Chronically High EBV IGM

In this video we answer a question about chronically high antibodies you're struggling antibodies.  Wether you are struggling with Mononucleosis, chronic Epstein Barr virus (EBV) or just ongoing fatigue this video might be of interest to you.  We look at what the typical time frame is for Epstein-barr IgM antibodies getting cleared out of your body and some of the nuances of understanding  testing and symptoms.   Testing and symptoms can help us understand what's going on with that virus.
This video is about chronically high Igm antibody levels EBV standing for Epstein-barr virus.  The idea for this video came from a question i got which stated that, "I had mono four months ago and just got the blood results back and I still test positive for IgM antibodies (which have actually increased)." The implied question is what does this mean or what should I do about elevated or high EB antibodies.  It's a sign of an acute  Epstein-bar infection, a reactivation of the Epstein-barr or lingering antibodies from the acute infection.  After the infection fades, the antibodies can linger for a couple of months.  While your body is already starting to overcome the virus, typically the IgM antibodies will stay high for a  few months after the infection.  Four months is sort of getting on the long end of what would be expected.  The fact that they increased does suggest that this may go on longer than what is typical.  still the numbers can change within another week or two. 




In a situation like this your your symptoms can really be helpful in understanding what's going on with the  virus, what the virus is doing, and how your body is handling that.   If you continue to have symptoms like fever swollen lymph nodes in different parts  of your body enlarged spleen, severe fatigue (hard to get out of bed) etc, it suggest that your body is still fighting off this virus.  Also that the virus is still quite active in your body.  If you are more on the asymptomatic side and gradually feeling better then it's more of an indicator that the virus is on its way out and these are just lingering antibodies. 

Sometimes there could be in between phases where you are getting better but it's lingering longer than typically.   When people have Mono the Ebstein-bar virus symptoms will linger for about a month or two then things will start to get better.   Some people get over it in weeks and some people never even have acute infection from it.   So there is a wide variety of responses to it.  Partially that could be coming from the person's genetics and the virulency of the virus itself.  We really don't know at this point why  some people tend to respond that way and why sometimes the virus reactivates in your system.  Sometimes the IgM antibodies can stay high for six months or even several years.  That's usually a sign  that you do have chronic Epstein-barr virus. 

Remember that the epstein-barr virus is a herpes virus.  So that once you're exposed to it those types of viruses will always live in your body.  With that you are always going to have an IgG positive blood test when you get tested.  It's the igm that blood test that typically will turn negative within two to four months. With that four months you should give a margin of error by a few weeks or even a full month because everyone's somewhat different in how they're going to respond. 

The diagnosis  of chronic epstein-barr is far from black and white you have to use a combination of lab testing like I have mentioned in other videos,  symptoms that you currently have going on and other things that could account for these symptoms and the long-term overall clinical picture.