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Ebv 101

soulfeast

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
Virginia, US
I am trying to understand chronic EBV infection. Only test I have had was antibody. I was negative IgM and 4000 IgG most likely a Quest lab. Any thoughts? Should I have a different test?

Thank you..
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,089
Location
australia (brisbane)
cmv and hhv6 and lymphocyte sub set. Im not up to date on titre levels as we cant get them in australia, but i think that would be classed as a chronic infection, hopefully other will chyme in. If u get the lymphocyte test done, it is common for cd8 lymphocytes to be elevated in ebv,cmv not sure about hhv6 but would think so. If only positive to ebv then valtrex could help u, if u have the others or multiple, look into famvir or valcyte
 

August59

Daughters High School Graduation
Messages
1,617
Location
Upstate SC, USA
I am trying to understand chronic EBV infection. Only test I have had was antibody. I was negative IgM and 4000 IgG most likely a Quest lab. Any thoughts? Should I have a different test?

Thank you..

On your lab results did it have anything like EA, VCA or NA?
 

rlc

Senior Member
Messages
822
Hi soulfeast, if your IgM is negative then it means you probably don't have it, positive IgG remain present for life after anyone has had ebv in the past, most of the adult population of the world have had EBV in the past and would get these results if tested. It just means that they have protection against any other exposure to it.
link here http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ebv/test.html
Antibody tests can be very confussing because people think a positive result means they are infected, but most of the time it means there protected against the illness, as an example if i got tested for rabies, small pox and polio i would get positive antibody results, it just means i;m protected because i have been vaccinated against them, any previous exposure to any virus has the same result, your body makes antibodies to protect you in the future. Hope this helps to clear things up, it's a very complicated subject.

All the best
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,089
Location
australia (brisbane)
IgM neg with IgG positive doesnt mean the virus isnt active or reactivating, igm means it just isnt recent. Reactivation may have alot more to do with poor nk function as i have read where chronic herpes infections avoid the immune system by lower our bodies ability to produce interferon which is used to strengthen nk function, so u could be producing antibodies that are stimulating natural killer cells which are firing blanks, so to speak. Its a very debatable issue, but i think that dr lerners experience as well as other cfsers experience of improvement(not neccessarily a cure) with antivirals shows the herpes viruses play a role. Probably a major co-infection for many of us with some type of underlying immune defiency or immune defiency caused by a retrovirus like xmrv.

cheers!!!

Hi soulfeast, if your IgM is negative then it means you probably don't have it, positive IgG remain present for life after anyone has had ebv in the past, most of the adult population of the world have had EBV in the past and would get these results if tested. It just means that they have protection against any other exposure to it.
link here http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ebv/test.html
Antibody tests can be very confussing because people think a positive result means they are infected, but most of the time it means there protected against the illness, as an example if i got tested for rabies, small pox and polio i would get positive antibody results, it just means i;m protected because i have been vaccinated against them, any previous exposure to any virus has the same result, your body makes antibodies to protect you in the future. Hope this helps to clear things up, it's a very complicated subject.

All the best
 
Messages
5,238
Location
Sofa, UK
This thread is timely for me.

My sister, who has had a very severe IBS-like illness for many years, has just come down with mononucleosis (known as 'glandular fever' in the UK).

I've always thought there was a connection between her illness, my illness, and my mum's Alzheimer's, partly because the onset of these chronic conditions for all of us happened around about the same time, and we lived in the same house shortly before that onset, and partly because of the other tentative connections that have been made between these ideopathic conditions. Right now I strongly suspect that XMRV (or similar pathogen) underlies all of our illness, and so with my sister now developing glandular fever on top of everything else she's had to cope with, I'm naturally worried about how she will cope with this in the coming weeks and months. Whether she can be said to have ME/CFS is questionable, but I think she has the same sort of challenges and risks that the rest of us do, anyway.

So to add to soulfeast's question, under the heading of EBV 101, I'd also like to ask what advice people out there have as to how to cope with EBV infection, and ask for any ideas as to how to minimise the long-term impact of it. Especially anything that's available over-the-counter that might help her out, since I'm unlikely to persuade anyone in my family that she should try any esoteric tests or treatments beyond what's recommended by her GP.

Thanks,

Mark
 

shannah

Senior Member
Messages
1,429
I could be wrong Mark but seems to me I read a really good reply over the last couple of months to this same question. I've done a search and don't see what I'm looking for. Seems to me it was important to treat early in the infection and I think it was a reply by Rich and involved at least lysine. Sorry I can't locate the details but perhaps it's worth sending a message to Rich.
 

TheMoonIsBlue

Senior Member
Messages
442
The best test is EBV EA (Early Antigen) not to be confused with EBNA. A negative IGM does not mean you don't have a chronic, "smouldering" EBV infection. Some docs will treat if your IGG numbers are very,very high (many people with ME/CFS IGG's come back as "abnormal" they are so high) But the Early Antigen is the best test, I believe only a few labs use it because it is a more difficult test, the Early Antigen is almost certain to disapper rapidly in almost everyone after their initial EBV infection is over, so if you still have a positive EA years later, I'd look for a good I.D. doctor. Doctors who still think no postive IGM, no Infection, don't understand the nature of how these viruses work in ME/CFS patients.

I believe with HHV-6a, a 3 fold rise in IGG is considered an "active infection", not sure though.

The HHV-6 foundation website, if it is still up and running, had really good info on testing.
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,089
Location
australia (brisbane)
Besides rest/sleep(meds if needed), i would be looking at things that strengthen the immune system, as your from the UK, this site is from the uk and sells imunovir at a good price http://www.pharmplexdirect.com/imunovir-tablets-500mg-p-3669.html, other wise look at my thread on cycloferon which works in a simialr way to imunovir but maybe cheaper, but i think your best bet is with antivirals for which i would recommend famvir. All these treatments are going to have to be taken for years if these infections are apart of cfs. I believe its hard to find a doc who will treat cfs in the UK so good luck.

cheers!!!

This thread is timely for me.

My sister, who has had a very severe IBS-like illness for many years, has just come down with mononucleosis (known as 'glandular fever' in the UK).

I've always thought there was a connection between her illness, my illness, and my mum's Alzheimer's, partly because the onset of these chronic conditions for all of us happened around about the same time, and we lived in the same house shortly before that onset, and partly because of the other tentative connections that have been made between these ideopathic conditions. Right now I strongly suspect that XMRV (or similar pathogen) underlies all of our illness, and so with my sister now developing glandular fever on top of everything else she's had to cope with, I'm naturally worried about how she will cope with this in the coming weeks and months. Whether she can be said to have ME/CFS is questionable, but I think she has the same sort of challenges and risks that the rest of us do, anyway.

So to add to soulfeast's question, under the heading of EBV 101, I'd also like to ask what advice people out there have as to how to cope with EBV infection, and ask for any ideas as to how to minimise the long-term impact of it. Especially anything that's available over-the-counter that might help her out, since I'm unlikely to persuade anyone in my family that she should try any esoteric tests or treatments beyond what's recommended by her GP.

Thanks,

Mark