quote:Originally posted by Tincup: Getting a false positive on a Lyme test is about as likely as being tested and finding you are a "little bit" pregnant.
But wait a minute.... If there are "false" negatives, isn't it possible for there to be "false" positives?
-------------------- Sometimes when I say �Oh, I�m fine� I want someone to look me in the eyes & say �tell the truth�
posted
I had the same question. Constantly being told by ducks I mean docs that I wasn't sick, I didn't have lyme and the answer was simple: I got a FALSE positive and I was depressed.
Anything is possible but it's not probable. To find out if a tick has lyme all you do is smash the tick and it either has the spirocete (cork screw shape) or not.
In a person it's much more complicated. If you are LUCKY enough to test positive-you're insurance by law must cover you or they risk getting sued. They don't have to treat you the way you want but they do have to treat.
After a year and a half I got kaiser to admit that I DID have lyme, which even though they never said it is why they kept giving me meds.
Honestly, you need to find an LLMD-get treated-
I don't know where you were tested but at IGENEX lab in palo alto, california they actually take a picture of the spirocete bacteria and they study your blood for an extended amount of time, just to make sure.
Ne wayz, Good LUCK!!!
Lindsay
Posts: 484 | From Burlingame, Ca | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
My neurologist (who does not support my diagnosis of lyme disease) told me that the ELISA was so sensitive that a pos ELISA was always followed by a WB. A WB would very very rarely be false neg.
I then asked him why they didn't pay any attention to MY pos WB - he was baffled: you had a pos WB?? The problem was that I had had several neg ELISA's. His conclusion? The WB probably must have been a mistake. A MISTAKE!?
Oh well, as always, I think symptoms and response to abx tells more than the different tests sometimes.
But what does one mean about false pos anyway?? I mean antibody-tests only show whether or not one has antibodies - it does not tell if that person is feeling ill or not. Some people do have Bb antibodies without being physically ill. It doesn't mean they will never be ill with lyme disease down the line.
sig
Posts: 155 | From Norway | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
False positives Possible.?..Sure. Even Igenex mentions it on there site. EB Virus, RA factor and if you search other possibilities. The tests really are not anywhere near perfect and even the CDC says should be based on clinical symptoms
Posts: 355 | From NY | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
my doc told me that my test from igenex being positive meant NOTHING. That i DIDNT have it for sure. He said they feel i have CFS and people w/ CFS need exercise and antidepressants.
Sometimes i worry myself sick wondering if he's right. He said there are risks involved in using antibiotics the way thats necessary for "lyme" and that he would never agree to prescribe them for me.
My llmd is though. But,,,,now im worried to take them.
An FYI for you. I was ELISA negative, Igenex positive and sick for 2 years.
Posts: 160 | From california | Registered: Dec 2006
| IP: Logged |
valymemom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7076
posted
A local well-respected internal med physician who acquired many chronic fatigue/fibro patients over the years finally agreed to a parent's request to use Igenex to test a teenage patient for lyme. She tested positive and he was curious enough to contact some llmds for help. Now he has so many lyme patients because he tested his chronic fatigue/fibro patients thru Igenex.
He has written and published a paper on the link between cfs and lyme and the symptom overlap.
It is likely that infection is messing with your body and I would give abx a try.
One of this doc's patients saw him for years for cfs/fibo and now with abx she has seen a change for the better in her symptoms.
Posts: 1240 | From Centreville,VA | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[confused]](graemlins/confused.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic