dan062
Senior Member
- Messages
- 120
Hi guys,
I'm posting in this sub-forum as connective tissue disease is probably what my labs are most strongly suggestive of. This will be a little long but please bear with me if you can:
I've had three bloods tests show up positive so far but I still have no diagnosis. Rheumatology and neurology have had no idea and my GP is starting to use terms like 'post viral fatigue' when going through the remaining possibilities.
My tests are: rheumatoid factor elevated (fluctuating between about 50-70IU/L, which is considered a 'weak positive'); creatine kinase (same story; less than twice the reference range; could even be down to my physique); and LDH (very slightly above the reference range).
I had understood that as CFS was a "diagnosis of exclusion" that all lab tests were always negative but am beginning to wonder if this is always strictly the case.
I get a little optimistic at each new positive that arrives hoping that I'll finally have a diagnosis (and start treatment - for something) but, after a year of carrying on like this, I am rapidly losing faith. Physically, I feel terrible, but I guess so do most people posting here.
Among my symptoms, a few things are suggestive to me of CFS/ME to me: very low ESR (2-3mm) (I've heard that this is common among CFSers); all this came on suddenly after a sore throat; and I have some very weird neurological symptoms like twitching and muscle jerking, which seem common either with something very serious (ALS, CJD, etc, which, after a year of staying about the same, I guess I don't have), or things like Lyme (particularly) or ME.
People with Lyme, in particular, seem to sometimes get positive rheumatoid factor tests from time to time, so perhaps it's not too much of a stretch to have mildly positive CK and LDH as well, which are both other general inflammatory markers of inflammation and muscle inflammation.
So to conclude with the crux of my question: in anybody's non-medical opinion, are my labs too abnormal to be compatible with CFS or could this really be a possibility?
I'm posting in this sub-forum as connective tissue disease is probably what my labs are most strongly suggestive of. This will be a little long but please bear with me if you can:
I've had three bloods tests show up positive so far but I still have no diagnosis. Rheumatology and neurology have had no idea and my GP is starting to use terms like 'post viral fatigue' when going through the remaining possibilities.
My tests are: rheumatoid factor elevated (fluctuating between about 50-70IU/L, which is considered a 'weak positive'); creatine kinase (same story; less than twice the reference range; could even be down to my physique); and LDH (very slightly above the reference range).
I had understood that as CFS was a "diagnosis of exclusion" that all lab tests were always negative but am beginning to wonder if this is always strictly the case.
I get a little optimistic at each new positive that arrives hoping that I'll finally have a diagnosis (and start treatment - for something) but, after a year of carrying on like this, I am rapidly losing faith. Physically, I feel terrible, but I guess so do most people posting here.
Among my symptoms, a few things are suggestive to me of CFS/ME to me: very low ESR (2-3mm) (I've heard that this is common among CFSers); all this came on suddenly after a sore throat; and I have some very weird neurological symptoms like twitching and muscle jerking, which seem common either with something very serious (ALS, CJD, etc, which, after a year of staying about the same, I guess I don't have), or things like Lyme (particularly) or ME.
People with Lyme, in particular, seem to sometimes get positive rheumatoid factor tests from time to time, so perhaps it's not too much of a stretch to have mildly positive CK and LDH as well, which are both other general inflammatory markers of inflammation and muscle inflammation.
So to conclude with the crux of my question: in anybody's non-medical opinion, are my labs too abnormal to be compatible with CFS or could this really be a possibility?
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