Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Why do I need an HIV test after being told I have CMV and elevated liver enzymes?

First blood tests showed...liver enzymes up, cholesterol high, triglicerydes 800(thru the roof), good fat or blood or whatever sugar? HD something is TOO LOW, bad HD whatever of course is too high,
2ND Blood tests showed....CMV.liver enzymes up even more, bad HD whatevers HIGH and as stated above..everything the same except CMV detected and liver enzymes EVEN HIGHER!
BLOOD TESTS WERE EXACTLY A WEEK APART!!
TODAY I WAS TESTED FOR HIV!(no results yet)
CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS CONFUSION?? PLEASE? THE DRS TALK SO FAST!!
Answer:
CMV is a virus that most people (70-80%) become infected with at some point in their lives, it is effectively controlled by the immune system except in cases of severe immunodeficiency. Usually when people first get infected with CMV, they don't experience any symptoms, but sometimes there are symptoms resembling mono.According to the following article: "Elevation of liver transaminase levels is a common feature of acute CMV infection, occurring in up to 92 percent of patients, and often it can be mistaken for acute hepatitis." http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030201/519.htm...So you may be dealing with acute CMV, but it should not present any serious problems: "Most patients recover within 4 to 6 weeks without medication. Rest is needed, sometimes for a month or longer to regain full activity levels. Relief of symptoms is provided with pain killers and warm salt water gargles for sore throat."http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/...Obviously I can't know what your doctors are thinking, but it's possible that they are testing for HIV just as a precaution, since HIV infection can affect the immune response to CMV. CMV is transmitted much more easily than HIV, so acquiring CMV infection does not automatically mean that you are at risk for HIV infection . I very much doubt you have anything serious to worry about, much more likely it will just be case of recovering from the mono-like symptoms associated with acute CMV, liver enzymes should return to normal on their own.
usually any sexually transmitted diseases cause many fluctuations within the blood. so as a precaution, they make sure that a patient, in this case you, is tested to see if an STD may be the cause
Are you sure they said CMV? The reason you need an HIV test is because only severly immunocompromised patients(AIDS) will get CMV. People with a normal immune system will never get CMV.
CMV is something people with AIDS sometimes get and hepatitis and every other infection.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an opportunistic infection. The virus is very common. Between 50% and 85% of the US population tests positive for CMV by the time they are 40 years old. A healthy immune system keeps this virus in check. When the immune defenses are weak, CMV can attack several parts of the body.
This can be caused by various diseases including HIV. The risk of CMV is highest when CD4 cell counts are below 50. It is rare in people with more than 100 T-cells.Mild liver function abnormalities are common, but severe hepatitis or jaundice is rare.
The real epidemic is an epidemic of medical lab testing promoted by Doctors and the AMA in search of more patients.
Eventually they will find something to "diagnose" you with, from which you will be for life a chronic captive patient dependent on further tests and more and more prescription drugs, that will eventually make you sick.
It's just "business as usual" for the medical profession. It's how they stay in business.
More tests, more presciptions, more office visits.
Cholesterol counts are the biggest scam after HIV tests and Hep B tests.Listen to your body-If you don't feel sick,
"it ain't broke". Don't let some fast talking quack make you believe you're sick when you're not.
Read up on the following books before you decide to take any action on your test results:
When you get a test for CMV that may mean different things. One, it could be an antibody test, like IgG that marks old infection. That means nothing, most people had a past infection with CMV and don't even know. the same way you may have antibodies to measles or mumps but it's only a past infection. If IgM is positive that means is a recent infection. some people develop a mononucleosis (the kiss disease) type illness with CMV, although ususally without the lymp0h nodes of mono, which is caused by the brother of CMV ( epstein -barr virus or EBV). In mono (any of them) you could have increase in liver enzymes ( usually up to the few hundreds but not more than that). It has nothing to do with being immunocompromised. People with HIv may have a reactivation of CMv and it could go to their eyes, bowels and rarely lungs. the same is with transplant or leukemia patients (sp bone marrow transplant patients) that is not your case.
Now, other causes of mono like syndromes with elvation of liver enzymes are acute HIv. In this case an ELISA test for HIv won't help. they need to do a viral load, so ask your dr for that ( most primary care won't do this and be happy with a negative result of the ELISA). Laso u should be checked for hepatitis B or C. Acute hep A will give you liver enzymes in the thousands.
So, in summary, your doctor is just trying to be complete. If you have lymph nodes, a rash or a sore throat, make sure you get a viral load for HIV.
Good luck, everything will be ok.
THE REASON FOR BOTH TEST IS BECAUSE THEY GO HAND IN HAND.BEING HIV POS IS A REASON FOR ELEVATED ENZYMES IN THE LIVER,BUT NOT THE ONLY REASON.SO DONT PANIC.BUT WHATEVER THE RESULTS MAKE SURE TO DETOX YOUR LIVER ,ITS SO IMPORTANT .THERE IS OBVIOUSLY A PROBLEM SOMEWHERE. DONT SLEEP ON IT ,TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR OWN LIFE ,ITS NOT AS IMPORTANT TO OTHER PEOPLE AS IT IS TO YOU.SO TAKE CHARGE GOOD LUCK AND GOOD HEALTH TO YOU.
You already have several good answers about the Cytomegalovirus (CMV) which is usually only a danger to newborns and immunocompromised people. Please don't listen to the ranting and raving of the person saying pay no attention to any lab test results.
No one addressed your Cholesterol and Triglyceride levels and they were very worrisome.
HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) is a part of Cholesterol that is good for you and exercise and eating right will help to raise it.
LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) is bad for you and again, exercise and eating vegetables, fish and whole grains will help. Cut out most red meat, butter and sweets.
Your triglycerides level of 800 is also worrisome. This can be because of genetics or your diet or a combination of both. There is another test called "Lipoprotein Electrophoresis" that would help the doctor understand where the high triglyceride number was coming from.
With the elevated liver enzymes, the CMV, etc. it's no wonder they ran an HIV test. A case of CMV that causes symptoms usually means the person's immune system isn't up to par. One of the reasons for a bad immune system is infection with HIV, the doc would have been negligent to not run the HIV test. I hope it's negative but if it's positive, start agressive treatment right away. Great strides have been made in helping people who are HIV positive.
Also, tell your doctor to slow down for your to ask questions, any good doctor will take the time to explain.

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