The Q-RIBb was positive, but the serial dilution was only 1:2. Does that mean the infection is under control, or just that it is hiding in another form somewhere other than the blood?

I had been using natural treatments (Ledum homoepathic which vets say will lower titers and cat's claw) before the test, so maybe it would have been higher before, but I would think this is the ratio you would shoot for.

I know you're not testing for antibodies with Bowen, so I wasn't sure if taking antibiotics would flush out some spirochetes and make the ratio go up, or if I should just keep my treatment the same and get retested in several months to see if anything changes.

Thanks for any explanations -

But, from your statement, or question, I take it you are not seeing an LLMD???

For that reason, and just curious here, why did you do a Bowen test? Have you done the Igenex test already?

I never recommend the Bowen test for just the reason you stated, "he doesn't know what it means..." Even more reason to have a www.igenex.com test. The results are stated very clearly right up front.

If you are seeing a doctor who cannot read a test result, then you are not seeing a doctor who can treat you properly...

Post over in Seeking a Doctor forum, if you haven't already and don't waste anymore of your precious time and money, not to mention you health...having a doctor who really knows how to treat this disease is your absolutely BEST DEFENSE against a very complicated disease.

Many say they treat Lyme Disease, and they do, but, they do NOT treat with enough antibiotics (abx) and for a long enough duration. Not all doctors who say that they treat Lyme Disease is a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor, an LLMD.

Your second BEST DEFENSE is to arm yourself with knowledge and you'll get that by reading as much as you can and then go back and read some more...you cannot read enough.

Do you have or have you been given Tincup's Links for New LymeNet Members? That is a very good place to start.

Oh, even though I know absolutely nothing about the Bowen testing, if the results say positive, then I would tend to lean toward that as your answer, positive.

Sorry that I couldn't be of greater help...someone will be along, hopefully with a good answer for you.

It is nice to have a positive test but you can have one say you are negative and you can still have lyme.

Remember, lyme is a clinical diagnoses.

We have yet to meet but you can get my addy from Nancy, or I'll get yours, and we can talk.

I think that your doctor should just call Bowen and discuss this with them. I've never found them to be anything but very receptive and helpful when I've contacted them.

Your dilution is low but it still shows infection. It very well could have been higher and your treatment has been helping, but I don't know this for sure. How are your symptoms......are you suffering much?

Is this doctor treating you naturally or are you now switching to antibiotics? Hopefully with that low of a reading it won't take much for you to eradicate the little buggers!

Good luck, and hopefully we can talk soon to discuss this further.

As far as Igenex testing, because of a current Epstein-Barr infection I didn't want to pay for the Igenex tests and not know if we were getting a false positive from cross reactivity. Also since I don't have insurance it's much less expensive to get the lyme and co-infection tests with Bowen.

I have had clinical symptoms of lyme for years...in fact I almost died about 10 years ago from what we now believe was a lyme-related infection. When I first started taking the cat's claw I had what seemed like an anaphylactic reaction, but I diluted it way down and was then able to continue with daily doses which provokes herxing reactions. I'm completely intolerant of all antibiotics we've tried.

Fortunately all my co-infection tests came back negative, so that's one less thing to worry about. I've had excellent results controlling symptoms with homeopathics and using oral low-dose hydrogen peroxide over the years. But this year I got hit with neuropathic West Nile, Epstein-Barr, and likely a flare-up of the lyme all at the same time. Now I'm trying to sort out the symptoms that are remaining and figure out the best way to proceed with treatment.

Patti, I'd love to meet you sometime. Nancy and I have talked quite a bit and she's been very helpful in educating me about lyme.

Jan