I just got my Western Blot (LabCorp) results in yesterday. My doc says I don't have lyme, but wants to re-test me thru Igenex just to confirm. I had two bands "abnormal":
IgG P39 ab------Present Abnormal
IgM P23 ab------Present Abnormal
The remainder of the bands state "absent" so I guess that means negative. Any help on interpreting this is greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Posted by Dekrator48 (Member # 18239) on :
Hi and welcome!
See "western blot" info on page 7 of Dr B's guidelines.....
You will note that he says the band 39 is lyme specific and band 23 is also lyme specific...it is Outer surface protein C.
Only a person exposed to lyme would make those antibodies.
Your test is "officially CDC negative" like so many of us here were also. The tests are not that good.
If you have lyme symptoms (see page 9-11 of the above paper)....then you absolutely should find a LLMD asap.
99% of Dr's do not know how to recognize, test for, diagnose or treat lyme.
The important thing to remember is that Lyme is a clinical diagnosis.....means it is based on history and symptoms, NOT a lab test.
Most Dr's mistakenly rule out lyme with a negative test like yours...and they are dead wrong!
Please post on the Seeking a Doctor board to find a LLMD.
Your Dr should read Dr B's paper, among other things.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Both bands are Lyme specific.
Here is info on band 39:
"Band 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."
Which lab did you use?
Posted by hildy0521 (Member # 25133) on :
Hi Lymetoo,
I used LabCorp, but I am getting re-tested thru Igenex so I'm waiting on those results to come in. Thank you for the information you have shared...this really helps.