I have a Lyme doctor but of course it's the weekend and a holiday and my next visit is not till Thursday.
If someone could please help me interrpert this I would really appreciate it.
Thank you
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
WOW! You scored!!! The 83-93 is all you need to confirm the diagnosis. It's the DNA of the Bb.
From Dr C's WB explanation:
23-25: Outer surface protein C (osp C).
31: Outer surface protein A (osp A). 34: Outer surface protein B (osp B).
39: Unknown what this antigen is, but based on research at the National Institute of Health (NIH), other Borrelia (such as Borrelia recurrentis that causes relapsing fever), do not even have the genetics to code for the 39 kDa antigen, much less produce it. It is the most specific antibody for borreliosis of all.
41: Flagella or tail. This is how Borrelia burgdorferi moves around, by moving the flagella. Many bacteria have flagella. This is the most common borreliosis antibody.
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83: This is the DNA or genetic material of Borrelia burgdorferi. It is the same thing as the 93, based upon the medical literature. But laboratories vary in assigning significance to the 83 versus the 93.
93: The DNA or genetic material of Borrelia burgdorferi.
In my clinical experience, if a patient has symptoms suspicious for borreliosis, and has one or more of the following bands, there is a very high probability the patient has borreliosis.
These bands are 18, 22, 23-25, 28, 30, 31, 34, 37, 39, 41, 83, and 93.
This is true regardless of whether it is IgG or IgM.. But again, there is no universal agreement on the significance of these bands. Betina Wilska, M.D. from Germany is one of the world's experts on outer surface protein A (31 kDa).
At the international borreliosis conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, I asked her personally about the 30 kDa band. She told me it was the same as the 31 kDa band (osp A).
When you have the opportunity to talk to borreliosis experts, this helps in assigning significance to findings, on an imperfect test. As a medical doctor, I am stating all of this with no axe to grind, no professorship to protect, and no preset opinions. Patients, personal research, and conferences have helped me interpret the borreliosis medical literature in regard to testing.
Nobody would like to have available a bullet-proof, 100% reliable Lyme borreliosis test more than I would. But we must use what is currently available. I always welcome second opinions.
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Here is his update written sometime around 2005:
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The significant antibodies, in my opinion, are the 18, 23-25, 28, 30, 31, 34, 39, 58, 66 and 93.
One thing doctors are taught in medical schools is to treat the patient, not the test result.
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In fact, the 31 kDa band is so tightly associated with Lyme borreliosis that a vaccine was made from that outer surface protein.
In other words, I believe that criteria that exclude the ospA (31 kDa) band should not be used to tell a patient they do not have Lyme borreliosis.
Common sense should tell anyone that prevalent antibodies like the 31 dKa and 34 dKa should be included in the criteria, not excluded.
(Remember, research supports that if just one antibody that is significantly associated with Borrelia burgdorferi is present on a Western blot, 97 percent of those patients with chronic symptoms or chronic diseases feel better with antibiotics.)
*****All of the above is a quote of Dr C of MO.*****
Joyce/cypriane
Posted by METALLlC BLUE (Member # 6628) on :
You have Lyme Disease. Welcome to hell. But no seriously, you now have a solid diagnosis.
Posted by antsettler (Member # 7236) on :
european criteria:
your wb is positive 97.2% bb sensu stricto strains, 98.6% bb afzelii strains, 97.9% bb garinii strains, specificy;
but you have 3% crossreactive because your OspC;
if your p39 whould be positive then 99.3%, 100% and 100% positive;
also the same if your p41 turn ++;
Posted by Raymond (Member # 13980) on :
I have read somewhere that if you have less than 5 positive bands, chances are you have had it for awhile.... Has anyone else heard of this as truth/fallacy?
Also read somewhere that PCR test will show positive if ELISA is positive but if WB positive likely PCR negative....truth/fallacy?
Posted by LarryB (Member # 15738) on :
quote:Originally posted by feelfit: Well, you certainly are positive. Your ++++ on 31 indicates that you have had infection for awhile. Other Bb specific bands as well.
Go to the top of this page and look at Dr. C's Western Blot explanation....things will become perfectly clear!
Best, Feelfit
Does that indicate years or months or is it a guessing game?
Thanks for your help by the way. The weird things is I don't feel bad. I have some minor stabbing pains which come and go very quickly but that's about it.
Hmmmm...more confused then ever now. I found a bulls eye rash on my neck at the end of May. Is it possible that the rash doesn't appear for some time? Or is indicative of a recent tick byte?
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I think it usually means more than a year, at the least.
Maybe you've been bitten before and were bitten again in May?
Sometimes we'll have people here who suddenly have a rash show up during treatment... never had it before.. but were ill before.
Posted by Raymond (Member # 13980) on :
I had read some article the neck bites are the ones more related to the facial palsy..something to do with the nerves in that area..
May want to ask LLMD for hopefully some kind of reassurance.