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Just found out I have Lyme

Messages
50
Location
australia
After 7 years of being diagnosed with ME/cfs and fibromyalgia I just found out I have lyme disease and chlamydia pn. I sent my blood to infectolabs in Germany and this is what they found:

Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies (immunoblot)
Borrelia-Blot-IgG-antibodies negative
Borrelia-Blot-IgM-antibodies negative

Borrelia burgdorferi Elispot LTT
Borrelia burgd. Fully Antigen + 11 SI <2
Borrelia OSP-Mix (OSPA/OSPC/DbpA) + 13 SI <2
BorreliaLFA-1 + 3 SI <2


Chlamydia pneumoniae Elispot LTT
Chlamydia pneumoniae-Elispot LTT + 14 SI < 2
CD 57 positive NK-cells 30 /μl (range 100-360)



Im so glad my cfs/me dr. in Melbourne, Australia took initiative and did this for me. I believe I am one of hundreds of Australians who are now receiving this diagnoses. Many are fighting for this diagnosis and proper treatment as it is not recognised as even existing in Australia.

Sure, I have been to west coast US and Canada twice, however i have spent little time there - the two times I developed a lyme like fever and rashes were in Melbourne in 1992 and 2006. It does not coincide with when I was overseas!!

Unfortunately our Govt. is burying its head in the sand and our doctors are absolutely clueless (geez I even remember having scrapings of my rash sent to path. to see if it was a fungal infection) this was after a severe virus with joint swelling :thumbdown:

off to see the dr in the next few weeks to discuss treatment.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
k-AUS

Good discovery! Wow, your numbers are high--nice to get something definite and not equivocal.

So....anti-biotics?
Sushi
 
Messages
50
Location
australia
k-AUS

Good discovery! Wow, your numbers are high--nice to get something definite and not equivocal.

So....anti-biotics?
Sushi



Haven't been back to see the dr yet, but I'm assuming antibiotics will be the way to go. The thing I'm curious about now is whether my teenage daughter has it too. She has had terrible joint, bone and muscle pains and always has weird rashes that the Dr's have labelled as uticaria and hives. Recently a specialist diagnosed her with fibromyalgia. She will be tested hopefully before Christmas. Could it be lyme as well???


atoska

thanks for your kind words. I'm 80% housebound and pacing activities around my bed. Even a 50% recovery would gain some life back :)
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
Haven't been back to see the dr yet, but I'm assuming antibiotics will be the way to go. The thing I'm curious about now is whether my teenage daughter has it too. She has had terrible joint, bone and muscle pains and always has weird rashes that the Dr's have labelled as uticaria and hives. Recently a specialist diagnosed her with fibromyalgia. She will be tested hopefully before Christmas. Could it be lyme as well???

It could be. There does seem to be the possibility of passing it from mother to child. Sure would be worth getting her checked.

Best wishes. I am in a similar place with you around a Bartonella diagnosis.

Sushi
 
Messages
50
Location
australia
On the Chlamydia pneumoniae there is this site, fyi: http://cpnhelp.org/ not sure if it might be helpful to you.

Would you be willing to share what it cost to send a blood sample to that German company? Did it have to be sent frozen?


The actual price list is found on the infectolabs website. Here is a breakdown of what the dr. ordered for me:

Borrelia Elispot LTT (CPDA) 184.49 (euros)

CD3-/CD57+Cells
(Heparin+EDTA) 106.68 (euros)

Borrelia IgG and IgM-EIA
(serum) 139.88 (euros)


Bartonella-IgG Antibodies
(serum) 89.19 (euros)

Chlamydia pn. Elispot LTT
(CPDA) 84. 81 (euros)


In total (thanks to the calculator on my iphone - you'd think having an accountant and 2 kids doing secondary school maths I could find a freaking normal calculator)o_O. Anyway the total is...............................................................................

605.05 euros

This does not include costs of the blood draw or shipping

Also don't forget the dollar conversion


PS - I dont know if the blood was sent frozen or not, but they did pack it in a polystyrene box with a cold pack and it was sent asap. Hope this is helpful
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I once looked up cost of sending blood overseas and it was a crazy amount.. more then the cost of the lyme test. Im very interested to know what you paid to get it there.
 
Messages
28
Location
Brussels, Belgium
I just found out that Infectolab has an australian website: http://www.infectolab.com.au. I read there :

Q: How do I send the blood overseas?
A: The sole purpose of Infectolab Australia is to assist with the logistics of transporting blood samples to the Infectolab laboratory in Germany. Please allow us to help you... all the information you need will be provided, and support is available by email or phone if you get stuck.[\quote]


Maybe worth giving them a call ?
 
Messages
50
Location
australia
taniaaust1 my melb. me/cfs dr sent a group of patients blood to infectolabs, so it cost me less than doing it individually. It cost me $100 for the blood draw and shipping. It would be worthwhile giving Infectolab Aust. a call as Limelight suggested.