VIP Dx testing for XMRV

[Timaca]

Does a person need to be off antivirals prior to testing? If so, for how long?

Thanks,
Timaca

 

[XAND]

Does a person need to be off antivirals prior to testing? If so, for how long?

Thanks,
Timaca

I am also interested to know about this, because back in 2004 I took retrovirals for HIV for a month after I had a sexual encounter with high risk for HIV, so they gave me a preventive dose of Combivir+something else... one year later I fell sick with CFS.

 

[Timaca]

I looked online and you have to be off antivirals and antibiotics for 3 weeks: http://www.vipdx.com/order/instructions/

Best, Timaca

 

[Daffodil]

i dont get that cuz dr. lombardi told me antiretrovirals shouldnt affect the serology results.

 

[Rivotril]

I looked online and you have to be off antivirals and antibiotics for 3 weeks: http://www.vipdx.com/order/instructions/

Best, Timaca

should these "rules" also apply to the serology test.
I used antibiotics just a few days before my blood was drawn for serology test.
My blood is still at reb labs belgium now, and I wanted it to send to vip dx..

but when i read this i doubt if its the right thing to do...
dont wanne pay €219 for nothing .

or should antibiotics not effect a serology test on a virus?
for me it sounds very strange that it really does

 

[Timaca]

Some antibiotics apparently have some antiviral properties. And antivirals do bring down antibody titers of viruses (in me). So, I can see their reasoning for wanting people off antibiotics and antivirals for 3 weeks.

In my case, I would be testing out of interest. I know I have problems with HHV-6, EBV, HSV1 and Coxsackie B. Also probably Cpn and possibly Lyme. I am currently on antivirals and feeling the best I have in 7 years. So, there is no way in the world I'm going to stop them for 3 weeks just to take a test. If I wasn't making progress I'd consider it. But, I am making progress. And since we don't know the role of XMRV in CFS and there are no established treatments, it doesn't seem wise for me to test for it at this time.

Best, Timaca

 

[Daffodil]

XAND...wow. i would have thought that combivir, since it contains AZT, would have prevented XMRV infection from establishing itself.

 

[nventor]

Timaca,
One question please that probably has been addressed, I have little back ground in biology but it seems to me, speaking to the serology test, would not the antibodies be present regardless of the use of AVR's?
I could understand them interfering with a culture however, a culture needing living cells to grow, is this correct?

Regards,

Roger

 

[Timaca]

HI Roger~ I can't speak about a culture, for I've not had one done, and am not familiar with it.
I can speak about antivirals and how they affect viral antibody levels. They drop them. At least in me. It takes about 6 months of being on antivirals for the antibody levels to begin to drop, but in me, they drop substantially (and I feel better.)

Best, Timaca

 

[nventor]

Thanks Timaca, I wonder why antibodies would cause anyone to feel one way or the other, is this because there is a direct correlation to active infection?

The more sometimes I try to learn what is making me ill or feel poorly, the more confusing it seems. On the confusion point though, its seems that if you had ten doctors in a room talking about CFS, you would have difficulty finding two to agree on anything.

 

[Timaca]

Hi nventor~ I think some doctors think there is a correlation between high antibody titers and chronic active infection. Here's one article as an example: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/111088889/PDFSTART

In me, I do know that antibody titers correlate with active, chronic infection. I've seen my antibody titers to HHV-6 and EBV drop with treatment, and I've felt better. Ditto with Coxsackie B. Then this past April I fell apart neurologically. During that I time I was tested for CBC, CMET and infectious panels....not because I fell apart, but because I was seeing my ID doctors in 3 weeks, and those were the usual tests that we run. Those tests caught a low WBC and a low platelet count, which can indicate an infection. EBV viral antibodies had gone up some, but what was very interesting was both doctors drew more labs at my appts, and the Coxsackie B3 and B4 antibodies increased 4 fold or more, indicating active infection. So, my falling apart 3 week earlier was, indeed, related to Coxsackie B.

If you are interested in more detail on that, you can see my Oxymatrine Journey (which is what is being used to treat Coxsackie B in me) here: http://hhv6foundation.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=antiviral&action=display&thread=200

If you want to see how my antibody levels changed with valcyte see: http://hhv6foundation.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=antiviral&action=display&thread=39

Best, Timaca

 

[nventor]

Thanks again Timaca, its like the never ending illness, just leap frogging from one virus to another, bummer, plus I feel really trashed from the 1800Mg. of Valcyte.

Regards,
Roger