could do I had nerve damage and still get pain now sometimes (called post-herpetic neuralgia I think) - uncomfortable rather than unbearable. There's no way of knowing if it will ever heal or not.

In your position I'd want to ask explicitly if there's any risk to the baby - if not I'd take the medication as if I'd known to go to the Dr back then I could've avoided a potentially life-long condition. If there was any risk or the risk was unknown I probably wouldn't take the medication - the amount of pain I am in is definitely liveable (and significantly less than when I had the outbreak). But I think it has to be a personal choice made with all the information available and from a reliable source.

Thanks so much for your reply. Yes, I think I’ll ask to speak to a different Dr this time and discuss the options in more detail as you suggested. Thank you.

Good answer above already - but basically zero known risk to baby, it’s used routinely in pregnancy, including regular dosing from 36 weeks until delivery for women with previous genital HSV