posted
Hello As suggested by a LLD, to get a more accurate test result, depending on the case, antibiotics can be given before a Lyme test, in which antibiotics apparently can stimulate the antibodies. My son was bit 6 years ago and I feel this would have mermit in his case. I would like to know has anyone heard of the duration a child must be on the antibiotics before the test is done. Thank you
Posts: 16 | From Mississauga,Ontario, Canada | Registered: Aug 2010
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posted
When finished with the one month of abx, as the antibotics wear off, wouldn't it be better to do the testing right away? if you can explain what would waiting 10-14 days prior to the testing help with? Thanks
Posts: 16 | From Mississauga,Ontario, Canada | Registered: Aug 2010
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"Instead of ignoring these, they should be a red flag to keep pursuing a laboratory diagnosis. Giving patients 4 weeks of antibiotics (usually tetracycline, 500 mg, 3 times a day), will convert a negative or equivocal Western blot to positive in about 36% of cases.
As mentioned, if these positive blots are found by specialty labs, over 99% of those patients will respond to antibiotics.
Sometimes multiple antibiotics have to be tried before the patient feels better. Antibiotics may actually help with the laboratory diagnosis. But patients need to be off antibiotics about 10 to 14 days before the Western blot is repeated. This sounds like a contradiction.
Antibiotics may help convert the test to positive, but patients need to be off antibiotics when the specimen is drawn.
It is well documented in medical literature that the presence of antibiotics may cause false negative borreliosis testing. Therefore, your system should be free of all antibiotics for an accurate blot result.
When the Lyme borrelia are alive, they are geniuses at avoiding the immune system. They may do things like go inside your white blood cells, and come out enclosed by the cell membrane of your own white blood cells! This may partly explain why antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi are often not found when patients are tested.
What may happen when patients are given 4 weeks of tetracycline (or other antibiotics) is that some of the bacteria die. When Borrelia burgdorferi dies, it is less efficient at avoiding the immune system.
That's when antibodies may be formed against Borrelia burgdorferi, converting the negative or equivocal Western blot to positive, in about 36% of cases."
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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sutherngrl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16270
posted
I re-tested after 2 months and then after 1 year on antibiotics. I did not go off the antibiotics to re-test.
My test prior to antibiotics was completely negative. My first re-test showed IGM band 41; my second re-test, 1 year later, was an IGM CDC positive.
I don't see any reason to go off antibiotics to re-test. If you have die off while taking antibiotics, it makes the most sense to me to test then. That is the most likely time to capture the bacteria floating around in your blood. This is just my opinion and obviously the opinion of my lyme doc.
Posts: 4035 | From Mississippi | Registered: Jul 2008
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