posted
I have osteoarthritis and baker's cysts in my knees. It seems there is disagreement in the lyme community over whether both or either of these can be a result of lyme. My LLMD feels that the baker's cysts are a clear indicator of lyme. Can the fluid in my knees be drawn and tested for lyme or any other tick born infection? I live in an endemic area and was bitten by a tick about three years ago. Symptoms did not present immediately. Of course there is always the chance that I was bitten again more recently. Any advice would be appreciated.
Posts: 63 | From RI | Registered: Sep 2007
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
anne, i'd call igenex labs or md labs and ask them.
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'Kete-tracker
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 17189
posted
Yes. IgeneX tests misc. body fluids, incl. knee fluid, by the "PCR" method, though many major hospitals in the Northeast can now test for it as well.
However, as with many Lyme tests, a negative result does NOT neccessarily mean you don't have Lyme present in your body... just that the DNA of Borrelia Burgdorferi was not detected in that sample.
Posts: 1233 | From Dover, NH | Registered: Sep 2008
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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A bite from three years ago certainly can cause trouble now.
From what I've read, Baker's cysts are a clear indicator of lyme (also with a LLMD's clinical evaluation). Testing the synovial fluid from joints is not a very reliable test, though. Similar to testing the cerebral spinal fluid, as 'Kete-tracker says, if the test is negative it could be that you just didn't catch a sample from that sample.
Like fishing in a pond. You might catch a fish but if you don't it does not mean there are no fish in the pond. (One of the frequent posters here says that but I can't remember who should get the credit for that analogy or I would give due credit.)
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