Brief Answer: It is safe. Detailed Answer: Hello and welcome, I am Dr Madhuri and will be answering your query. APO is acyclovir. It is an antiviral drug. From your query it seems that you are not pregnant now and are planning pregnancy. Acyclovir is a category B drug, meaning that there are animal studies on this drug that do not show any bad effect on the baby. Good quality human studies are not available, but problems in human babies have not been reported. This is the case with most drugs as it is not possible to experiment drugs on pregnant women [ it would not be ethical ]. So most of the data comes from pregnant patients that had to use the drugs as the illness required it. This drug has been found safe in such women. However we always advocate drug use in pregnancy only if the benefits to the mother are more than risk to the baby. So use it if required. I would like to share a small information for you for your future benefit. You are still planning pregnancy. Normally a female egg is released on day 14 of the menstrual cycle and if pregnancy occurs, the baby attaches to the mother by day 21-25 of the cycle. So any drug taken before this period will not have effect on the baby. Hence this is a relatively safer period to use drugs in women trying to conceive. Having said all this: Acyclovir may be used safely in your case. The safety would be greatly enhanced if you take it between day 1-25 of the periods as then any exposure to baby would be avoided in case there is a pregnancy. Hope this satisfies your query. Thanks for using HCM. Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have. Dr Madhuri Bagde Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist

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Brief Answer: yes you can take it Detailed Answer: Welcome back, Yes you can take it daily and when you feel an outbreak is coming. There is no study to say how long you can take it. We usually give it for 7 days in one outbreak but it also depends upon the severity of the condition so it is better to consult your doctor at the time of outbreak. Hope this was helpful. I am always here for any more queries. Dr Madhuri

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