I know this is probably a really basic question but can someone please explain the difference between IGG and IGM (is that even right?) to me...
What does it actually mean if I tested positive for past exposure but not the current one?
Thanks, sara
Posts: 160 | From Frederick, Maryland | Registered: Nov 2004
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lymie tony z
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5130
posted
Well The IGG is supposed to tell you that you have a history of exposure and you always will(according to ducks)so they tell you not to worry about it...HA! The IGM is the one they'll tell you to worry about because this one is supposed to tell them and you that your infection is active...PROBABLY TRUE!!!!!!! However it has been my experience starting back in 98, 99,2000,2002,2003 that the test is too inaccurate to put any emphasis on the IGG OR IGM unless it is positive. the cdc says you have to have 5bands of their choosing in the IGG and 2 out of three in the IGM to be positive. I Have had either or for the many times I have been tested. The most recent one done at Stoneybrook was both IGG and IGM positive after years of on again off again abx treatments. Bottom line is the doc or duck uses these tests to either treat you or not treat you depending on what result comes out so they feel they're safe....the bottom line on all these test results reads "do not use this result as a Basis for DIAGNOSIS A CLINICAL diagnosis must be made".... This is why we must get better testing....so ducks and insurance companies have no criteria for refuseing us treatment. The insurers and ducks have got to know which labs produce neg tests and which ones produce positive tests....I have had blood drawn on the same day on two occaisions and sent my blood to two seperate labs and one came back neg and the other positive.......so you figure it out....unless the lab has some deal with the llmd for giving back a positive test(whick I seriously doubt). Well I'm getting windy.......hope I helped clear you up on the tests somewhere in all this....................................zman
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Posts: 2527 | From safety harbor florida(origin Cleve., Ohio | Registered: Jan 2004
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lymie tony z
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5130
posted
Well The IGG is supposed to tell you that you have a history of exposure and you always will(according to ducks)so they tell you not to worry about it...HA! The IGM is the one they'll tell you to worry about because this one is supposed to tell them and you that your infection is active...PROBABLY TRUE!!!!!!! However it has been my experience starting back in 98, 99,2000,2002,2003 that the test is too inaccurate to put any emphasis on the IGG OR IGM unless it is positive. the cdc says you have to have 5bands of their choosing in the IGG and 2 out of three in the IGM to be positive. I Have had either or for the many times I have been tested. The most recent one done at Stoneybrook was both IGG and IGM positive after years of on again off again abx treatments. Bottom line is the doc or duck uses these tests to either treat you or not treat you depending on what result comes out so they feel they're safe....the bottom line on all these test results reads "do not use this result as a Basis for DIAGNOSIS A CLINICAL diagnosis must be made".... This is why we must get better testing....so ducks and insurance companies have no criteria for refuseing us treatment. The insurers and ducks have got to know which labs produce neg tests and which ones produce positive tests....I have had blood drawn on the same day on two occaisions and sent my blood to two seperate labs and one came back neg and the other positive.......so you figure it out....unless the lab has some deal with the llmd for giving back a positive test(whick I seriously doubt). Well I'm getting windy.......hope I helped clear you up on the tests somewhere in all this....................................zman
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Posts: 2527 | From safety harbor florida(origin Cleve., Ohio | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
Thanks for the response, but I'm still a little confused. I understand the ducks might think the IGG means nothing, but does it really mean something?
I tested positive for babesia IGG. Positive >1.10 and I was 2.51. Does that mean anything at all or just that I was exposed at some time? I have LOTS of babesia symptoms and really think I have an active infection, but does this mean I don't?
Thanks, Sara
[This message has been edited by sarabear (edited 16 February 2005).]
Posts: 160 | From Frederick, Maryland | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
convential thought amongst LLMD's is that if you have been exposed to babesia and have not been thoroughly treated then you have still have the active infection.
minoucat
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5175
posted
Sara, there are many reasons to be seronegative on the WB for IgG or IgM. For that reason, the physicians who work closely with LD patients (and NOT for insurance companies and HMOs) emphasize that dx is based on clinical evaluations, with bloodwork as supporting info.
Positive IgG means only that the test has detected a specific kind of antibody, indicating that you have been exposed to the pathogen some time ago (at least several weeks).
Positive IgM means that the test has detected antibodies to current infection.
Emphasis is on what the test can detect; it's helpful info, but not definitive. I agree strongly with zip, tony and Lymetoo.
Be sure your doctor is documenting the clinical manifestations of illness (this is NOT A GIVEN, as I've learned to my sorrow) and that you are too. You will need this info in defending your treatment plan if you consistently come up with "equivocal" or negative tests, as I did.
Note also that there are other, better tests for babs than WB -- Igenex does the FISH, and then there is the Bowen lab (which I've never used).
posted
Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I will have this treated as soon as I give birth to the child I am carrying. I hope I have some improvement in store for me because the dizziness and blacking out is getting very old! I know you feel my pain.
Thanks again, Sara
Posts: 160 | From Frederick, Maryland | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
For most infections IgM is our early antibody response to infection and IgG is the later response to infection. Non LLMDS apply this to Lyme...but with Lyme it is different! The difference is possibly due to the fact that the spirochete changes expression of outer surface proteins depending upon the environment. (And the bands on a western Blot are measuring our antibody responses to these proteins hence can look like an early response)
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