Topic: CAN A SPINAL TAP SHOW LYME BORRELIA GROWTH?
kreynolds
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15117
posted
To All...
Just a quick question for all...After a positive western blot test showing 7/10 bands, I had my 1st tap in august which came back positive..
My I.D. "ducktor" sent me for a second which was unsucessful due to limited spinal fluid...
Im tired of all the pain from these procedures so if I were to get antother one would it show an elevated level of the lyme Borrelia or just show the same as it did in august?
I heard that it is impossible to grow the lyme Borrelia... so how can the "ducktors" claim to be able to tell if the Borrelia is reproducing?
posted
My son is another case of a spinal tap showing positive.
He tested positive on 7 bands of the IgG and the doctors in a major teaching hospital here on Long Island told us that Dan did not have Lyme Disease.
Four months later another spinal tap was done and this time he tested positive on 8 bands of IgG.
Both tests said right on them that according to CDC criteria they were positve Lyme Tests.
Infectious Disease docs at the hospital where he was a patient at that time said it couldn't possibly be Lyme because he had already been on abx (thru LLMD) for almost 2 mos.
Obviously, he was cured of Lyme!
So it doesn't really matter if you test positive or not they are going to deny Lyme Disease at all costs.
They use tests that are not positive to deny Lyme treatment and at the same time use tests that are positive to also deny Lyme treatment.
Do you think they don't want to treat Lyme? (LOL)
Posts: 89 | From Long Island, New York | Registered: Mar 2007
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"Both tests said right on them that according to CDC criteria they were positve Lyme Tests.
Infectious Disease docs at the hospital where he was a patient at that time said it couldn't possibly be Lyme because he had already been on abx (thru LLMD) for almost 2 mos."
What do the infectious disease drs propose that the condition is? The patient is sick and tests positive for Lyme disease. Seems as if another course of Lyme treatment is the only next logical step.
From my reading here, the infectious disease drs claim that if Lyme disease persists, then this must be a new infection (as ridiculous as a reinfection may seem).
I am very sorry to hear about your son's problems.
Best of luck to you and your family.
(I have been sick since Sep., 1992 with chronic Lyme since Dec. 21, 1994
Posts: 175 | From Colorado | Registered: Feb 2007
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Dan was in the hospital for his psychiatric problems along with his seizures.
The ducks decided that his seizures were psuedo seizures and one psychiatrist would walk past him each day and tell him, "No more seizures!".
The psychiatrists said he was bipolar, and depressed and because of his rages wanted to keep him locked up.
The psychiatrists also told me that I wanted him to have a Lyme diagnosis because it was "easier".
We got him out of the hospital and took him right to Dr. B. in Red Bank, NJ and haven't looked back. We saw progress, the day after we saw Dr. B.
Dan has been in treatment for a little over a year now and his psychiatric symptoms are gone, but he is still dealing with seizures and myoclonic jerks.
Posts: 89 | From Long Island, New York | Registered: Mar 2007
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-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96223 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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daise
Unregistered
posted
Hi Katy,
You're ID ducks knew exactly what they were doing.
They did spinal taps thinking 1.) it will probably be negative and 2.) they're so painful you'd never come back and 3.) spinal taps can cause permanent, awful problems.
They'd have something to blame your signs and symptoms on: the spinal tap.
Are ID ducks that bad? Emphatically, yes. It's IDSA at work.
A spinal tap is not at all called for, to diagnose Lyme disease.
You have had a POSITIVE western blot. That is all that's needed to diagnose Lyme. Period. Only about 40% test positive: Lyme remains a clinical diagnosis.
The best to you in your search for an LLMD to help you heal from lyme.
posted
Agreed, I dont think a ST is ANYWHERE in the medical treatment protocal's. They will not provide you any value other than pain and possible denial of insurance benefits.
THERE IS NO TEST currently that can accurately prove an active Lyme infection.
This is why Lyme is a CLINICAL Dx and should be treated by a specialist that deals with it every day.
A western blot is sufficient to prove you were exposed to Lyme.
You will also most likely need months of Abx to get resolution.
Also have you been tested for co-infections? They are equal to or worse than Lyme.
-------------------- Positive 10 bands WB IGG & IGM + Babesia + Bartonolla and NOW RMSF 3/5/09 all at Quest
CDC says 200,000 Americans per year contract Lyme disease but go undiagnosed.
5,000,000 possible victims of chronic Lyme (excluding the undertreated) in 25 years.
Pretty soon we'll have a voting bloc. Hope to live to see the day when the truth is revealed and the guilty are punished.
Posts: 175 | From Colorado | Registered: Feb 2007
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