EBV results

Hi guys,

Just had my epstein barr run for hte first time.

My EBV VCA IgM is negaitve < 36
My EBV VCA IgG is positive.

YOu can see here:

https://ibb.co/gw9x29h


I'm wondering, for those w positive EBV, how high were your numbers? Like mine says that its >750. >22 is positive, 18-22 equivocal. This makes me think that my numbers are just off the charts high given that the equivocal range is 3 points wide and I'm 727 over the high end.

Can you have an active infection without positive IgM?

Thanks in advance. I'm doing very poorly with this autoimmune issue, mine seems to be worse than anyone ive encountered. Still have this autoimmune issue. EBV would explain a lot.

My EBV VCA IgG is >600.

Good you have a doctor that may be able to help you with EBV. I've not had much luck with that. I do take monolaurin, as you mentioned, along with orgegeno. Every other day I take L-ysine, but only 500 mg because of the kidneys. I'm due for kidney tests soon, so I would guess they are where they have seemed ot be for years, or at least I hope nothing worse. I should also get EBV tests next month to follow up.

Glad the creatinine is helping with weight. I can't remember if you have loss of both fat and muscle. If just fat, you night take a look at other post I made. But glad your weight is up. Six pounds is a good jump.

Reading that it lives in your b-cells. It seems like if you have a reactivation you know it. Read a bunch of papers on EBV reactivation during hematapoetic stem cell treatment (which I was considering for my AI issue). You get fevers, positive IgM, and a positive PCR value. Maybe this is another one of those boogeymen that everyone tests positive for because everyone has exposure but active infections are very rare.

The way to kill it is w/ Rituximab. It lives in b-cells, and rituximab will literally kill every b cell in your body. I'm considering this for my AI issue so would be a positive secondary effect. RXN is extremely powerful tho no one would prescribe it unless you clearly had a reactivated EBV w/ organ involvement.

I’ve also had 2 negative pcr tests for ebv.

I’m inclined to believe that the high igg just means I’ve had it for a long time - like early childhood. That’s how hsv works (which is herpes virus like ebv). My husband has a very high hsv1 igg (cold sores - he’s never had one since I’ve known him)- which he acquired as a kid. We have been together for 20+ years and I’m negative for hsv1. So his high igg is obviously not an active infection otherwise I’d have it.

My IGG results for EBV are >750 with the same reference range as yours. I tested negative when I first got sick with Lyme, and four weeks later my IGG results for EBV were >750 and have stayed that way since, through good and bad phases, unchanged. IGM always negative. My theory is that EBV is what kicked off my four years of Lyme adventures, weakening my system enough for the tick-borne infections lurking opportunistically within to take over again. (I was very ill with Lyme for two years, undiagnosed, many years before.)

It's tough to know which symptoms to attribute to what, but I have a perpetually swollen neck lymph node, and at times have absolutely brutal post-exertional malaise, POTS, adrenal and other hormonal issues, sound sensitivity, headaches, and other things.... There's an association between EBV and a zillion other conditions, including CFS/ME. My flavor of Lyme tends to consist of primarily the CFS/ME constellation of symptoms, so it's hard to know how EBV factors in.

Yes, as with Lyme IGG testing, doctors who treat CFS/ME with some expertise regard high positive IGG results as a factors in current illness. For this reason they sometimes recommend antiviral treatment alongside extensive immune system support, even with negative IGM. Keep in mind that a great many of the herbal protocols for Lyme and co-infections have potent antiviral properties, so separate virus-targeting treatment isn't always necessary.

What throws me is I've had a high IgM for almost a year now and have tried and tried to get it down. Not able to take some medications because of strain on kidneys.

My belief is EBV causes most of the fatigue, which can also be from Lyme. But when your EBV results are high, seems EBV is causing a lot. Fever in afternoon (only about 98.9-99.1) always happens, and I can feel it coming on.

But the original question by dcd concerning IgG is a good one, and saraeli's answer is same I have heard before. I don't see a lot of people with long-term high EBV IgM but still feel bad. I'm not sure why mine won't go down. Traveler was very good with information on this when she was posting. Miss her posts.