Epstein barr tested positve

[Jo777]

What does this mean when you are tested for Epstein Barr and you come out with Interpretation:positive  5.02 High
Doc told me that I don't have it now , but in the past I did.  But I still have all the symtoms.  Thank You.

[FurballsMom]

I was told that there was no test for low level EBV.  I had chicken pox when I was only a baby, so I don't remember having it.  I was only told about it, but I still have a concave white scar on my abdomen.  Clearly it was really itchy.  About a year and a half ago, I had some kind of virus syndrome that lasted an entire month with every symtom under the sun.  The symptoms kept changing everyday.  I was in the e.r. at least three or four times during that month for very serious symtoms.  I had started out with shingles, or at least that's what the e.r. doctor told me that the burning rash was that I found on my breast that burned in the shower was the beginning stages of shingles.  Now, I am experiencing what seems to be CFS/FMS and have been experiencing serious headaches and some nausea.  I was hospitalized a couple of months with renal failure.  The cause for it was never found.  I also have MCS.  My sinuses really hurt badly, too.  My IBS with constipation is really stubborn and I almost always have really bad cramps in the descending colon on the left side of the abdomen.  

How is this EBV tested if it's not in an active stage at the moment, unless this really is CFS/FMS?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Positive EBV(Epstein Barre virus)is found in infectious mononucleosis.It is characterized by fever, sore throat,cough, muscle soreness,diarrhea ,abdominal pain and fatigue.The important thing is that the virus lies dormant in the B cells indefinitely after symptoms have disappeared, and resurface at a later date.

So you had a infection of EBV resulting in infectious mononucleosis,but it resolved on its own because it is a self limiting disease.However it may resurface or become active from its dormant stage any time in later life.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing and if you have any additional queries.

[shy_violet]

I had an awful bout with mono when I was in my teens - took months to get back to school.  I still felt like I had it a year later and tested for Epstein Barr (positive).  I was told that I would always test positive for this.  It took me almost a decade to feel back to myself, I felt tired and groggy all the time, like I still had mono.  I had a permanently swollen lymph gland on the back of my neck (I think I was told it was scar tissue?  It is much smaller now).  I have to take immaculate care of my health - perfect diet and lots of fitness, otherwise I wilt.  It has forced me to become a health nut.  One weekend with not much exercise, a few glasses of wine and a few dinners out and I feel like I've been hit by a bus.

My doctor didn't seem to feel the need to medicate me or anything like that, I think it is just one of those things that might surface when you are stressed, not getting enough rest, etc.