Connection between Epstein Barr, Mycoplasma and MS??

EBVCA-IGG 1196   normal 0-99

EBNA   277

mycoplasma 1200

thanks,

Same here.  I have nothing in my blood work that indicates why I got MS.  My blood work looks really good - I even have really good cholesterol!!!  I am quite proud of that one.  Now if I could only get that blood pressure down!!!  :(

Love and prayers,

I activated your first link but I had to delete your second link as it was selling products and that is against forum rules. Sorry!

Post Edited By Moderator (Gretchen1) : 5/25/2008 11:18:20 AM (GMT-6)

In case anyone else is reading this thread and is interested, here's a pretty clear description of encephalitis, cause, treatments, all that:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/encephalitis/DS00226

As for the neck MRI: The neck is a very concentrated part of your body.  Lots of bones, joints, nerves, blood vessels, other "stuff" coming from your brain to the rest of your body, all "squished together" there.   So while part of the neck may well show up on a brain MRI, they apparently want a more focused concentrated view of the neck through an MRI, to see if there are any lesions or other abnormalities there that might account for some of your difficulties.

You may well have chronic lyme disease -- which means it won't go away, it will recur, it will come back with intensity, and can cause neurological difficulties. Neuroborreliosis -- which is described here, for those who don't know --http://pn.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/4/3/152.pdf

can be a very debilitating chronic condition.

Basically -- sounds like all of what you're describing, including lesions on your brain -- can be attributed to your having Lyme disease which has become chronic. Chronic by definition means "not cureable", treatable  (in your case, with antibiotics) but you'll always have it, and while it may fade in intensity sometimes, it can flare up again -- which is what it sounds like is happening with you.

Let us know how your neck MRI goes..maybe they'll find something different in there.  Did you ever get a spinal tap? That might show a chronic infection of the central nervous system, too.

I activated your second link, Cat.

Post Edited By Moderator (Gretchen1) : 5/26/2008 9:53:49 AM (GMT-6)

Right now If they told me I had the Banjul flu and to stand on my head and recite the dictionary and told me I would get well I would do it right now! I just want to be well. The information I shared was really just trying to get a grasp on the direction of my treatment. Either way it really stinks :( I think that the next few days will be informative for me and I just want to be on a treatment that will help these awful symptoms. I have not done the level of research into ms until I know for sure that is what it is. I am just to sick and tired:( I have been on mega antibiotics for the last 2 years and gone through radiation and had a baby and I am w-o-r-n out! I am tired of researching, I am tired of being prodded and poked and for the first time I just feel like crawling in a hole and giving up. Most of my family is abroad and caring for my new little miracle is really tough. I drop things so much lately and I am frustrated and scared that I am going to drop my little man. I want to be the mother I was to my other kids and it is just not the case. I want to play soccer and ride the rides at Busch gardens...I can't even look at the rides now as I would fall on my bum! it is all so strange and every day is a new challenge. I try on focus on helping others with brain tumors or lyme and to be honest right now there is not a darn thing left for me to give. For the first time in my life I have to sleep in the afternoon even with the provigil. It is a scary horrid place. I have never had anxiety attacks till now. I thought ms was a pretty clear diagnosis and did not realize that there were Dr's telling you lyme. All the lyme docs told me it could have triggered autoimmune response due to the fact my body had been fighting the bacteria so long before getting treatment that it begins to fight itself. Again I think that we have to be genetically prone to have it triggered.

 If ms markers are there I will be treating with ms drugs. It is a different hopefully solid diagnosis. I can't battle the medical world anymore. I did not mean to imply in any way that anyone did not have ms :( I know the feeling that is for sure. Try being told by 13 drs that you do not have lyme then get a positive test that most will not even recognize I want to stick it up their noses and I am mad because they have caused me to be in a place where I now face new challenges.
Uppitycats, I have already had the brain mri checking on the tumor and that is when they saw the scattered hyperintense foci. My mri on Wed is the neck. I did not get the prescription they called it in and the receptionist just said ms...so dont know what was said on the other line. The other neuro said no way to tell foci apart until I have spinal tap and my dr is going to make that happen hopefully in the next week. nerve test is June 4th. I am told if ms markers are there then probably will have to start tx. If not immediately have to have a PICC line put in my arm and start daily antibiotic therapy. Great. One of the meds sent me into anaphalctic (sp?) schock and they kick the life out of you. I dread that.
Now I noticed one of the drugs used in treatment for MS is sometimes minocycline. I already take that for lyme so hopefully there will not be too much more to add to my regime. I already cannot close my pill box...need bigger one. I am exhausted. Really really hope there is something to stop the tremors.

Good night and God bless,

Post Edited (carolynvb) : 5/26/2008 9:38:43 PM (GMT-6)

I do hope you understand, Carolyn, that if you DO have MS, the common treatments for MS (Copaxone, Avonex, Betaseron, Rebif) are not cures, and won't alleviate any symptoms. You'd have to continue to take other medications that might help some symptoms, but they won't make them go away entirely, either.  Minocycline is used in some very limited instances for people with MS, and isn't a cure, either.

MS is not an easy disorder to diagnose.  It's considered a "diagnosis of exclusion", meaning they'll rule out everything else before declaring it -- which is going to be complicated in your situation, since you're dealing with the brain tumor and a possible chronic infection of the central nervous system (whatever it's cause -- Lyme, or something else).  I'm sure your doctor is trying to sort through all that.  It is not hereditary, in the sense of other inherited things. There is some genetic predisposition -- that is, some people with MS have other immediate family members with MS, but certainly not all.  And some people with MS have other family members with other autoimmune disorders...but again, not all.  There are lots of us who are "blessed" with being the only one in our family with the disease.  There is no known cause of MS, and no cure -- only the meds that have shown promise that they'll reduce the number and intensity of flares, or exacerbations of the disease.

The common drugs for MS (Copaxone, etc.), are all injectible medications, by the way. You will learn to inject yourself on a schedule for that medication -- some are daily, some weekly, and so on.  They are expensive, too -- around $800-$1,000 per month, generally covered by health insurance (if you have health insurance that covers prescription medications).

I hope you can at least get closer to some definitive diagnosis and treatment over the next few weeks as you undergo this new round of testing.