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HI all. Good news! I called neuro this morning to ask if they could see me if any cancellations. They said I could come right in. Was being R/O for MS. Mri all negative, evoked potentials negative, ENG negative. I cried. It confirms MY lyme dx!! The only positive was EBV, CMV IGG positive...exposed at some point and toxo IGM, IGG still positive. My neck pain can be attributed to "spondylosis in cerival spine" and minor diffuse degenerative disease in thoracic spine. all else including lyme WB negative (quest). Is EBV, CMV frequent in people with Lyme...I think they are pretty common viral infections, NO??
Posts: 145 | From NorthEast US | Registered: Aug 2005
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JRWagner
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3229
posted
Kumba
Most of the population has been exposed to EBV in the past. I too have a positive IgG.
CMV is not as common and needs to be addressed.
Your spinal conditions are very common with Lyme...I have the same issues, shown by MRI's in 2000 and 2005.
Hopefully you are on Antibiotics, or will be soon!
Peace, Love and Wellness, JRW
Posts: 1414 | From Ny, Ny | Registered: Oct 2002
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HI J, I will look more into CMV..I understand as you said many people are exposed to these viruses sometime in their life. No not on any antibiotics...My PCP won't go for it, and my neuro never bothered to call back...so I dont even know if I can get a doc to consult with a LLMD at this point!!
Posts: 145 | From NorthEast US | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I too am positive for EBV, CMV as well as Herpes Vericella and Zoster. I also went through all the same testing you describe with the same results. I have degenerative changes and a very active imagination, so I'm told. . .
Most of the adult population has been exposed to these viruses and up to 95% will test positive for the antibodies. There is additional testing required to be done that verify whether you are positive for only antibodies or for active titers.
I am positive for the active titers, with very high viral loads on all. The doctor who did this testing for me when I was hospitalized for diverticulitis in June of 2005 did all this testing when I came through the ER there. He suggested further Lyme testing, but once I was released from his care and back in the hands of my regular docs, they would only do the conventional testing. All negative, of course.
EBV and CMV are suspected in mononucleosis. Herpes Zoster is chicken pox or shingles. We most ALL carry antibodies for this. I talked with an internal medicine doc when I was found to have active titers.
The internal med doc became worried about my immune system. We all carry these antibodies, but they are suppressed. "Something" must be hitting up my immune system so that they have been able to reactivate. My immune system is too tired to keep them suppressed. Something like HIV. So I was tested for all of that. Negative thank God. My ex was an IV drug user and has active Hep C.
I believe, and so does that ER doc, it is the undected Lyme in my body that has depressed my immune system to the point that these other critters are again active. It is resposible for the every few years deathly ill thing I do with my kidneys and my recent "chronic diverticulitis" that caused me to loose over a foot of my colon. He also believes that the active viruses are also responsible for many of the symtoms I have - chronic pain and fatigue, joint problems, etc., etc., etc., in conjunction with when the lyme is active.
They all have a great big party in me once in awhile, and the CMV and EBV, etc., will not go back to sleep until we figure out what is zapping my immune system, but my insurance carrier won't acknowledge lyme as a reality and round and round I go, finding it harder and harder to bounce back each time. . .
I get the classic CMV mouth, unerupted shingles, cold sores in my mouth, on my tongue and in my nose, swollen glands and yucky tonsils every year, along with about a five year cycle on pyleonephritis and now the colon problems.
Raising active CMV and EBV infection with your regular doctor will elicit the same response as suggesting Lyme by the way. . . very frustrating.
Anyway, I don't know if it is really helping or not, but I take turmeric three times a day with each of my main meals. It's what makes curry yellow. I think it helps. You can buy it at the grocery store in the vitamin section, but I have found it at Vitamin World bulk for alot less. It is supposed to have anti viral/bacterial/inflammatory properties and good for the digestion too. Been in use in India and China for centuries.
Find out if you have active titers.
Take care, Moosie
-------------------- Trying to figure it all out. Posts: 38 | From Spanaway, WA | Registered: Sep 2006
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Per my LLNP, Lyme has a real tendency to reactivate viruses that would normally be latent in the body. At my request, when my fatigue got out of control, I had the EBV test run (had mono as a teen, so I knew I had EBV) -- it was SKY HIGH!!! If it were merely an old infection, it would have shown a different IgG, IgM pattern, and the numbers wouldn't have been nearly as high as they were.
I've been on Valtrex (an antiviral) for several weeks now, and it has helped a lot with the fatigue.
-------------------- "Looks like freedom but it feels like death.. It's something in between, I guess"
Leonard Cohen, from the song "Closing Time" Posts: 822 | From California | Registered: Jan 2006
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