Could Monocyte Erlichiosis being playing a role in my disease?Now I say "Maybe".

[EvDownJr]

Earlier I had mentioned testing for erlichiosis and a maybe for Lyme. While I was sure that the Igenex tests pointed to something, I was unsure whether the ricksettal organism they found was actually what was reported.

While Erlichiosis is associated with malaise, weakness, fever, etc. I had yet to find any article pointing to its role in our symptoms. However the article below indicates an instance where the Erlichiae could be a cofactor in hemophagocytotic syndromes causing a lymphatic infiltrate. The article also mentions "murine tyhpus", which I though also could be a cofactor along with Parvo and EBV with immune disregulation.

Anyway, here's the article about erlichiosis:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/6/121

[niecy]

Hi e-Jay, I'm Niecy, I noticed that you mentioned EBV. I have been diagnosed with a recent primary infection of EBV, what does this have to do with Morgellons, it was a coincedental diagnosis, btw.

Originally Posted by e-Jay Bugg E

Earlier I had mentioned testing for erlichiosis and a maybe for Lyme. While I was sure that the Igenex tests pointed to something, I was unsure whether the ricksettal organism they found was actually what was reported.

While Erlichiosis is associated with malaise, weakness, fever, etc. I had yet to find any article pointing to its role in our symptoms. However the article below indicates an instance where the Erlichiae could be a cofactor in hemophagocytotic syndromes causing a lymphatic infiltrate. The article also mentions "murine tyhpus", which I though also could be a cofactor along with Parvo and EBV with immune disregulation.

Anyway, here's the article about erlichiosis:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/6/121

[EvDownJr]

Hi e-Jay, I'm Niecy, I noticed that you mentioned EBV. I have been diagnosed with a recent primary infection of EBV, what does this have to do with Morgellons, it was a coincedental diagnosis, btw.

Good question. The best answer I could give is I'm not sure. Let me explain though where I was going. Many of us have been exposed to Chikenpox as a kid. Now many people when they reach their sixties get painful Shingles. The Shingles flare is a result of the Chickenpox virus lying dormant in the nerves. To that end, many people possibly 85% of the population was at one time exposed to EBV. EBV, CMV, etc are all herpes viruses that hang out in a dormant form for life. Now with Morgellons, we believe, (and my bloodwork also supports), there is immune dysregulation. Theorists state that these diseases can in some folks open the prospect to other diseases. Now if the body becomes overwhelmed with immune dysregulation, latent viruses,metabolic disorders, bacterial infections, etc, unusual virusus, exposures, and mututions could in theory also take place.,

Guess that's one of several scratch theories I'm looking into.

[Kritters]

E-Jay,

That theory makes a LOT of sense to me! There is so much that we don't know (since we are only laypersons and searching from scratch...although I don't know about anyone but myself). You sound very knowledgeable, I might add. But it would combine the mutations with the co-infections and the sudden awakening and mating of these inhabitants. I don't remember the exact circumstances, but having read something about a new effect taking place in people who have had polio as a child, I often had wondered why there would be a new resurgence of sorts so many years after they were 'supposedly' cured of polio. I think the explanation was something like the nervous system had changed, blah blah blah. It didn't sit well with me then and now doesn't more than ever. It could be that the polio virus was dormant all the years and now has mutated into a different species. Maybe that's what they were actually indicating and it was not within my realm of understanding/knowledge to catch it.

I just don't understand why, with all the work supposedly being done in biology research, why these scientists have not put two and two together after all this time and know how to deal with these situations better.

Kritts

[Jo]

Hi - great stuff.

Thought I'd just post abit of basics on EBV and Mono/Glandular fever:

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), also called Human herpesvirus 4 (HHV-4), is a virus of the herpes family (which includes Herpes simplex virus and Cytomegalovirus), and is one of the most common viruses in humans. Most people become infected with EBV, which is often asymptomatic but commonly causes infectious mononucleosis ('glandular fever', 'Mono' and 'Pfeiffer's disease')

EBV antibody tests turn up almost universally positive. In the United States up to 95% of adults between 35 and 40 years of age have been infected.

Infectious mononucleosis is caused when a person is first exposed to the virus during or after adolescence. Mono not only occurs from exchanging saliva, but also from contact with the airborne virus. It is predominantly found in the developed world, and most children in the developing world are found to have already been infected by around 18 months of age. Around 90% of people will acquire the virus even if they exhibit no symptoms.

Cyclical reactivation of Mono virus, although rare in healthy people, is often a sign of immunological abnormalities in the small subset of organic disease patients in which the virus is active or reactivated.

I know I had Mono (in UK its called glandular fever) when I was 14, so must have been exposed to EBV. Another part of the jigsaw I'm sure.

Jo xx

[ALOHA]

Read ILADS site for info on Erlichiosis

Many new findings have been brought to light by the ILADS Society.
One that many people don't know about is STRETCH MARKS.
Google the image search of Erlichilosis you will see what looks like
stretch marks or lines but actually they are a rash caused by Erlic.
Dr.Burrascano is the one who found this out and is still working on
it. It's a new discovery so don't feel too bad if you didn't know.

Aloha

[Jason]

Aloha,

I had seen a new lyme doc and he thought my symptoms were classic lyme + bartonella. So that led me to doing some digging especially on lyme sites, i find some of the lyme groups to be an extremely smart bunch considering the pain and fatigue some of them go thru similar to obviously the morg sufferers. I was looking through some posts people were saying and stretch marks were classic symptom of bartonella, also the crawling sensations and stinging feeling were also classic symptoms of bartonella. These opinions were coming from some of the best LLMD's in the US.

Its very interesting in what you say about ehrilichia and stretch marks. When i came down with all these symptoms one of the things that happened to me was stretch marks, i never in my wildest dreams thought a lyme coinfection could do this. I was a 27 year old male who had been healthy and had no increase or decrease in weight. So my question was why did my stomach, sides and arms get these marks? It is all starting to make sense how these things appeared from nowhere, they have started to fade quite quickly on antibiotics but can still faintly be seen.

I have some blood tests being done in the US and i eagerly await to see the results, although i do hope the results truely reflect that of my symptoms.

[Jo]

If people want to see what these stretch marks look like, they come up on this pretty good:

http://www.hopetoheallyme.com/Documents/Reston-2005.ppt

Jo xx

[ALOHA]

I guess I'm one the confused Lymmies, I may have the disease wrong, Bartenella could have been the disease I meant..Sorryy
Aloha!

[Jason]

LOL Aloha!