Would anyone know anything about a Spinal Tap test for Lyme antibodies coming back negative? I am having recurring symptoms but the blood sample came back 0.8 and the CSF negative for Lyme.
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
Think this has been answered in one of your previous posts. CSF testing mainly done to rule out other possible causes of symptoms, very seldom finds lyme even when it can be cultured from a patient. Therefore, for finding lyme it is a painful waste of time.
Have you discovered the search function here? Up at the top of the page there is a string of words starting with "my profile" then to directory and search, etc. Click on search and use CSF in the box and get previous discussions of the subject. Very useful to be able to access the archives this way.
Also, the newby links good.
Posted by devan726 (Member # 8933) on :
Sorry, to bring up the same questions. Very frustrated and new at this site.
Posted by WildCondor (Member # 434) on :
The Spinal tap is very inaccurate to test for Lyme. A negative spinal tap does not rule out Lyme disease. Less than 15% of spinal taps are positive for Lyme. Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
Not meant to be a criticism. Lot of times newbies forget to go back and read all the replies to their previous questions. Good way to do this if there are many of them is to search using your own member number. Plus, newbies frequently don't notice this search function for a long time. It really is a valuable resource because people come and go and don't necessarily post their experience every time that particular question comes up.
If you have had these tests, including a spinal tap, and they still haven't figured it out, it is no wonder you are frustrated. That is usually a big hint that it is time to move on to someone who knows more about lyme.
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