Retesting after treatment?

I am almost done with my antibiotics. I feel much better - energy is back and I don't feel "sick" anymore. My doc said "there is no reason" to re-test - that they consider me "treated" successfully after the antibiotics, unless I am still feeling ill or symptomatic. They said retesting immediately after treatment wouldn't show anything?? That I would need to wait 3 mos. to see if proteins or antibody levels are up again. Does this make sense??

BTW, my 7-year old son's lyme test came back completely negative thank goodness. :)

tpup - I agree that it wouldn't be useful to be re-tested so soon.... especially if you're feeling better. When I was finally diagnosed and treated, I took doxycycline for approx. 8 weeks, was about 50% better and returned to work (the other 50% was pure willpower). I relapsed after 7-8 months and was re-tested and it came back positive.... and I've been receiving ongoing various treatments since then.

But, congratulations on your return to good health. I would take it slow and easy and be good to your body. It is my hope that your recovery is complete and everlasting. All the best!

If your CD 57 count was low it should be 150 or greater before stopping antibiotics.

What is a CD 57 count? I don't see it on my test.......but it was done by a regular doc. I did test positive for Lyme (several bands tested positive). Thx!

Hi Cajun.....for some reson your link wouldn't open for me but did find some info on Google.
This is just part of what I read and very interesting. I also never heard of a CD57 blood test. Wondering if it's covered by insurance.

............................................................................

"It is important to remember that the CD57 result is just a number;
far more important is the patient’s clinical status. An old professor
of mine used to say, “treat the patient, not the lab test!” There is
still much we do not know about the CD57 marker and what other
factors may lower or raise it. However, overall, the CD57+ NK count
is a useful tool in diagnosing and treating chronic Lyme disease in
most patients. As a measure of immune status, it provides an indirect
measure of bacterial load and severity of illness. Furthermore, in a
patient who has a negative or indeterminate Lyme test but is highly
suspect for the disease, the clinician may utilize the CD57+ NK count
as one more piece in the complex puzzle of a Lyme disease diagnosis.

If you would like your health care provider to order the
CD57 NK test for you, your blood sample needs to be drawn into an
EDTA tube (lavender top) on Monday through Thursday and sent
immediately to either LabCorp in Burlington, NC, or Clinical
Pathology Laboratories (CPL) in Austin, TX. LabCorp and CPL are the
only two labs that perform this test properly. Quest does NOT.

The LabCorp test code is #505026 and is named HNK1 (CD57) Panel. The CPL
test code is #4886, CD57 for Lyme disease. The test is time-sensitive
and must be performed within 12 hours of collection, so blood should
not be drawn on a Friday or results may be inaccurate."