LymeNet Flash: Is Igenex a good lab to test for Bartonella?

This is topic Is Igenex a good lab to test for Bartonella? in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.

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Posted by New York State of Lyme (Member # 26264) on :

I went to the doctor on Tuesday and he took

blood to send to Igenex for some testing. He

didn't do the Bart testing with them, but

wanted to send my blood to another lab (forget

the name) which would cost an additional $700

that I did not have, so I couldn't do it. When

I originally called to make an appointment, I

was told the test for Lyme and the co-

infections would be $604, so I was a little

suprised that they then wanted another $700 [Frown]

I thought all the co-infections were covered in

that price. Is Igenex not good for Bartonella?

Posted by CD57 (Member # 11749) on :

NO!
Consider Galaxy Diagnostics, in NC, instead. They have just opened.
Or Clongen Labs.

Posted by jenny76 (Member # 18205) on :

Clongen is WONDERFUL!

Posted by New York State of Lyme (Member # 26264) on :

Thank you CD57. Is Igenex good for Babesia? I

know he is testing for that through Igenex.

I heard there are different tests for Bart, do

you, or anyone, have any suggestions about

which I should test for? I cannot afford

to test for them all.

Edited to add: Thank you Jenny. I am on their website looking at their tests right now [Smile]

Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :

Quest is good I hear. Why waste $$$ on non-insurance labs w/o trying to get a positive there for Bart?

Posted by Lemon-Lyme (Member # 19229) on :

I agree with seekhelp. For co-infections, why not try labs that insurance will pay for first?

Most docs treat based on symptoms anyway, so testing may be sort of pointless when you think about it. Besides getting the WB at Igenex, I'm not sure I see a point to getting all tests done there.

Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :

I'm not even sure what point Igenex is at times as no mainstream doc believes their results are worth the paper they're written on. They're the black sheep of labs.

From a LLMD perspective, they clinically diagnose anyways. There's some self-justification received from running that test, but it's expensive to buy. [Smile]

If I saw it confirmed by another commercial lab like LabCorp, Quest, Stonybrook, etc., I'd feel very much differently.

Posted by momintexas (Member # 23391) on :

Why is Igenex not a good lab for Bart? Are they good for anything other than Lyme?

Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :

I've not heard anything super stellar about them for co-infections, but I do recall TF saying her now famous LLMD used them for testing for co-infections. Ihey're just so expensive when you add all tests in. If you got the $$$, great.

Posted by dj (Member # 20969) on :

Ya - I'm tired of paying for these expensive labs that don't really prove anything in my opinion. There are false positives and false negatives - the llmd will probably treat you based on how you feel. They try different abx based on the results. However, maybe they have to get some labs so they can at least cover themselves in that they are attempting to diagnose the problem.

Posted by New York State of Lyme (Member # 26264) on :

Thanks everyone. I forgot to mention I don't have
insurance. I was hoping my doc would give me something to treat the symptoms I do currently have, but he said he has to wait until the tests come back.

Right now my feet hurt, and I am worried that I may not be able to walk properly, or at all, by the time I get to see him again at the end of June.

Posted by Haley (Member # 22008) on :

I tested positive for Bartonella though labcorp. I had a positive Elisa through labcorp and I would like to test for Babesia through Labcorp.

I have spent a couple thousand dollars on tests through other labs and it is turning out that labcorp is coming up with the positive tests.

Oh, I did test positive for Ehrlichia and RMSF through Igenex.