Lupus or Lyme?

Did you ever have an ANA test? A family doctor ran one for me and when it was normal he said "There is no evidence of Lupus." However, I have heard that some people with definite Lyme can have an abnormal ANA.

The same thing happened to me. My doctor did all the tests for lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, viruses, lymphoma, etc. Then he gave me doxy to appease me. I had known tick bites and a serious flu-like illness at the onset of my symptoms with severe fatigue and joint pain for years prior.

When the tests came back okay and the doxy didn't work, I all of a sudden had a "negative attitude toward food" or too much stress. He basically told me I developed an eating disorder overnight after a tick bite lol.

I think the ANA is helpful for your own peace of mind if you can get someone to run it, but your symptoms sound a lot like Lyme and since you have had a tick bite.........Is something making you worried about your LLMD or treatment? A month is pretty early to see any improvement I think unless you were just bitten recently.

Do you know which bands were positive on IgG? Some are very specific to Lyme and are not known to react with any other conditions.

Herxing can depend on a lot of things too. What meds or herbs are you taking? It's possible that what you are doing right now isn't strong enough to initiate a herx. It's also possible that you have co-infections that need to be addressed. Babesia needs completely different meds/herbs. Bartonella too.

I was also dx with Lupus. The doc had a hard time really saying "lupus" but I was symptomatic and by ANA titer was at the highest level for 15 yrs, which when it's at the highest, shows active connective tissue damage.

It's tough to know since so many illnesses mimic so many illnesses.

I need to add, I'm getting fed up of LLMD's dx'ing everything as lyme. Yes clinical symptoms are a must, but you no other diseases were ruled out before he gave you all those harsh and sometimes dangerous abx!
If I were you, seriously, I would go see Rheum and or an Infectious Disease specialist to rule out other diseases.

Your symptoms could be many other things like systemic candida, food intolerance etc.
Everything needs to be rules out first before lyme when there is no rash, or positive test.

I know it's tough to not be able to know anything for certain, but just so you have the best information...it's pretty much a fact at this point in time that the ELISA test is extremely unreliable. It's becoming rarer and rarer for doctors to even bother with this test - many just go right to the western blot. Your test results do seem to indicate lyme - another thing to keep in mind is that the infection itself, especially in its chronic form, can supress antibody production (meaning that the infection itself could be the reason you don't have a perfectly CDC positive test, and that it might become more positive over time). Also, not herxing doesn't necessarily mean you don't have lyme. Herxing basically means you have more toxins than your body can handle - so not herxing could be a good sign, that your body is handling its toxin load efficiently, though if you're not noticing any changes at all over a longer period of time it could mean you have more issues to address.

I meant my test was normal and dropped a lot the third time I was tested after being on doxy for 6 months and then off and tested.

I know the test you mean. It's relatively new, but no I haven't had that one done. Since I've recently had new bulls eye rash I'll just go by that for now. Had atypical rash in '92 which dermatologist said was ringworm, but even I can tell it wasn't when I see google images.

Sorry Elakyef, didn't mean to change the direction of your thread.

I had positive FANAs long before I had lyme and rheumatologist thought it might be Lupus, but wasn't. It eventually turned negative.

HI, I was also told I had Lupus. I had funky ANA test results, high, low, high again. I tested Negative on the Western blot several times.
My Rhumatologist wanted to put me on drugs which would control my massive inflammation, side effect would be to depress my immune system.
My WBC was 3.07. how low can you go????

When you look at my WBC, it has dropped steadily for the past 5 years.

I am not qualified to make that decision. I opted to go to a LLMD instead. I tested positive in 4 bands and partial positive in the 5th band.

I went on antiobiodics, and within two weeks, there was a hugh improvement in my inflammation. Nine month's later, on 4 antiboidics, I feel way better. There is a big improvement in the inflammation, but it is still there. My last WBC increased to 4.07. Not much, but the first time there has been an increase in a very very long time.

I think there is a lot to be said about the low WBC and Lyme. I wanted to explore the Lyme option before I went down the "depress your immune system more" avenue, I am very glad I did.


My Primary Care Doctor and My Rhumatologist say they dont understand why the antiboidics are helping me, but they can't deny that they are. All of the Dr.s follow my case.

I have walked both sides of the Lyme argument, I spend 5 years in declining health with NO answers, No positive tests for anything, No explanations.

If you research MS, it was listed as a "fakers" disease. Mothers were told their children had Autism because the Mother secretly rejected them.

No easy answers, all you can do is research, read, listen, and choose the best option for you.

Gina