posted
Hi All- haven't been on in years, but you all were a lifesaver to me with my lyme disease years ago.
So I know I had tick bites again late April and found a few in me and started feeling vaguely ill so went for blood work at lab corp.
What exactly does the Lyme AB/ Western Blot reflex Lyme IgG/ IGm Ab mean? I tested positive for that (equivocol) just over normal at 0.92. My western blot was negative.
My question is will I always test positive for this if had lyme before? is this test the ELISA?
I am on Doxy 200 mg day for 3 weeks and am starting to feel a little better- less headaches, less neck pain, less dizziness.
But being my first illness with lyme left me disabled for 3+ years, I am still a little paranoid..
Do you think I should repeat bloodwork again in 4-6 weeks or so, or do you think it's not necessary? thanks for your help. I do not want to go running to LLMD yet and spend a fortune, but also do not want to relive nightmare I went through before..
(breaking up the post for easier reading for many here)
posted
The ILADS guidelines recommend 200 mg doxy TWICE a day for twice as long as you are on it for. I believe (it's been a while since I read them) that it also says 4 weeks past the last symptom.
It is possible to always test positive. It's the symptoms you're having that would show that it's currently active. I wouldn't bother with more testing, you can't prove that it's gone. You go by symptoms.
Sorry you got bitten again.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
thank you for your input.. yeah my yard is tick hot spot it seems. I had lyme bad in 2005 and both my dogs had lyme too. I don't want to overreact, but don't want to under treat either considering what I went through before..
Posts: 87 | From Clarksburg, NJ, Monmouth | Registered: Aug 2005
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
You had an ELISA test done. That is the screening test that lyme doctors consider useless since it misses so many cases of lyme disease.
You didn't write down what the lab's normal and abnormal ranges are. Generally, less than .9 is negative (or normal) and 1.0 is positive.
If that is what it says on your test results, then you can see that you are very, very, very slightly over the negative score and so barely got into the "equivocal" range.
Since is is a lousy test, I would not read anything into it. I can tell you that 6 years after I got rid of my lyme, my Western Blot came back positive. An ELISA was not ordered.
I believe that I will likely have a positive Western Blot for the rest of my life.
Those of us that had lyme in the past and were treated for it and cured, can likely have positive lyme antibody tests the rest of our lives.
Notice I said antibody tests. The ELISA and Western Blot are antibody tests. Our bodies could continue to make and carry antibodies around in our blood forever. It is the body's "memory" of what occurred in the past.
So, for us, these antibody tests are useless. No sense ordering them.
If you want to order a test that actually looks to see if you have lyme in your blood or tissues, that might tell you something worthwhile, but direct tests for lyme are VERY expensive.
So, if I had symptoms suspicious of lyme, I would simply take a course of lyme antibiotics and see what happens.
You are doing that and feeling better, so I think that is giving you your answer.
As Burrascano says, "Another very important factor [in making the lyme diagnosis] is response to treatment- presence or absence of Jarisch Herxheimer-like reactions, the classic four-week cycle of waxing and waning of symptoms, and improvement with therapy" (p. 7)
TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
See if you herx after day 2-4 on the doxy. If so, then you may want to add tinidazole or metronidazole (flagyl) to your treatment as doxy will just cause the lyme to go into cyst form.
The herx could be something very mild like feeling played out after doing very litte, having to lie down for a little while, and then being able to do something again, but getting played out again.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
thanks for your input.Yes i had symptoms for few weeks after starting doxy ..dizziness that eased at night weirdly, the unexplained back of neck pain, vice grip like headaches, fatigue..all the symptoms I had years ago , although they seem to be letting up a little now. Most days I feel almost normal. I'm pretty sure I have/had it again, just not as severe and started treatment early. Weird, this time I broke out in a small blister like spots around the tick bites that left scabs and itched and are still there almost a month later..Has anyone heard of that?
Posts: 87 | From Clarksburg, NJ, Monmouth | Registered: Aug 2005
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
The blister-like spots are considered an ulcerated appearance. Burrascano says:
"When an ulcerated or vesicular center is seen, this may represent a mixed infection, involving other organisms besides B. burgdorferi." (p.7)
I had about 13 small rashes when I got lyme. The itching was totally unbearable. And, they lasted at least a month.
If they are still there, you may want to get them biopsied. Burrascano says: "Some lesions have an atypical appearance and skin biopsy specimens may be helpful." p.7
Hope you can get to someone who will give you better treatment. Not only for lyme, but also for coinfections. That's what my lyme doc did for me when I got lyme a second time. I was finished with treatment in 30 days.
If you did not do the required weightlifting the last time you had lyme, that could be why you got it again.
One continuous hour of weightlifting every OTHER day will boost your immune system so that you don't get lyme and the coinfections back again.
Lift light weights and do many repetitions. Do a full body workout each time--arms, chest, back, abs, buttocks, legs.
Read about it in Burracano "Rehabilitation." You MUST get your immune system stronger or this will just keep happening.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
hi- wow thanks for that..there are still some small itchy blisters on my stomach that seem to be taking a really long time to go away.. I do work out pretty regularly (although last few weeks have slowed down due to this fatigue, etc). I already have a 'sluggish" immune system and see an immunologist for hypogammaglobulinemia so that is also a concern.(I still think that was caused by my first round of lyme that left me ill 3+ years- I really think the lyme crashed my immune system). I just want to make sure I treat this right so it goes away and is not a repeat of 12 years ago.. that was a rough time.. thanks for your input Posts: 87 | From Clarksburg, NJ, Monmouth | Registered: Aug 2005
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