For all you smart people...Just a question...is it possible to be incorrectly diagnosed with mono when you really have lyme?
Thanks, Cutie
Posted by LymeLaura (Member # 6624) on :
Yes, over and over again!
Posted by cutie (Member # 8468) on :
Really? What about the blood test they do for mono? Does that not test specifically for mono antibodies?
I'm asking because I was diagnosed right before all this stuff started 12 years ago with mono. I still don't think it was mono.
Posted by cantgiveupyet (Member # 8165) on :
Yeppers,
A friend of mine was told she had Mono by an ID doctor. (no suprise right) she had lyme and still has never tested CDC positive.
Posted by Corgilla (Member # 4066) on :
Hi,
Yes. It was the first diagnosis I had and after that, my life was never the same. It was over half my life ago so I don't remember if I had a blood test or not.
I had initial fatigue, sore throat and headaches then after a week or so, I felt fine. I was a bit surprised that I wasn't bedridden for longer but never thought much more about it.
Corgilla
Posted by cutie (Member # 8468) on :
Corgilla - That sounds just like me! I wasn't bedridden with mono like you hear about. Sore throat, aches, fever, fatigue etc but I got better and then all these crazy symptoms started popping up 2 years later.
No clue where I would have gotten mono! I knew no one with mono.
Posted by Christine202 (Member # 6158) on :
Absolutely - Your mono titers can become elevated if you have Lyme.
That happened to me years ago when I was the sickest person I ever saw.. GP said I had elevated Mono titers and Lyme titers...suspected Lyme then called an Infectious disease Dr...then called me back and said
" No you dont have Lyme, your Mono titers just elevated your LYME titers" !!!!!!!!
So lesson from the Idiot dr is: I guess we ALL must have Lyme titers in our bodies!!
The ignorance really gets me.
Posted by Christine202 (Member # 6158) on :
Just forgot to add that i had a bad case of Mono when I was 17....and we also believe I have been infected with Lyme since childhood.....
Posted by Corgilla (Member # 4066) on :
Hi cutie,
Come to think of it, I didn't know anyone else with mono then either. I even had a boyfriend and he didn't get it. Non-transmisable mono. There's a new one.
Christine, That's interesting about the mono titres.
Hurrumph is all I have to say.
Corgilla
Posted by cutie (Member # 8468) on :
corgilla,
i had a boyfriend too at the time! He didn't get it either and he was the first boy I had ever kissed! Wierd, huh?
Posted by Corgilla (Member # 4066) on :
Look what I just found on the Mass gov't web site:
"A false positive test may occur if a patient is producing antibodies which cross react on the test, either for unknown reasons, or in response to a disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, infectious mononucleosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, spirochetal periodontal infections, relapsing fever, leptospirosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, or syphilis."
I was looking up an answer for the "Lyme in Martha's vineyard?" post and read farther on. Lo and behold, I find this gibberish.
Happy New Year All,
Corgilla
Posted by cutie (Member # 8468) on :
Wait, so what does that mean? That a person may test positive for lyme if they're producing antibodies to any of the above listed? What about a false positive for mono if you have lyme?
Posted by Lymied (Member # 6704) on :
I was diagnosed with Epstein Barr Virus...I kept questioning the doctor that diagnosed me...I don't remember ever having mono which is what precedes EBV.
Turns out 95% of the population has antibodies to EBV...it is that common. So when physicians blame Chronic Fatigue symptoms and Fibromyalgia like symptoms on EBV - in many cases I feel it is bogus.
Posted by Corgilla (Member # 4066) on :
Hi,
In all of the stuff I've read about TBDs in the past 4 years, I've never seen anything like the statement on the Mass website.
I think it's all bunk. I just posted it to show cutie et al where some of this misinformation comes from.
The funny thing is, a lot of the stuff on there is very good. That's how bad rumors get started. You put a little bit of junk mixed with good info and everything you say seems golden.
I hope my posting that quote doesn't make people think that their positive lyme test means they really have RA or something.
If I start seeing that, I'll remove my post. Let me know if you think I should; either with PM or on this thread.
Take care,
Corgilla
Posted by Lymied (Member # 6704) on :
Hey Corgilla,
I was just posting a reply to your Martha's Vineyard Post. Thanks for that link...it was very interesting and helpful to me in regards to the Tularemia. That is extremely interesting to me.
I am starting to think that is what I had/have. I have always herxed the hardest on doxycycline - although Mepron was viscious too and flagyl...so who knows...Tick Soup I guess.
I think people will realize what your post means on this thread. So many lyme patients I know have high EBV titers...at one point I wondered if it was a cross reaction in testing or it was just proof that the immune system was in overdrive.
Take care...
Posted by AlisonP (Member # 7771) on :
Hi there,
I was blood tested positive for mono after being sick for months with sore throat, etc. This was like the final straw that put me in bed for the past 2 years.
Of course I had Lyme, but I was interested that I tested positive fo mono as well. And I think it was the type of test that can tell the difference between an active and inactive infection, though I am not sure.
I think that it is entirely possible to have both diseases concurrently. I think that the mono may even become activated to help the body destroy the high amount of dead and dying cells produced by the lyme and co-infections.
Alison
Posted by mbroderick (Member # 5220) on :
I believe that there are many strains of Epstein Barr virus (mono) and that people with Lyme are very susceptible due to a compromised immune system. I test positive for Lyme AND EBV, as do quite a few others.
Posted by BostonLyme2005 (Member # 7680) on :
Hi,
I had Mono before and it was nothing, Nothing, NOTHING like this.....LYME!
Posted by henson2 (Member # 463) on :
I seem to be the odd one out here. I had the showing of "old infection" for mono, i.e. that my body had been exposed (as most of us have) but had fought it off.
As for a positive current infection mono test, it came back negative, time and time and time again. Despite all the sx that made it impossible to deny that I was truly sick w. something.
Thank God, really, as it was a CFS person who said to me: "Um, you sound to me an awful lot like you might have Lyme." I didn't even believe her at first, because the Drs couldn't have been wrong for almost 6 years, could they?
Yes, they were wrong! Lyme diagnosis was finally confirmed.
This woman is my guardian angel.
I never once showed positive EBV (mono) or CMV (another virus) test.