posted
My apologies if this question is not really answerable, but I am just working my way into all of this. I am currently taking prophylactics for a recent tick bite, but I have a plethora of reasons to suspect I've been infected with lyme with 4 years or longer.
I refused a blood test (probably ELISA?) when I got the abx script from my pcp, thinking it would probably come back negative since I was only 40 hours post bite. I didn't give thought to having lyme prior to this incident, even though it's been at the back of my mind for quite a while.
So my loaded question is... if I have been infected with lyme for a number of years, would a week of doxycycline cause a false negative on an ELISA test (I am assuming that is what they offered me, the tech could offer me no info about what kind of test it was)? Perhaps that kind of an infection won't show at all on an ELISA?
I know there are a myriad of reasons that a test could come back false negative, but my thinking is that if I get a positive on the first then my insurance will cover a Western Blot. It won't be Igenex, but at least it might give me something to start out with when I can see an LLMD. So now I am wondering if it wouldn't be worth it to go back and get the blood test. Thanks Posts: 474 | From US | Registered: May 2014
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poppy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5355
posted
Sometimes a doctor will suggest a challenge dose of antibiotics to stir up the spirochetes, kill some, which then provokes antibodies, so your test is more likely to show up true positive. Maybe that would happen with your prophylactic dose, if it is long enough.
I would not assume anything about the ELISA, as it is not a very good test, even with a challenge. The results of testing are all over the place: positive ELISA, neg WB, both positive, both negative. Then an ELISA might be negative, but WB positive. Very confusing, which is why clinical diagnosis is still around.
Why do you think you have had lyme a long time?
Posts: 2888 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Years before a known tick bite, I can point my finger to nearly exactly when I began having cognitive symptoms.
Then there is the known past tick bite. I was very early pregnant at the time and prescribed an antibiotic for 7 or 10 days (not amoxicillin). I had a bulls eye rash a year later, a couple months after giving birth. I took pictures of it with the bite in mind, but then buried it again. A couple months after that chaos ensued in my body.
The tendinitis came on instantly and I dealt with it a long time before getting surgery. After surgery I developed Tietze's syndrome which I've had for a while, it stays and each flare is worse than the last.
My symptoms of neuropathy have been appearing with increasing frequency in the last 6 months. There is a whole laundry list of physical and cognitive stuff, much of which could be indicative of fibromyalgia, so I've had my head in the sand about it until I began researching this recent tick bite.
Despite good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle I've continued to worsen, especially this last year, so I've been blaming stress. I don't think I have ever prayed so hard in my life to be wrong about something. Between me and my child, there is more than enough to make me question my (our ) status of lyme and co-diseases.
It sounds like I should finish a good round of abx before submitting myself for a blood test if I can't get to an LLMD first. I have less than a week left on the abx I've got, hopefully I can refill early which will give me another week. I've been planning to take tindamax with doxy when it comes in. A course of that should definitely stir things up, if it is to be seen.
Thank you so much for the information Posts: 474 | From US | Registered: May 2014
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) status of lyme and co-diseases. 
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