Posted 8/12/2024 8:45 AM (GMT -5)
Pinkblossom asked for replies to her EBV inquiry to be posted in this thread, so I suppose I'm replying to both of you.
For years, my LLMDs would blame any worsening of symptoms that was not associated with an increase in antimicrobials on "reactivated EBV." My antibodies to EBV always test extremely high - many multiples of the reference range maximum - so this probably seemed like a logical scapegoat. For reactivated EBV, they recommended liposomal glutathione, liposomal vitamin C, and transfer factor (specifically the PlasMyc transfer factor from Researched Nutritionals because it contains antibodies to EBV specifically). I never tried any of those things, honestly. I was already taking antimicrobial herbs with antiviral properties, and added olive leaf, elderberry, and echinacea. (These last two were a big mistake because immune boosters, rather than immune-modulators, made me feel worse.) I don't think reactivated EBV was actually what was happening for me. Some of the specialists I've seen have recommended antivirals, and some said that they're not useful for chronic or reactivated viral activity.
My honest reaction when someone is being told that they have reactivated EBV is to be very wary. It's not that I think it's impossible for that to be true! I just know that for me, the problem was something else entirely, and I carry some anger that my doctors reached for this lazy theory rather than trying to figure out what was actually wrong. Which eventually I did by myself. So I'm a little bitter.
A few years ago, I developed shingles. For folks who don't know, shingles is a reactivation of the varicella virus, or chicken pox virus, most people contracted in childhood until recently when varicella vaccination became routine for children. When the body is weakened by something later in life, the virus reemerges with blisters and nerve pain. It's self-limiting usually but sometimes treated with antivirals to shorten the duration or to combat especially dangerous cases, like those that affect the eye. Varicella virus and EBV are both in the very successful herpesvirus family. I took valacyclovir to protect an eye that had become irritated, and responded well to it, with no side effects (which is pretty much unheard of for me with a drug). In terms of the reactivated varicella virus, though, there's no way to know if my case of shingles would have taken longer to resolve without the meds or not. I also took lemon balm, rhus tox homeopathics, and lysine. Monolaurin also was recommended, but I didn't take it.