I recently saw a couple of posts where a NJ ID doctor (he does treat beyond more than a month) will test his patient's for Lyme again (presumably thru Labcorp) to see if certain bands are going away. Does anyone's LLMD do this? Mine does not and goes purely on symptoms to guide the treatment protocol, which I thought most if not all LLMD's do even for diagnosis since the tests are so inaccurate.
Is there any validity to this? Should I be asking my LLMD to run a follow up test, even if it's covered by insurance thru Labcorp (I actually was positive thru Labcorp for which my doctor says I was lucky - yippee).
Does it make sense to do coinfection testing again while treating?
Posted by jenn (Member # 21687) on :
My LLMD does run Elisa and WB & Co's through Quest/labcorp....Only because I believe that these are 2 labs that insurance will cover treatment for if needed..
If you test Positive using Igenex....Some insurances will NOT USE these results to cover treatment..( IV treatment)
I have had a few WB bands light up on quest and finally a positive Elisa after a year of treatment...This is what you need to fight the Insurance Companies to cover treatment!! uggggh
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
There's no need to test again. You can't rely on a test to tell you how you are progressing or when to stop treatment. You must go by symptoms.
Be careful because if subsequent tests come back negative, your insurance company could use it against you.
Posted by geo (Member # 18333) on :
Lymetoo - exactly what I was thinking.
Posted by jenn (Member # 21687) on :
Your absolutely right!! Excellent point!
as sneaky as Lyme and Co's are....It's just nice to have some validation with a Positive test result.
When symptoms and labs match up....It's like winning the friggen lottery!! Wooo-hoo!
Posted by geo (Member # 18333) on :
Just to clarify - if you already have a positive test, what benefit is there in testing again to see if you are getting better? As far as I know, that test does not exist. And, you are subjecting yourself to insurance company denial for abx when you test negative.
Posted by sutherngrl (Member # 16270) on :
My doc did re-test twice with the WB. Not to guide treatment, (he goes by symptoms), but to see if my test would turn positive, which it did on the 3rd try. He has not retested since.
I only had IGM bands, but he believes that if he retested now after 3 years of treatment, that IGG bands would probably show up. Aren't IGG bands representative of past infection?
Posted by jenn (Member # 21687) on :
IGG old IGM New
I remember the "M" and think of "Minute" for Most Current infection. lol