I had my testing done at Stony Brook. I was told this is the lab of choice at Columbia University Lyme Research Center and they are covered by insurance, which is an added bonus. However, the testing report does not seem as complete as Igenix. They do not show the specific bands. Here are my results:
Lyme WB, Serum Lyme WB IgM Result INDETERMINATE iGM Bands kDa: 41 IgM NONSPECIFIC bands were also detected
Lyme WB IgG Result INDETERMINATE iGG Bands kDa: 41
Anyone know what IgM Nonspecific bands were alo detected means? Which bands are they looking at?
Thanks, Chris
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
Non-specific bands, on IgM, should be any of the bands except for 23, 39, or 41. There are a lot of other bands out there (see Dr. C's WB explanation at the top of the Medical Questions page)
The doctor ordering the test from Stony Brook has to specify that Stony Brook reports the non-CDC specific bands.
My doctor DID request that, so when I got my Stony Brook results back, it said:
IgM: 23 39 41 and other "CDC" non-specific bands. (18, 58)
So as you can see, I kind of hit the jackpot in that I had all 3 CDC bands, but I also showed positive on 18 and 58, which are non-CDC bands.
This test was done a few years ago. I'm assuming though if your doctor would have requested the non-CDC bands, you would have shown other numbers in () like me. But it looks like the doctor didn't make that request.
So your "NONSPECIFIC" bands could have been a lot of things....I'm not sure which ones Stony Brook checks for, but based on my results, I know they do obviously check for 18 and 58.
I wonder if you called, if they would let you know which ones were on there (like if they actually saved the test itself with the bands). The doctor might have to call on your behalf to request that info. Or, maybe you could just ask the doc to reorder the test, requesting to show nonspecific bands.
Either way, since you had that borderline result, and also, more than one band on your IgM.....if you have symptoms, you should definitely consider Lyme. I'm not in the business to diagnose, but if you have symptoms, you probably have it.
I had 5 bands on the IgM Western Blot, but my ELISA and all that was negative. So it just goes to show, the tests are finicky.
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
Do you have a LLMD to help you?
Posted by cjohnson (Member # 21271) on :
Yes, my regular MD ordered the labs at my request. I saw an LLMD last week but the results were not back yet. I am bringing the test with me at my next appt.
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
Not sure why they are using Stoney Brook, which used to be better at testing, but changed the criteria so that fewer tests are positive. Maybe because ins pays and this is a home of lyme denial, so if they say positive, then they can't argue with the results.
But when you use SB, then for sure remember that it is a clinical diagnosis.