So we are new to this site and new to Lyme. My mother has her first LLMD appointment set up in a month. My mom has a PA who has been following her multitude of medical illnesses (she has neuroligic and an abundance of arthritic symptoms), here is her most recent letter to my mom regarding her Lyme test....
"I am writing in regards to your recent Lyme antibody screen. The initial screen was positive, although I did call and talk with infectious disease and based on the results, they do feel that this is a negative test. They questioned a prior diagnosis with the fact that none of the IgG bands were positive. At this point, no antibiotic therapy is recommended. I believe you have a follow up with Dr....(orthopedic MD). We will discuss further based on his recommendations."
I had my mom call the lab and found out it was a Western Blot that gave a positive result. We are still waiting for the actual result to come in the mail, to see the bands...
Any thoughts as to these results?????
LymesWI (yes I now know it is Lyme, not Lymes:)Lol! )
Posted by BackinStOlaf (Member # 23725) on :
this doesn't sound right- do you have the results in front of you? can you post them? what lab was used?
Posted by Looking for WI Lymes MD (Member # 25779) on :
That is what I thought too...It doesn't sound right at all because IgG response is later in the illness so why would the "Infectious medicine" MD think that this was a past infection?? We are waiting for the actual lab to come in the mail, it should be here tomorrow. As I am a nurse, I want to view the actual lab result myself and bring it to the LLMD. Not sure what is going on, as soon as I have the actual test, I will for sure post it!! Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
Sounds to me like they're giving you the usual run-around. They don't like to admit to a Lyme diagnosis. They pretty much say anything to throw folks off. When you post the numbers here, folks can comment.
The medical help you need will come via the LLMD appt.
And good thing you are a nurse - that will come in handy here, I think -
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
"With most infections, your immune system first forms IgM antibodies, then in about 2 to 4 weeks, you see IgG antibodies. In some infections, IgG antibodies may be detectable for years.
Because Borrelia burgdorferi is a chronic persistent infection that may last for decades, you would think patients with chronic symptoms would have positive IgG Western blots.
But actually, more IgM blots are positive in chronic borreliosis than IgG. Every time Borrelia burgdorferi reproduces itself, it may stimulate the immune system to form new IgM antibodies.
Some patients have both IgG and IgM blots positive. But if either the IgG or IgM blot is positive, overall it is a positive result.
Response to antibiotics is the same if either is positive, or both. Some antibodies against the borrelia are given more significance if they are IgG versus IgM, or vice versa." -- Dr C of MO
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