XMRV, do you have both CFS and another autoimmune disease?

[omerbasket]

Prior to being diagnosed with ME, I had suspected bowel disease (IBD). In 2006, I had a biopsy and I luckily got to see the report myself and it stated colitis.

However, after stewing for three months before I got to speak to my gastroenterologist, he just said my result was normal, and I probably just had a severe case of IBS. My GP was furious.

Five months later, whilst I was awaiting a second opinion at another hospital, I had what is described as a IBD attack, which was the most unpleasant experience of my life. Two weeks or agonising abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and passing blood. My only regret was I didnt take myself of to hospital so they could see for themselves what was happening. Instead a family member paid for me to have a private consultation.

Eventually, my second opinion referral was brought forward, and over twelve months of further tests proved inconclusive. My GP was stumped, but said I may have gone into a remission. It still wouldnt surprise me if I did have some form of bowel disease, and I think it is quite poignant that Dr. M and Dr. Katz recently said that autoimmune diseases could also be linked to XMRV.

I recently watched a documentary were a person with bowel disease was taking steroids. But he suddenly became very sick and on deaths door. What had happened was, he had a parasite since childhood, and when he started taking steroids to reduce his immune system, the parasite flourished, spread, and almost killed him. This could explain how a autoimmune system could also enable XMRV to reproduce if a person is taking certain meds.

That is interesting, because I can think of a theory regarding my own health conditions. As I said, I am diagnosed with fibromyalgia and IBD (actually, they think it's Crohn's disease, but cannot be sure between Crhon's and Ulcerative Colitis).
Now, my IBD started a few months before I started feeling a really bad pain, which lasted for months (with some remissions during those months). Until today I can't fiure out if the pains that I have today are the same pains as then (but less severe) or they are different. Anyway, after some months with those pains I began taking steroids (Prednisone) for 2.5 months. Now, I can't be sure if that is because of the steroids or not - but during most of that time I felt much better. After the steroids I began deteriorating a little bit, but I don't think it had something to do with what happened to me on February 17th 2008: I woke up and all over the day I felt very very fatigued. I don't remember feeling fatigue before that date, and certainly not feeling that much fatigued. But since that date, althoguh there were improvements, I feel fatigue and un-wellness, in adition to pains.

Now, the theory might be the following theory: Let's say I have XMRV. Now, my theory here says that the XMRV caused my IBD, but for some months it sttopped there. When I took Prednisone - it might have taken XMRV out of it's latency, and it began again to replicate (or began again to do harm in some way). The infflammation was reduced and I felt better - but the Prednisone didn't take care of the cause - XMRV, and even made it more pathogenic (by taking it out of it's latency, or doing something else). Now, there was a gap of about 1.5 months between stopping Prednisone and starting to feel fatigued. My explanation (again, according to my thoery) would be as following: It is known that many times when a person is infected with a virus he doesn't start immediately to show symptoms. So - perhaps the viral replication of XMRV increased significantly during the time I took Prednisone, but the symptoms came just 1.5 months after ceasing to take it (and about 4 months after starting to take it). And then, I "won" a new symptom (and perhaps more than one, becuause it's possible that what I had before that date wasn't due to Fibromyalgia, and what I had since then was).

Ofcourse this is just a theory from a non-scientist...
I would like to hear what you people think of that theory - and especially what the scientists here think of it.