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Dr. Diana, both a doctor (therapeutic optometrist), and a recovered POTS and ME/CFS patient, offers help and hope for POTS, Dysautonomia, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Chronic Fatigue, Chronic Lyme, vascular abnormalities, Fibromyalgia, and Multiple Sclerosis. Dr. Diana is now working full time at POTS Care.

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Low C4 count?

NEW STUDY! Parasym Plus™ for Multiple Sclerosis › Forums › PrettyIll.com Discussion › POTS › Low C4 count?

  • This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 8 months ago by Dr. Diana.
Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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  • February 6, 2012 at 2:07 pm #103
    sarahdionna
    Participant

    I have been having facial, abdominal, and throat swelling since December 26, 2011. At first I thought it was food allergy because it would occur near times that I had eaten or while eating. I had a 74 panel food allergy test that came back negative so the doctor sent me to get blood work. The doctor’s office called today and said all the blood work came back normal except the C4 count which was too low. I was asked to come back up there in a week or so to repeat the blood work. I do have an epipen just in case my throat starts closing up more than it has so far.

    Has anyone else had a low C4 count with POTS?

    February 6, 2012 at 8:55 pm #1723
    Dr. Diana
    Keymaster

    I have been having facial, abdominal, and throat swelling since December 26, 2011. At first I thought it was food allergy because it would occur near times that I had eaten or while eating. I had a 74 panel food allergy test that came back negative so the doctor sent me to get blood work. The doctor’s office called today and said all the blood work came back normal except the C4 count which was too low. I was asked to come back up there in a week or so to repeat the blood work. I do have an epipen just in case my throat starts closing up more than it has so far.
    Has anyone else had a low C4 count with POTS?

    I can’t say that I have personally, but a couple of folks I know deal with it. They are wondering about Lupus, but I think it may be a reflection of our over-zealous inflammatory cytokines… Hmmm. Of course, one blood test does not a disease make, my friend. I saw your bio, and I think you will SOOO benefit from Part 2 of The Driscoll Theory. Hang in!
    Big hug,
    🙂 Diana

    March 6, 2012 at 3:59 pm #1791
    sarahdionna
    Participant

    My C4 levels came back low again and the C1 inhibitor level was normal. I go to the doctor on Tuesday to discuss the results.

    May 19, 2012 at 7:13 pm #2188
    POTS
    Participant

    My C4 is normal too.

    C4a (note the ‘a’ for activated) is usually very high in CFS and lots of people with CFS have POTS. As you know complement is associated with inflammatory states.

    This shouldn’t be confused with CD4 though, an immune supression marker!
    CD4/CD8 ratio is abnormal in CFS also usually.

    Chronic inflammation can damage lining to blood vessels and we know what that could cause.
    I have very high cytokines and chemokines and high natural killer cell count.

    Would be interesting to measure markers of inflammation/infection in people who have CCSVI or think they may have it.

    Plus the POTS people. 🙂

    May 20, 2012 at 1:40 pm #2194
    Dr. Diana
    Keymaster

    My C4 is normal too.

    C4a (note the ‘a’ for activated) is usually very high in CFS and lots of people with CFS have POTS. As you know complement is associated with inflammatory states.

    This shouldn’t be confused with CD4 though, an immune supression marker!
    CD4/CD8 ratio is abnormal in CFS also usually.

    Chronic inflammation can damage lining to blood vessels and we know what that could cause.
    I have very high cytokines and chemokines and high natural killer cell count.

    Would be interesting to measure markers of inflammation/infection in people who have CCSVI or think they may have it.

    Plus the POTS people. 🙂

    This info is GREAT. Thank you for posting. When working on The Driscoll Theory, I was trying to find what started it all… When I figured out that most of us had hydrocephalus, exacerbated by a trigger, I learned that hydrocephalus can make our inflammatory cytokines go nuts. You can imagine how it could get out of control if the stimulus (high ICP) doesn’t stop… If you’ve seen my lectures (or videos of), you’ll see that I’ve been talking about cytokines, mast cells, etc. and how they may very likely be the cause of damage of the vessels, CCSVI being just one result. YES! I agree with you, and am gathering data for folks who’ve had their cytokines/chemokines, etc. Tested. Is it possible for you to send me a copy of your blood work? (I’ll protect your identity, of course). Please feel free to contact me via the contact page, OK? I think we would all be grateful.
    BTW, have you had an MRV taken? I’d strongly suggest that (and again, I’d LOVE to see the results. The report will likely say “normal”. The radiologist don’t know how to look for this, yet). Thank you, my friend,
    🙂 Diana

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