Fibro and XMRV

[Teasers_firecat]

Two years ago I came down with a mild flu which I passed onto my mother, at the end of it's duration we both ended up with Fibromyalgia, did my mother catch Fibro from me or is it just a co-incidence and seeing as we got it from a virus should we both get tested for the XMRV virus

[Garth L Nicolson, PhD]

Many if not most CFS and FMS patients probably have the XMRV or gamma retrovirus, although this is the subject of intense reseach at the moment and not all researchers agree with this statement.  You should only be tested by a laboratory that specializes in such testing, such as VIP Laboratories of Reno, NV, or a research group that knows how to test for this virus.  Once tested and assuming that the test is positive, what does this mean in terms of possible treatment?

At the moment there is little evidence that the XMRV virus actually causes the most obvious signs and symptoms of FMS.  If this virus is similar to other retroviruses and causes immune system problems, then your symptoms may actually be caused by other co-infections or opportunistic infections that are present because of immune system problems.  In this cause treatment of the XMRV infection may do little to relive you of most of your FMS symptoms, unless other infections are also considered and treated accordingly.

Professor Garth Nicolson

[Garth L Nicolson, PhD]

There are all kinds of variants of the morning pain in CFS and FMS, so I would not take that too seriously.

[merrysunshine]

I have tested positive for XMRV, and have fibromyalgia.  I have a lot of aches all over my body, but get especially bad in the afternoons and evenings.  Does anyone else with fibromyalgia have this problem where they can't even function in the afternoon and evenings because of severe pain?  I've heard that most people with CFS are worse in the morning than they are in the evenings, so this seems really strange to me.