Deb: Just to clarify what I said about shingles. No doubt acyclovir lessens the pain and duration of the episode of shingles itself (and having had shingles in my 30's I remember that it was one of the few times in life when I needed to take analgesics). I was talking about the use of acyclovir to prevent post-herpetic neuralgia. After all, the episode of shingles may be painful (extremely so!), but is self-limited; whereas post-herpetic neuralgia is severe pain which can last months. So if there's a good chance of getting post-herpetic neuralgia, I believe that using meds to try to prevent it is important. But if the risk of this complication is low, it's not an unreasonable option for a mother who is uncomfortable about medication getting to her baby, to just not take anything and suffer the pain a couple of extra days. The point I'm trying to make is that our first question with any medication in a breastfeeding mother should not be "is it breastfeeding compatible?", but "is it necessary?". Alicia. [log in to unmask]