I am not sure Sally. I don't think so, but it does mean that
IF I am receiving the real stuff, it is working. Since I am in the double blind study and haven't been unblinded, I have no way of knowing if I was in the placebo group of the vaccine group. 100 received vaccine, 50 received placebo.
At some point, you revert back to producing MRTCs again. Where that point is, no one knows. And at what point you stop producing is also unknown, at least for me it is. That information hasn't been released yet.
I will be retested again on Sept 24th for MRTCs which would be 367 days since my last vaccine. Since my last vaccine, I have had 2 exacerbations; one infection induced (that horrible sinus infection I had last December) and one not.
Since I have started the trial, March of '07, I have had a total of 3 exacerbations. 2 treated with IVSM. That in and of itself is a huge statistic for me. Prior to that, I had 3, sometimes 4, exacerbations a year tx'd with IVSM.
I can't get back into the extension study until I produce those MRTCs again so they can make the vaccine for me.
I am not cured, just fewer exacerbations. I do however still have symptoms...fatigue and lots of pain. That has not gone away.