I am redoing my question since it doesn't seem to have come through. I am 71 and have had herpes genitalis for about 45 years. I have been lucky to have married and my husband never got symptoms. We had children, but most of the time used condoms. I had recurrences every few months but they weren't too bad, and I didn't get on meds until 5 years ago. My husband passed away 7 years ago, and for the past 5 years acyclovir worked pretty well. However I read about kidney issues and my kidney tests seem to be slowly getting worse, though still normal. My primary doc thinks the risk is mostly from IV acyclovir but I am concerned, so I thought I would try going off. Within a month I have had one of the worst outbreaks ever. Over 2 weeks ago it started between my buttocks, then another one nearby, then 5 days ago two outbreaks on my right buttocks. So one question is why is this recurrence so bad, and is there hope of things settling back to where they were before I took acyclovir? 

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Thank you for this information. I am still considering a longer time off herpes medications because I went for many decades without them. Because acyclovir has reports of kidney damage (perhaps mostly from IV use?)  I worry that it could be a factor in my slightly worsening kidney tests. I also dislike taking medications. But I would like to learn your opinion of the risks of long term use of herpes medications.

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Thank you for this information. The tests were ordered for a separate reason. I will discuss with my physician. 

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