Shingles and a new drug - September 23 2011

My shingles have not improved with intravenous acyclovir and have spread to the opposite side of my thorax, so Dr. Myint decided to put me intravaneous Foscavir which is another type of antiviral. Fortunately, the University of Colorado Hospital Pharmacy was able to obtain Foscavir for me, as it is in short supply in the United States and they are getting it from England.

Foscavir can upset your electrolytes and damage your kidneys. Hence, they will be monitoring and replacing my electrolytes as needed and giving me large volumes of intravenous fluids as a pre-treatment to prevent kidney damage while I am given Foscavir.