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What does CD4/CD8 Low Ratio & CD3/CD8 High Absolute mean?

eafw

Senior Member
Messages
936
Location
UK
I have felt sick since 2001, when I first went to the doctor with aching in my legs when I walked. (I still have no diagnose of what is causing that.) But now...today, my legs are swollen and I think it has to do with my blood vessels...

Did your Dr say anything about your swollen legs ? Because if I had this it would be the thing I'd want looked at asap, rather than worrying about the CD4 ratio right now.
 
I have little time here...I wanted you to se the EBV results. I am trying to find out what they mean, and also ti find the CDC website that says to test for CMV also.

And to answer your question, the doctors did not help my leg swelling. My Primary Care Physician said "oh, it is not so swollen." And my rheumatologist said it was called "pitting edema."

Component
EBV Vca IgG - Positive
EBV-VCA IgM- Negative
EBV-early antigen - Positive
EBV Nuclear Antigen Positive - Positive
 

Jonathan Edwards

"Gibberish"
Messages
5,256
I think your results indicate that you have had EBV infection (like over 90% of people) but not recently. Most people would have results of this sort.

I would tend to agree with eafw that the leg swelling is more likely to indicate what is wrong than the blood tests. Pitting oedema always has an explanation. It is not normal. The explanation may be difficult to pin down for sure but if a patient of mine had pitting oedema I would want to know why.
 
My edema. My doctors have ignored this for years.
 

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Hi Jeanne,

The CD4/CD8 ratio test is most often used on HIV patients where the virus causes destruction of CD4 lymphocytes. Otherwise it's also used as an indication of immune health. In your case, your CD4 count looks good, but your CD8 count is low.

CD8+ T cells are also known as cytotoxic T cells. These are T cells that recognize and attack cells that are infected with a pathogen like a virus or bacteria and also cancer cells. Your low CD8 count might indicate some amount of immune deficiency.

Have you had your immunoglobulin levels tested? How is your overall lymphocyte count? Which pathogens have you been tested for?

You gave me a lot of help...I just want to know where I can go to get the tests I ask for?
Will a doctor order tests if I request them? (CMV, EBV a repeat of my abnormal test, HHV-6, Lyme, and IgG subsets.)
Then I might know why am so sick...
 

Mel9

Senior Member
Messages
995
Location
NSW Australia
You gave me a lot of help...I just want to know where I can go to get the tests I ask for?
Will a doctor order tests if I request them? (CMV, EBV a repeat of my abnormal test, HHV-6, Lyme, and IgG subsets.)
Then I might know why am so sick...

I have just found this because my cd4/cd8 was high too.
Have you had Lyme testing?
Have you had a diagnosis yet? Hope you are ok
 

ebethc

Senior Member
Messages
1,901
I quite agree that many doctors have the wrong idea, but writing obs*eniti#s about doctors for saying tests are normal when they are normal does not seem likely to help!!

this is an old thread, but I'm inclined to chime in anyway... I think that part of the frustration is when doctors don't acknowledge their own limitations, what I call the "playbook" .They have a set list of tests that they do and set dx and protocols, and it's all within their own paradigm (rheumatology, immunology, etc.) I don't think that's the problem, though: they seem oblivious to their own inherent limitations, or the fact that a different playbook or paradigm could be helpful, or even significant...

One allergist/immunologist actually said, "Oh, you're just one of those ppl who always has something wrong" .I don't think she meant to be obnoxious; she saw no big red flags in testing and drew a conclusion... I was on a medical leave from work & was not as exhausted as I usually am, so I figured that she was a little misled by my appearance... Sorry I was too coherent & showered! I looked at her in shock and told her, "I'm at the end of the line here, I can't go through life at half mast like this anymore.... on this push-crash cycle that ruins my career" ...I get so tired of trying to figure out what to do next by myself...

I saw Dr Mariana Castells' excellent presentation on vimeo and asked my PCP if she would order the tests recommended by Dr Castells and sure enough they came back indicating mast cell problems ... Why didn't the immunologist think of that when my allergy tests came back negative? (yale trained, stanford residency, so no excuses re training) It's one incremental step, but I'm grateful for any step I can take in the right direction.

She was unaware of the antiviral therapies being used by Montoya & Kaufman down the road in Palo Alto and Mountain View, too. Starting AV's this spring was the only thing that burst my swollen lymph nodes.. It was a breakthrough that i could have had TWO YEARS earlier if she was thinking outside her playbook. Why didn't she tell me to go to a CFS specialist?

This immunologist is just one example that's indicative of a pattern... They could have a little more self- awareness about the inherent limitations of their practices..i.e.,using the playbooks they memorize w/in their own specialties.