Hurray!
I, too, have noticed several references to a viral cause.
The Canadian Blood Services have just exempted people with Fibro / Chronic Fatigue from giving blood (as if we should be giving blood)
and the current program (or possible cure!) that I am undertaking believes that the problem is viral.
p.s. I am improving weekly because I now get rest from my sleep.

There are so many possibilities I dont know what to think. Fibro has got to be the most complex illness yet. Look at all of the other illnesses it is linked with. Its like if u have fibro u have everything. And yet they say fibro is not fatal. Well i know some ppl that wich it was! All the crap that is conected with this is unreal. I have seen recently that some ppl have tried antiboitics for fibro, or for other things but had an improvement in the fibro symptoms. I was on antibiotics for a week for strept throat and it seemed to calm my nerve pain a bit. I have to wonder if fibro is caused by a virus, or perhaps a enviornmental cause. I wonder if there are multiple causes, or just one. I do know that it seems that no one is born with it, but that it can develop very early in life, and then progress later on. That seems to be my case, some think it is caused all of a sudden by certain triggers. I think it is something that lies dormant in our bodies, that can come out at any time.

Perhaps eveyone IS born with this "thing" but it has to be triggered to cause harm or go full blown??? These are questions that need answers, we will never know how to fix it if we dont know the cause.

FM IS a complex illness. It can mimic other illnesses, and the sx are so varied and the degree to which they are experienced is also very individual.

I think it's Dr. Pellegrino who says that there is a spectrum... I think it's possible that more than one illness presents as fibromyalgia. Perhaps the symptoms we call fibromyalgia are a collection of symptoms of more than one illness... or could be a virus with many 'strains' like the "common cold". Some get the cold that is RSV and in infants that can be quite dangerous, while more mature folks aren't endangered by it.

I do think the two surgeries I had in March and May of 2008 kicked my whatever/FM into high gear that summer. I had numerous symptoms for years before that, but I was really sickened that summer. So it might have "triggered" the fm but only by upping the degree, not by starting the illness.

I'm concered because my teen daughter complains of a lot of the same symptoms I have, and some I remember from my own teen years.

If this is true ans there is a cure that would be the best thing that could happen to me. I know that I would get my life back and live the rest in years in peace and harmony.However, since a blood test or exrays can;t determine this disease, how would they know and how would you get it, It s over active nerves that attack tha muscles and tissue in your body. Any more info on this would be most helpful and greatly appreciated. Thanks be to God for this site!

Hi Narey! I truly believe it is caused by some time of virus. For years, I have believed this because the symptoms I get come and go like a virus. How can one day I have severe neck pain and cannot even turn my neck and then I wake up the next day and the pain is gone. It is though the virus sticks to one part of the body and then decides to move to another part. That is my theory but I am not a doctor so who knows for sure.

I have read reports that some docs think that it is caused by reactivated Herpes-viruses or XMRV. I also believe that whatever virus it is, it lays dormant in our bodies and comes out when something triggers it. I just hope they find the true cause very soon so all of us can start "real" treatment. Treatment to cure it or decrease the viral load, not treatment for symptoms like we have now.

I too had symptoms that would come and go over many years but I just had an hysterectomy in Dec. 2009 and the symptoms are back with a vengenance! It has been absolutely horrible! Now I wish I had never had the surgery in the first place, I regret it everyday!

But I do know that this disease needs more research a.s.a.p. I can't believe how many people are getting it and u still have docs who don't believe in it. What is wrong with the medical community! If I was still in my twenties, I would of picked the medical field to study because I would of focused on this illness to help others like myself. I think that is why I keep telling my kids that they need to go into the medical field. I pray everyday that the cause is known and that treatment can start immediately. Take care!

I believe that they are going to find that both fibro and CFS are caused by this XMRV virus.

Phoenix Rising is another web site that is followning this XMRV virus and has other helpful info on Fibro and CFS.

here is a link to their web site.

http://www.aboutmecfs.org/Rsrch/XMRVBuzz.aspx

SueMcD, think of it this way... remember when they had these people coming down with a terrible illness (AIDS) and there was no idea where or why... eventually, the virus was isolated, then they learned how they could test for it, and then treatments were considered, and tested and refined, until 30 years later, HIV is able to be held at bay a bit so that not everyone with it will develop AIDS and die....

Well, they've isolated this virus, and there is so much to be done in researching it and testing the theories... then in developing a treatment for whatever the XMRV might cause. So, it's good news, but will take lots of time for it to be helpful IF it's a cause.

Mscruiselover... I feel for you. I also felt like if only I had not had those surgeries! ugh... I will say, though, that I don't feel AS bad as I did last summer, and the summer before that was much worse, so have hope that you'll gain some equilibrium with time.

Maryca, thanks for the reminder.. I check out that site every so often.

Hey guys, I guess I was kind of looking at a different cause altogether... a neurological one. See, I was absolutely fine until the 6th grade when I had spinal surgery and then everything went down hill. I have had two more spinal operations since then and developed many diseases that all seem to have the possibility of a neurological link. But I also do struggle with chronic mouth sores when I have major flares so I guess it could be the xmrv or whatever since that is a type of herpes virus and maybe the surgery was my trigger?

Well, it has something to do with our body's response to stress and pain (which is a stress, I guess.) The peripheral nervous system gets fouled up by chemical toxins or mechanical injury that I believe trigger the dormant virus deposited in our bodies up to 30 years prior to illness onset.

I took mega doses of Valtrex for about 18 mos. It's an anti-viral directed at viruses in the Herpes family. It's approved uses are Herpes Simplex 2 and Shingles, but the virus suspected for CFS and F is also a Herpes virus. Some doctors prescribe it for F and CFS.

I feel better. It's not a magic bullet but for the first time in 20 years I feel like I have a real chance of recovery, but maybe this is just another trick of fate. F is really shitty that way.

Combined with serious medical marijuana use (serious in that I don't ingest just any strain) I'm having more pain free days in a month than I've historically had in a whole year.

I truly believe you're on the right track. Fortunately, a few good scientists and doctors are, too.

FMMomof4, OR, could it be that you CONTRACTED the virus in the hospital when you had that surgery..kwim?

i belive its nurological too, my onset of fibro was right after a 5 month long status migraine headache

im starting to belive a virus causes Fibro too because for years my firbo symtoms would "remise" and then re apear. like a flu that i just could't quite kick. then as of last year i no longer have these remissons. i've heard alot of other people tell me this too. exspecally in the fibro puzzle group on here

i really hope it is a virus because then we can find a cure!