Very Frustrated!!!

Could anyone please help me?

 I did blood tests for lyme and coinfections through Quest Diagnostics on March 1st. I called my doctor to see if I could get my results seeing that my appointment isnt until april 16th..That was a no go..no info over the phone..so I downloaded the gazelle app to our phone to get the results through email..yea thats pretty cool:)

Anyway I have the results and downloaded them and I still have no clue if I have anything because I have no clue how to read the report..lol

I called quest and they wont tell me anything they said i have to wait for my doctors appt..its 4 pages long so i cant post it here but i was wondering if I could forward the email from quest to anyone that has knowledge how to read them..

Thank you :) 

Sure thing :)

Test Name In Range

Out Of Range Reference Range Lab

interpreted as truly positive until verified as

such using a confirmatory assay (e.g., B.

burgdorferi Western Blot).

The screening test and/or Western Blot for B.

burgdorferi antibodies may be falsely negative

in early stages of Lyme disease, including the

period when erythema migrans is apparent.

LYME DISEASE ANTIBODIES QWA

(IGG, IGM) WESTERN BLOT

LYME DISEASE AB (IGG) WB NEGATIVE NEGATIVE

18 KD (IGG) BAND NON-REACTIVE

23 KD (IGG) BAND NON-REACTIVE

28 KD (IGG) BAND NON-REACTIVE

30 KD (IGG) BAND NON-REACTIVE

39 KD (IGG) BAND NON-REACTIVE

41 KD (IGG) BAND NON-REACTIVE

45 KD (IGG) BAND NON-REACTIVE

58 KD (IGG) BAND NON-REACTIVE

66 KD (IGG) BAND NON-REACTIVE

93 KD (IGG) BAND NON-REACTIVE

IgG western blots which have 5 (or more) of the

10 significant bands are considered positive for

specific antibody to B. burgdorferi. (Proceedings

of the 2nd Conf. on Lyme Disease, Dearborn, MI,

1994.)

LYME DISEASE AB (IGM) WB POSITIVE

NEGATIVE

23 KD (IGM) BAND REACTIVE

39 KD (IGM) BAND REACTIVE

41 KD (IGM) BAND REACTIVE

Caution must be used in supporting a diagnosis of

B.burgdorferi infection when sera are Western blot

IgM positive and Western blot IgG negative after

the initial 4 week period from onset. Because the

likelihood of a false-positive test result is high

for these individuals, a positive IgM test alone

is not recommended for use in determining active

disease in persons with illness of longer than one

month duration.

IgM western blots which have 2 (or more) of the

3 significant bands are considered positive for

specific antibody to B. burgdorferi. (Proceedings

of the 2nd Conf. on Lyme Disease, Dearborn, MI,

1994.)

You are positive for Lyme as bands 23, 39 and 41 (IgM) are reactive. IgM means you have active (acute) Lyme. These, BTW, are the same bands active in me - 41 is just a catch all band that is not specific for Lyme but will react to Lyme; but 23 and 39 are specific for Bb and, as my LLMD puts it, one is an American strain and the other European. I have to run but other folks may come along with more explanation...it's good if you tested negative for the co-infections!

Hi Kathy - it's important to understand that testing is inaccurate and unreliable. It looks like - technically - your test results are negative (you need 5 bands). While it doesn't mean you aren't infected, it does mean a lot of mainstream doctors are likely to tell you that you aren't infected.

Like yazzer said though - those bands are specific to Lyme, and many people who are definitely infected never get a positive western blot. You mentioned that you're waiting to see a doctor - is it a LLMD? If not, you may not be getting the best information and treatment.

I know the waiting is frustrating! Are you being treated in the meantime, before your doctor discusses the results with you?

Hi KathyP!!
Welcome to our spot!! The next test you were speaking of is likely the CD57. Lots of LLMD's use this test. There is a good article written by a well known Nurse-Practitioner that treats Lyme, Ginger Savely titled, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about CD57". Here is a link: www.researchednutritionals.com/information.cfm?id=200

Basically researchers don't know for certain why, but the CD57 count is suppressed in some who have chronic Lyme disease, but not all. Chronic Lyme is the only thing that has been found so far that can suppress the CD57, and researchers have found that with treatment, the count will rise. It's just another 'tool' for a LLMD to use to help determine where you are in the disease.


Please do watch for a bull's eye rash, or any other rash - both at the site and elsewhere on your body. A bull's eye rash all by itself is diagnostic of Lyme. If you find any kind of rash though, please take a picture of it - be sure to put something like a coin in the picture as well so that whoever looks at it will get an idea of the size of the rash.

You can also start a symptoms list. If you have read through our "New to Lyme?...Start here!" thread, you will have seen a Master symptom list to help you get started. If you haven't yet read through that thread, I would highly encourage you to do so, as it's packed full of really good info and links!!

We also have a really great search function here that you can use to help you find threads of interest. Please do be aware of 2 things though - 1)This is a large forum, so to narrow your search down when using the search function, it's best to always include the word Lyme so that you don't get posts from the Depression forum or the Fibro forum.
2) You may very well bring up old posts from days, months, or even years ago - please be aware while these threads may be useful for you to read, the posters may or may not still be with us.

Hang in there! You are not alone in this! You just inherited a larger family!! LOL!!

Your welcome!! That's what we are here for!! Please do let us know about any questions you have, we'll do our best to help you find the answers you need!

Yes angel band 23 is lyme specific and that band alone with symptoms is diagnostic for lyme. I was also diagnosed with possible trigeminal neuralgia with burning on one side of my face. Were you tested through Igenex or a local lab?

Spring, small town area, I got blood drawn at local hospital and I'm assuming they did the panel.

I started taking doxy yesterday, I'm sensitive to many meds, but I feel so sick.
Yea, the TN sent me to ER quite often.