Thank you Quix. That does help!
My Lp was negative but due to a large lesion load( & it grew over 41/2 yrs) plus mounting symptoms I finally was diagnosed in August. I sent you an email as I ,too. am from Kentucky (Central KY). Nice to meet you!!! :)
The number of O-Bands really has little bearing on your diagnosis. As we have often said a person with RRMS and lots and lots of symptoms and/or lesions may have few O-Bands. A person with one isolated symptom and few lesions may have a ton of them.
Many studies have tried to make generalizatizations (pardon my stutter) about the number of O-Bands and prognosis. Those have been of little use.
It's interesting that people with PPMS often (about 40%) have no O-Bands at all. This gives further weight that MS is like made up of several subtypes.
You have two positives in your CSF - 5 O-Bands (EVEN the Mayo - hiss hiss) would call this positive plus the elevated IgG Index.
Does that answer??
Quix
lol @ Julie...my oldest is only 11temporary and she gives me plenty gray hairs. I'm not looking fwd to the teenage years!
lol Sum...and now I have my twins and our 17 yr old Italian foreign exchange student. What my twins don't think of, our little Italian does.
I am going gray real quick!
Julie
I am laughing here. I am up but it isn't so unusual for me. Pain wakes me. I am sure others find themselves up and here for the same reason.
I too am curious about the 0 bands. Hoping Quix finds this thread. If not I promise to ask my neuro next visit and share.
juju, I soooo remember waiting for the last teen to fall into the house at night. Usually they were good and would call if later than they had told me but some nights....well, I am sure you know those...They got too involved and would forget. Cell phones were just coming "in" as my last reach those years but oh the hell realms I lived worrying. Of course, none of the hells happened I just got gray quicker...lol
Thank you twopack. Although it didn't answer my question it was very helpful and easy to understand! :)
Here's a HealthPage with some excellent info about O-bands. I'm not sure it answers your question specifically but bet it helps lots.
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Multiple-Sclerosis/Can-you-Diagnose-MS-with-an-LP-that-is-Negative-for-O-bands/show/142?cid=36
Mary
I know I'm up late. I even took meds to help me sleep but here I am still wide awake! :(
I really am not doubting my dx. Maybe I would if I didn't have the brain and spinal lesions, but I do so I'm not going to argue! lol
I tried to research this myself but I couldn't find anything. I read most labs say you need to have 2 o bands but the Mayo Clinic wants 3 for a positive result. However I couldn't find anything saying the more you have the worse or farther along you are, or the longer you have had it. I'm just curious even if it is late! :)
You're up late girlfriend! but I have excuse as I am waiting for my teenagers to come home.
Can't help you with your questions. I never had an LP but I am pretty sure the number does make a difference.
AND it's okay if you are doubting your dx. You are newly dx, it's NORMAL to doubt the dx.
I am interested to see what the response is since I am so ignorant on the subject.
Don't stay up too late!
Julie