Does that also affect your stomach? I know there's one nasty bug whose name starts with an M that can cause the "Celiac-type" stomach problems....

OH.....MY......GOD.....What if I never had valley fever and I had this? Will ask for test asap and bookmarking this page.

Here's a link I found about testing: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/223609-diagnosis

I nearly died from walking pneumonia when I was 7! I didn't realize that this is what causes it.

Very interesting, I am going to ask for the blood test. I am going to ask them to check for epstein-barr, anemia and mycoplasma. Thank you so much for this information. Especially if it is coming from an immunologist. Thank you

Stimpy: My Epstein-Barr results were abnormally high, too, but I think that just meant I had be previously exposed? Good idea to get it checked, too.

PB: It is a blood test -- and a complicated one at that. I'm not sure where you live, but only certain labs are qualified to run mycoplasma tests. Be sure your lab is one of those qualified labs. Remember you have to be off of antibiotics for about one month prior to testing or your results will be inaccurate.

I'm sorry I didn't get back to you guys last night. I've done a lot of research on mycoplasma, but the computer I was using and saving documents to has crashed and I can't access my research at the moment.

This article is decent, but not the best one I've found by any means: http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=7933

If you start digging into the medical papers on mycoplasma, you'll find some very interesting info related to a big % of your/my symptoms. I'm really starting to believe that my lifelong health issues could be the result of an untreated mycoplasma infection. I'll explain.


My mom was officially diagnosed with it 6 years ago, but suspects she may have it for as long as 35 years. At that time, she was hospitalized for exhaustion, flu-like symptoms, etc. Doctors suspected she had leukemia (swollen glands, etc.). Her spleen RUPTURED while in the hospital. She was never tested at that time for mycoplasma and bone marrow tests came back negative for cancer. She's the strongest, most positive person I know, and though she won't admit it, I know she HAS to steal naps often to get through the day and has constant respiratory issues, colds, bugs, flus, etc. She'll tell you she's never sick, of course. :)

So I started getting MS symptoms, Fibromyalgia symptoms, strep throat and sinus infections just after my mom was diagnosed with mycoplasma. My doctor didn't test me for mycoplasma because he thought my symptoms were more in line with MS. In sum, I was sick nearly daily (some days more manageable than others, but almost always sick) since about the time my mom was diagnosed with mycoplasma (which is very contagious among family members/close quarters).

Before my mom got sick some 35 years, I had not been noticably sick more than other classmates. During and after that time though,of my mom getting sick, I had respiratory infections, strep throat, flus, etc., a lot. I missed a ton of school. We really downplay being sick in my family, so I don't recall much, but I do remember being sick on every vacation, most weekends and missing school a lot.

As I mentioned, I'm still very sick, but am hoping to see a big improvement once my body overcomes this parasite!

PB: It can certainly impact your stomach and intestines. It can go everywhere. With no cell walls, it can, I believe, even pass through the blood/brain barrier.

Also, mycoplasma spreads most during summer and fall months.

AVOID the site that has "rain.tree" in the URL if Googling for mycoplasma. That site is typically in the first 10 results. It's the site that crashed my computer with a nasty trojan.

Thanks so much for the information, Oct! I'm excited to learn more about mycoplasma because I found out from reading that one link that it's also associated with walking pneumonia, and I nearly died from that at the age of 7. My mom has suffered from exhaustion for years and years too, but she also swears she's "healthy as a horse".

I live in San Jose, California, and I hope that my lab is capable of testing for it. I also have an appointment to see an immunologist at Stanford (actually Lucille Packard Children's Hospital) so hopefully they'll have the capability at least. :)

I read somewhere that some nasty bug like this accounts for a lot of CVID patients' intestinal problems. I'm not sure whether it's the same thing. The site I found said that if you can treat that bug, the intestinal problems will resolve. I'll look that up again when I have some time as I know that we have a lot of people here who are really suffering from that as well. As I mentioned before, the main thing I can remember about that bug is that the name starts w/ an "M" also, and it sounds similar.

Thanks again, Oct :)

You're so welcome. I was surprised when my immunologist said she's seeing a significant increase in patients with full-blown mycoplasma infections. It's impacting a lot of people, but it seems few know about it.

Since mycoplasma likes immune cells so much, it makes sense that it could be at least be correlated to immune disorders. Regardless, treating an infection that can have such a global impact on the body could make a huge difference in one's health.

As far as the stomach issues, I've read that it is being linked to Chrone's Disease and bloating, IBS, etc., have certainly been ever-present with me. :)

You guys need to read this article about how people with immune disorders are especially vulnerable (immune info about midway down).
http://www.cfsresearch.org/mycoplasma/general/mycoplasmas-sophisticated-reemerging-burdened.htm

Here's an excerpt from an article:
Another area of emerging mycoplasmal infections concerns immunodeficiency. Although patients with congenital or acquired disorders of antibody production are susceptible to a wide variety of microbial infections, the unique susceptibility of such patients to mycoplasmal infections is a growing concern, especially considering the number of occurrences, the types of mycoplasmas involved, and the difficulties posed in the therapeutic management of such infections. In addition, the increased use of prolonged or permanent immunosuppressive chemotherapy required for patients undergoing tissue or organ transplantation or treatment of various malignant diseases has also increased the risk for mycoplasmal infections from mycoplasmas that are part of the normal human mollicute flora to those acquired through animal contact.

The association between immunodeficiency and mycoplasmal infections was first reported in the mid 1970s in patients with primary hypogammaglobulinemia and infection with U. urealyticum, M. pneumoniae, Mycoplasma salivarium, and M. hominis that localized in joint tissue, frequently with destructive arthritis. Similar joint infections in hypogammaglobulinemic patients with these mycoplasmal species continue to be reported (35). Since most of these mollicutes, with the possible exception of M. pneumoniae, occur as part of the normal human flora, the origin of such joint infections is considered endogenous. Patients with hypogammaglobulinemia and other antibody deficiencies are also especially susceptible to mycoplasmal infections of the upper respiratory and urinary tracts caused most frequently by M. pneumoniae or U. urealyticum, respectively (36).

Here is one article that really helps describe it...

http://www.shasta.com/cybermom/asimple.htm

If I remember, and I could be wrong...if you have EVER had mono you should test positive for EBV. At least thats what they told me when I tested positive for it many years ago.