Lyme test results

[naoise]

hi

I recently got back my Lyme results but don't fully understand them.
My borellia IGM is positive, positive Blot P41 and my CD57 is -50. I didn't even know you could get a test result of minus!

Does anyone of this point to lymes?

 

[sarah darwins]

I didn't even know you could get a test result of minus!

lol - I think I once got that on a high school maths test

I'm guessing this is a lab that uses the minus sign to indicate that your result was below the normal reference range. I suspect your result was 50! (which would indeed be low).

I think low CD57 is very common in people with a lyme diagnosis.

 

[naoise]

@sarah darwins ah ok that would make sense ha!

I don't know if I have lymes it's so confusing!

 

[Daffodil]

@sarah darwins ah ok that would make sense ha!

I don't know if I have lymes it's so confusing!

if your borrelia IGM is positive, i would say you have active Borrelia infection, which is Lyme

 

[naoise]

@Daffodil yes that is positive for me. I'm so confused by it all! Wish it would say yes or no for lymes!

 

[Daffodil]

im pretty sure its a big fat YES

 

[naoise]

@Daffodil i almost don't want to get my hopes up (I've been sick for so long any answer is amazing) cause some people have told me nope IGM means nothing! Ugh

 

[Hanna]

I am afraid it may be a little more difficult to draw a straight conclusion from your western blot result, as the band 41 is not specific to Lyme. I don't remember which bands are to be positive - but I am sure many here on the forum will be able to answer.
A negative WB doesn't mean no lyme either, as some lymees are unable to produce positive results before treatment and show a clear positive response after ABX.

 

[naoise]

@Hanna thanks..yeah it really is confusing! Some people on sites have said yup definite Lyme and others nope.

 

[bertiedog]

Last year I was tested by Infectolab and I had 3 positives on the Ellispot for borrelia +5. +4 +3 with CD57 around 58 and I tested positive on the Western Blot for band 41 only.

Actually I found an old result of a MELISA done in 2007 and this wasn't completely negative because although there was a reaction it wasn't quite strong enough to warrant a positive. The comment was possibly seronegative?

I did over a year on a modified Cowden and had a good increase in the ability to walk more steps daily but as I have adrenal insufficiency this will always get in the way and cause crashes from time due to circumstances out of my control. I don't really know what I think about this test now after @Jonathan Edwards has implied its pretty useless because it isn't validated by anyone else. (We know it was validated for TB but not Lyme).

I am intrigued by the posts about borrelia and ME/CFS and so many testing positive but it would seem these positives only occur with Infectolab, Armin Labs and Igenex and virtually never with NHS testing or other Western Blots.

Pam

 

[msf]

They also occur with PCR, as do other TBIs.

 

[duncan]

I have never tested with IGeneX or Infectolab or Armin lab. I am 2T positive, though, with just about every major lab in the US, including Labcorp and Qwest and Mayo and Imugen and Immunetics and Bioreferences Labs and Stony Brook.

I also always have been C6 positive.

Having said that, I can tell you that I suspect no major IDSA Guidelines supporter - and that would include the CDC and NHS - would be willing to admit I have Lyme.

 

[msf]

So, if you´re 2T positive, why are you always complaining about the 2T test, Duncan? Surely you should be spreading the word about how effective it is?

 

[duncan]

Perhaps it is, in part, because I am 2T positive, and C6 positive, that I can speak to their deficits with less worry about being accused of having an unwarranted bias.

I also can attest to how the game is rigged from a different perspective.

 

[msf]

Sorry, I was pretending to be a IDSA LLMD. You must count yourself to be one of the (un)lucky few, to be 2T test positive at multiple labs!

 

[naoise]

Thanks. I guess I will see what the specialist says. It's very confusing!

 

[duncan]

Here's the deal with Lyme: Catch it early, and diagnostics and treatment are friendly to 80% of the infected. The other 20% are relegated to a less friendly status.

Fail to catch it early...Let it progress to late stage...

Well, diagnostics and treatment protocols too often can be reduced to little more than posturing.

Hey @msf, would IDSA LLMD qualify as an oxymoron?

 

[msf]

Haha, I thought that when I wrote it. What´s the word for someone who knows lots of non-facts about Lyme?

 

[duncan]

NIH? NHS? CDC?

 

[naoise]

Hmm ok so I guess if I get diagnosed it's more for the diagnosis than anything else.