posted
Hello, I have a question on my lab results. not due to see dr. for a week. babesia microti igg
1:20 HIGH Neg:<1:10
babesia microti igm
<1:10 Neg:<1:10
Would this be a positive?
Also Western Blot came back with...
igg p45 ab. and igg p41 ab. PRESENT
Thank you in advance for any opinions and help. Deb
Posts: 482 | From NH | Registered: Aug 2001
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
You tested positive on babs microti IgG and negative on the IgM.
If either one is positive, you are positive, so you have babs microti. (If the tests were more reliable, more accurate, you would probably have tested positive on both IgG and Igm.)
Lyme Western Blot you have 2 IgG positive bands. They are 41 and 45.
41 indicates the presence of a bacteria with a tail. Many bacteria have tails including lyme.
45 indicates the presence of a heat shock protein. All bacteria except syphilis have this protein.
So, your lyme test does NOT show any band that is specific just to lyme disease.
What lab did your test? If it was Quest or LabCorp, I imagine that if you were tested at a good lab that specializes in lyme testing, you would test positive for lyme.
I expect you actually have lyme disease because it would be QUITE unusual to have babesia microti and NOT have lyme. The 2 diseases are nearly always found together.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Hi TF, Thank you so much for the info. and response. Wasn't sure if you needed both for the babesia microti.
Thank you for explaining the western blot too...much appreciated.
Yes it was through LabCorp. My Dr. wanted to test this way before sending to Igenex.
I've had Chronic Lyme and 2 co infections for a long time... But just got a couple of bites agghhh! Posts: 482 | From NH | Registered: Aug 2001
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
Well, these tests tell you that you have antibodies to babs in your blood.
Even after you get rid of babs, you will have antibodies to it for a long time.
I still have antibodies to lyme in my blood and it is nearly 12 years since I had it! We keep the antibodies for a long time.
Think of antibodies as your body's defense to the disease. The body keeps the antibodies around for a good while just in case you need them again.
So, because your doc ordered antibody tests, all the test results tell you is that you still have antibodies to babs in your blood.
This does NOT mean that you still have babs.
I really don't know what purpose these tests would serve in a case like yours. (I am assuming that babs is one of the coinfections you already know you had/have. Right?)
Did he also test you for new diseases to see if you got something new from the new bites?
To find out what diseases you still have, you would have to do other tests that are NOT antibody tests.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
not sure what other test he would do?
Posts: 482 | From NH | Registered: Aug 2001
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
Well, what do you want to test for?
Do you know that you still have lyme, babs, and bart? Or do you want to try to find out if you still have them?
If you want to find out if you still have lyme, you have to use a test that looks directly for the lyme bacteria like the Advanced Laboratory Services lyme culture test. Or, you could do a urine antigen capture test.
However, rather than spend hundreds of dollars on the Advanced Lab lyme culture test, I would just go by symptoms to figure out if it was gone.
Generally, until you get rid of babesiosis, you CANNOT get rid of lyme. The coinfections all help the lyme to remain in your body, so you can't get rid of lyme without treating all coinfections that you have.
Do you want to test for other types of babs like duncani?
Do you suspect another disease like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever or ehrlichia, Epstein Barr virus, etc.?
Really, I don't know what your lyme doctor is trying to accomplish with this testing. I don't know what Igenex test he would do on you and for what purpose.
I would not spend money on further testing without him clearly telling you the purpose of the testing. You have to understand that antibody tests just tell you that you were exposed to that disease at one time. So, there is no sense getting a Western Blot from Igenex or any other antibody tests like babs IgG and IgM, etc.
Ask your doc why he ordered antibody tests since he knows that you had or have lyme and babs already. Right now, it seems like your doc doesn't know what he is doing.
See this statement from a conventional lab regarding the Western Blot antibody test:
"Once someone has had Lyme disease, the person will typically have detectable amounts of Borrelia IgG antibodies in their blood for the rest of their life."
This website gives the conventional wisdom on lyme testing, which makes it hard for a person to get a positive lyme test. So ignore what it says in that regard.
Focus on what it is telling you about how long you will have lyme antibodies show up in the Western Blot.
I hope you can see why I don't understand what your doctor was doing when he ordered these tests. It makes no sense.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Do you want to test for other types of babs like duncani?
Yes he did test for that and it came back normal.
Thank you for all your responses...It might be helpful to let you know I got bit by something...I believe it was a feather mite from our chickens. Little did I know they could get this, as my reason for getting them was cause they eat ticks arggghh
But for a while now it seems like the lyme has been bouncing around my body like a ping pong ball. I just finished a year of IV's this past July. Something is just not right. Maybe this is just as good as it will get, but my immune system is just not very good.
I am looking into the info. you provided thank you so much...I will also talk to him at the end of the week and try to find out more of what he is thinking and what the rest of the blood work results mean. Much appreciated.
Posts: 482 | From NH | Registered: Aug 2001
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