Just wondering if you can just get a Bart infection, with simmilar overlaping symptoms to Lyme Bb, but no Bb, so never a positive Lyme test?
Posted by Lemon-Lyme (Member # 19229) on :
Yep, I think it's possible.
Especially for Bartonella alone, as other bugs besides ticks can transmit it.
But if you are positive for Bartonella, AND other co-infections, I'd begin to strongly suspect Lyme too.
And unfortunately, there is no real way to be sure. A person could have Bart + Lyme, with no positive Lyme tests to back it up. Best current way to figure it out is see an LLMD and get diagnosed. And even then, the LLMD may not be certain.
Posted by CD57 (Member # 11749) on :
yeah I think bart is VERY common in some parts of the country
Posted by billclo (Member # 12939) on :
My LLMD was saying that he's seeing some patients who have Bart w/no Lyme antibodies.
He was also saying that Bart appears to cause production of antibodies to bacteria you don't even have - he has a patient who has antibodies to a particular strain of Bart, but when his Bart was DNA sequenced it was a totally different strain. He was also saying that Bart appears to cause antibodies that can affect the results of his Igenex Lyme tests.
He's looking at testing for Bart first and treating before treating for Lyme's.
He did say that when using a combination of the Galaxy Labs and Fry smear, 85% (!) of his patients are positive for Bartonella.
Very strange, and I was having trouble following some of it, having some brain fog that day, but it was quite interesting.
Posted by LymeCFIDSMCS (Member # 13573) on :
I got bart before Lyme. It immediately attacked my heart. I also had many neurological symptoms right away like myoclonic jerking and other seizure-like symptoms.
The only reason they discovered bart in me was because I was bit by a tick nearly three years after contracting bart (I traced the bart back to a dog bite: the dog was sick at the time and later found dead) and got lyme -- by chance, my doctor gave me Cipro, and it began to work on my heart symptoms.
Then an LLMD tested for bart and I was positive. It was only due to my clinical response to Cipro that anyone suspected bart.
When I got Lyme on top of bart, the symptoms were very specific and very different from those of bart.