Visit the Nurx website or download the Nurx app and answer a few questions about your health, including how frequently you experience genital herpes outbreaks. Our medical provider team will review your health history and write a prescription for the medication valacyclovir if they decide that it’s an appropriate treatment option for you. Our pharmacy will fill your prescription and you should receive the medication in the mail in 3-5 days. We’ll bill your insurance if you have it, and offer affordable pricing if you pay directly.

Here is a breakdown of the cost of genital herpes treatment through Nurx:

Medical consultation: After you answer questions about your health you pay $30 for a member of our healthcare team to review your health profile and (if appropriate) write you a prescription. The price of the medical consultation includes unlimited follow-up with the Nurx provider team for a year, so you can ask questions about herpes or your prescription.

If you pay with insurance: We will bill your insurance directly for your medication and the price to you will depend on the specifics of your plan. Because valacyclovir is a generic medication any copay (if you have one) should not be high.

If you do not pay with insurance: When you pay directly for the medication it costs $45 for a 3-month supply of outbreak treatment (meaning you only take the medication when you experience an outbreak or feel one coming on. It costs $75 for a 3-month supply of preventive therapy (meaning that you take a pill every day to prevent outbreaks). If you have both oral and genital herpes and need outbreak treatment the price will be $60 for a 3-month supply.

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We prescribe the antiviral medication valacyclovir (the generic version of Valtrex), a pill which is the most effective medication for treating or preventing herpes outbreaks. When taken at the start of a genital herpes outbreak, valacyclovir will decrease the intensity of symptoms, decrease the duration of the outbreak, and reduce the risk of spreading herpes. When taken daily, valacyclovir can suppress herpes outbreaks by up to 80% for those who experience more frequent outbreaks.

Valacyclovir is quite safe and generally has few side effects, but possible side effects include headaches, dizziness, depression, nausea, fatigue, vomiting, stomach pain, and joint pain.

We offer treatment to patients who have already been diagnosed with herpes by a healthcare provider or lab test. If you haven’t had a diagnosis but believe you may have herpes, we recommend that you see a local healthcare provider for evaluation the next time you have an outbreak. If you are diagnosed with oral herpes, our medical team would be more than happy to help manage your herpes treatment moving forward. Nurx provides genital herpes treatment to patients in the states we are currently available in, except Washington where there are additional regulations.

We prescribe herpes treatment to patients age 13 and up, with the exception of patients in South Carolina, where we prescribe to patients 16 and up.

For outbreak treatment, patients take a valacyclovir pill at the first sign of an outbreak (when you experience tingling or burning, or whatever your typical first symptoms are), then take a pill a day for the next four days — five pills total per outbreak. When taken at the start of a genital herpes outbreak, valacyclovir will decrease the intensity of symptoms, decrease the duration of the outbreak, and reduce the risk of spreading herpes. For patients who experience more frequent outbreaks (usually more than six per year), taking valacyclovir daily as preventive treatment can suppress herpes outbreaks by up to 80%. Taking valacyclovir daily also decreases the chances that you will transmit genital herpes to a partner.

Valacyclovir is an antiviral treatment for both types of herpes. Oral and genital herpes are caused by the two types of herpes virus: HSV-1 and HSV-2. Oral herpes is more often caused by HSV-1 infection, and genital herpes is associated with HSV-2 infection, but it is possible to have an oral infection with HSV-2 or a genital infection with HSV-1. In any of these cases, valacyclovir is very effective at preventing or treating outbreaks.

Although Nurx does not replace comprehensive prenatal care, we do prescribe and deliver genital herpes medication to pregnant women. Because not every woman has adequate access to prenatal health services, we believe it is important to make it convenient for pregnant women with genital herpes to access valacyclovir. This medication is safe for a pregnant woman and potentially life-saving for her future child. However, if you are pregnant and infected with genital herpes, it is important that you discuss this with your OB-GYN or midwife. If you have an outbreak at the time of delivery, there is a very high risk of spreading herpes to the newborn baby, which can have serious (even deadly) consequences for the infant.