As you will read on p. 7, lyme cannot be diagnosed by any test as the tests are unreliable. So, you tell your symptoms to a lyme specialist, get some tests, tell your medical history, and try a course of lyme treatment.
That generally tells the tale.
If you test for lyme and all the main coinfections (babesiosis, bartonella, ehrlichia), then if you have positive tests to any of the coinfections, that is another indicator that you almost certainly have lyme disease also. These diseases are nearly always found together and not alone.
So, since no test is totally reliable, the best thing is to get to a good lyme specialist who has seen hundreds or thousands of patients. His educated opinion is what we call a "clinical diagnosis" which is the proper way to get diagnosed with lyme disease.
The more symptoms of lyme you have (see pages 9-10) the more likely you have lyme. Some docs will tell the patient that, based on their symptoms, they don't need any tests. They know the person has lyme. They give you some treatment, and that is the proof.
So, if money is tight, read the Burrascano Guidelines and learn all you can. If you think you have a really good chance of having lyme, you may want to not test at all. Instead, save your money for that expensive first appointment with a lyme doctor and see if you can forego testing completely and just start treating--and see what happens!
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