Tried Zhang herbs, 3 months, no change in symptoms, no real herzxing, no improvement.
It started with a flu-type illness 7 years ago. NO joint pain, except knee pain which I've had since I injured my knee as a teen. Fatigue is my issue. A little muscle soreness when fatigue is worse. I also have dizzyness. Never had fevers, swollen glands. etc. No rash. I know some tests can have false positives.
THANKS!
IGENIX IGG 23-25,31,34,39,83-93 IND 41,58 ++
IGM 39,41,83-93 +
Co-infection panel - all negative
Posted by bcb1200 (Member # 25745) on :
Well, 39 and 83/93 are both VERY lyme specific, and you are positive on the IgM.
I'd say yes. (I am not a doctor)
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I would agree with bcb. If those herbs didn't help, try something different. You might like Buhner's book Healing Lyme.
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
I would say yes as well. Your flu-like illness 7 years ago might have been Lyme. Either way, you were exposed at some point. The chance of a false positive with 39 is probably pretty low, with what science knows up to this point (39 is considered most Lyme specific).
I tested positive for many bands like you, including 39, and the only joint pain I had was also knee pain. I have heard that is the most common place to get joint pain with Lyme.
I had a solid year or more of unusual knee pain before my fatigue began with this sudden onset illness. So it's hard to know in my case if the knee pain was Lyme or something else, since it preceded the sudden onset, then went away when the other symptoms started.
Fatigue is my main issue too. At this point, I'm trying to figure out if it was Lyme, one of the coinfections, or a virus. All my other symptoms got better with antibiotics, like headaches, etc. And the fatigue got better only somewhat.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
YES!!
You've been here 2 yrs and this is your first test? (just wondering)
"Band 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.
Band 93: The DNA or genetic material of Borrelia burgdorferi."***
--you can't argue with DNA--
Posted by lctheobald (Member # 18093) on :
I had this test a year ago, I'm just questioning the results because of the non-impact of herbs.
I'll look at Buhners. I have IC so I'm concerned about how my bladder will handle things. I've had issues with Cat's claw in the past.
I will be seing an LLMD, but I have issues with candida, even on the diet, anticandida herbs and prescription antifungals I still get yeast infections that will not go away until I've been done wiht antibiotics for awhile.
I just feel without the joint pain (the knee pain I've had from an accident 25 years ago), I don't have lyme. I have more fatigue, especially post-external.
Thanks for all yrou replies.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Well, the herbs may not be strong enough or just not doing the job that abx can do.
I also had IC and yeast before beginning Lyme treatment. The abx REALLY helped the IC .. took awhile, but it is way better than it used to be.
With proper diet, Nystatin and Diflucan you could probably do OK on abx.
(I still struggle with yeast though, to be honest.) I've been off abx for 6 yrs.
You don't have to have joint pain for it to be Lyme. MANY patients have NO pain.
Posted by missing (Member # 22437) on :
I agree Lymetoo!
Herbs don't even come close to ever having an effect on me.
I was in so much pain too, that it took a morphine I.V. drip to relieve the pain entirely. I am in severe pain daily.
I had weird knee pain that would only hit me when I went to the movies and had to sit at the movie theatre for two hours. Sometimes my knee would hurt and it sure would give out a lot too.
My worst symptoms were the nerve pain, fatigue, flu-fever like feelings, breathing problems, heart problems, and then the memory loss and the cognetive started to be really bad 3 years after the initial rash.
I would give my right arm to have been diagnosed in the first few months or year of being bit, because it took 3 years before I was put on treatment! I suffer now a lot more than I should have had too.
Posted by karenl (Member # 17753) on :
My LLMD does say the band 39 is lyme. 31,34,41 is not necessarily lyme.
Posted by lctheobald (Member # 18093) on :
Why isn't 31,34, 41 lyme? I have heard of some drs say you have to have 41 plus another band to have lyme.
I'm even more confused if I have lyme
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
IF you have Lyme???
31, 34, 41 are not proof positive but 83-93 IS!
You can get a confirmatory test for band 31 and then you'll know for sure it's from Lyme.
All of the bands indicate probable Lyme.
Posted by bcb1200 (Member # 25745) on :
"Most doctors" are correct following hte current IDSA guidelines. But those guidelines are crap as they ignore bands 31, 34, 39, 83, and 93
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
The regular tests do include 39, as do the CDC guidelines.
The reason Ictheobald may have heard you need 41 plus another to have Lyme---that is kinda true (but not really). You need 2 out of 3 of these bands: 23, 39, 41 to be positive for IgM, according to the CDC. Since 41 is the most common band in general, that is probably why you heard that. After 41, you'd just need one more. You could also be positive, obviously, by showing all 3.
Anyways, to the original poster, maybe you have Lyme exposure but Lyme is not the main cause of your symptoms? Maybe your body is handling the Lyme alright? I dunno. But I do not think that is a false positive. Especially with you living in WI, where Lyme is as prevalent in some areas as in the Northeast.
Many of us don't have joint pain though. Fatigue is common in Lyme, but I am not sure if it's specifically post-exertional malaise or what.
![[confused]](graemlins/confused.gif)