It is still significant, but it is much closer than it used to be. Price had originally made acyclovir my top antiviral, but recently the prices have come closer, and a 10-day zoster treatment is only about $40 more for Valtrex. It appears to have fewer side effects than Salagen (pilocarpine HCl, Boehringer Ingelheim).Īcyclovir is my choice for antiviral therapy, although there are merits to Famvir (famcyclovir, SmithKline Beecham) and Valtrex (valacyclovir, Glaxo Wellcome) that have made me look closer at these new prodrugs as my drug of choice. As a secretagogue, it stimulates saliva and, to a lesser extent, tear production. The most effective medication I have found for this condition is Evoxac 30 mg three times daily. The xerostomia or dry mouth associated with this condition makes eating and even swallowing difficult for these patients. Patients should also be informed of the risk of phototoxicity, gastritis and the potential for this medication to chelate out in the presence of dairy products or antacids, and patients should be followed for the rare risk of pseudotumor cerebri.Įvoxac (cevimeline HCl, Daiichi) is a secretagogue that I recommend for patients with Sjögren’s syndrome. Certainly, any tetracycline medication should be avoided in pregnant or nursing women as well as children. Such pathologies include meibomian gland dysfunction, internal hordeolum, blepharitis and acne rosacea (sebaceous glands), as examples. This combination makes it a very effective drug for conditions associated with inflammation surrounding oil glands. Studies have suggested that doxycycline’s benefits stem from the ability to accumulate in oil glands, to regulate staphylococcal enzymes such as lipase and its anti-inflammatory nature. This medication is interesting in that its benefits are not its antibiotic properties (in fact there is broad resistance to this agent), but rather its anti-inflammatory capabilities. Karpecki, OD, FAAO: The oral medication I prescribe most often is oral doxycycline 100 mg twice daily. If you continue to have this issue please contact to Healio Doxycycline prescribed most often