Herpes Causing Sciatic Pain

[GrandCanyon]

I am a 74 yr old female and have had sacral herpes of buttocks for over 30 yrs.  If not severe i do the topical Acyclovir, if severe i get on the Valtrex immediately.  The last 4 yrs it has recurred every month or so.  It is now eating into my sacral nerves and i have neuralgia. Right now i have lesions and the pain shoots across both sides of the buttocks. It is creating sciatica down my legs.  I also have a cutting sensation in the vagina at times and a feeling of something moving in the last 7 inches of my lower spine.  The Valtrex will  knock it out but it will return in a few wks.  Very uncomfortable.  Has anybody else experienced these symptoms of sciatica from herpes and pain inside vagine?

[auntiejessi]

I haven't experienced this, but have you considered going on suppressive therapy to help prevent this? It sounds miserable, and maybe taking valtrex every day would help.

It wouldn't treat the neuralgia you have, if that's lingering, but it could help prevent further issues.

Or, if you don't want to take it daily, if there is a pattern to the outbreaks, you could take the valtrex for the 5-7 days prior to the outbreak and perhaps stop it.

I hope you see some improvement. If the neuralgia doesn't improve, don't hesitate to see a neurologist.

[GrandCanyon]

thank you for the answer.  There is no neurologist in the White Mountains of AZ.  I would like to know if other people with herpes have experienced the
same sciatic pain?

[auntiejessi]

Yes, definitely -

This one is about zoster, not simplex, but it relates - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2917966/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/795486 - you have to scroll through a lot of this but there's some case examples.

If you google "hsv2 sciatica" or "hsv2 neuralgia" you'll find a lot more. It's more common with zoster than hsv2, but it's the same process.