Good update

I just had a phone consult with the nurse at my llmd's office and feel somewhat better from it.

She said I tested negative for bartonella with the pro-lab test. She said sometimes there can be false negatives but at least I didn't have a positive.

She said it is fine to stop the rifampin and just continue the protocol I am on for the next two weeks, and then reevaluate with the doctor.

She said some of the things in my protocol treat bartonella too.

She also said I tested negative for chlamydia pneumonia and that I may not have any coninfections.

She also said the german blood test ( the one they send to Germany infectolab which tests how active the infection is) said I have low level lyme- a # 2. So she said I do have it but it is not super active.

So that all made me feel much better.

I still don't know if I have bartonella or not but at least I don't defiantly have it.

She said the anxiety could easily be the lyme and not bartonella.

And that my anxiety attack yesterday could have been a reaction to the rifampin.

So I feel like I am back on track, keeping with my prototcol, and reevaluating with the doctor in two weeks.

At the end of treatment they can test me again to see how active the lyme is.

 

Good Stuff, KateBirch. Wondering, how much were the tests at InfectoLab? Thanks.

thanks- the tests for infectolab were like 400 dollars- more if you add coinfections tests. They are super accurate tests that tell you how active your lyme is at the moment.

I am still not sure how to interpret the negative bartonella test- I mean I am super happy to hear that but not sure how accurate it is. Anyone know? It was a prolab antibody test for that.

There are only 2 or 3 labs that are really good for testing for tick-borne infections here in the US - Stony Brook Labs and Igenex are the only two I can ever remember. All others don't use the right 'stuff' (testing medium, strains to compare with, where they get their strains, etc.) to test with, and their lab techs aren't trained in how to properly read a Lyme Western Blot.

With that being said though, I tested positive for Lyme and RMSF by LabQuest! LOL! Not once, but twice!! So everyone gets lucky once in a while!

The best thing to do is to watch for symptoms, or if you aren't healing, then you know that it's possible you have a tick-borne infection that wasn't picked up on any testing.

GREAT NEWS KATE!!!!! Love to see people moving ahead with healing!

I'm with Trav...I was blessed that Lyme came out through LabCorp...wow! I have a LLND and I tested for Lyme months later BUT the infection was a lot lower like yourself. Bartonella is gone and so is Mycoplasma. However I am battling and will slay the big bad BABS!

Keep us posted and I am praying for no more anxiety attacks for you. Have you tried natural supplements like Calm Aid, Kava, L-Thenine, Aveena Sativa, etc. All good for anxiety.

I tested negative for Bart yet am quite sure I have it. I get many rashes plus burning shins and feet. Rifampin brought out the cat scratches so typical of Bart plus a wicked sore throat upon awakening which is Bart as well.

The only really good lab for Bart testing is Galaxy Diagnostics in NC. They have a triple blood draw meaning your blood is drawn on a Mon., Wed., and Fri. which is supposed to increase the odds of getting a positive.

thankfully the only bart symptom I had/have was anxiety, which could be a lot of things. no scratches, feet or skin things.

oh yeah there are lots of people working hard with new tests and new ideas to treat this stuff. People are really trying to figure it out. Already they now know about coinfections, and how they have to be treated differently. That is huge progress from a few years ago.

And this new test really seems helpful because you can also be tested at the end of your treatment to see if your infection is still active or not.