Hi Sandy,
Welcome to our community!! I'm so glad you found us!!
I'm going to "load you up" with information! LOL! Take your time in going through it all, and you can refer back to this thread later on, or you can start a new topic any time to ask questions. Normally, it's better to start a new topic when you have questions so that people will notice the new posting.
As Girlie said, if you haven't yet, it would be helpful for you to start with reading through the thread at the top of the forum titled,"New to Lyme?...Start here!!", as it is packed full of important information, symptom lists, helpful links and pdf's, how to detox when one has these infections, information on probiotics and much more.
As for your test results, here is the site that I use to help interpret them:
www.reocities.com/HotSprings/Oasis/6455/western-blot.txtAn IgM result means that you have an active infection. It once was thought to mean an 'early' infection, but has since been revised. IgG means that the infection is at a later stage. The more +'s you have beside a number, the stronger the reaction.
IND means indeterminate - not negative, but not quite strong enough to be "fully positive". But it means that you reacted on those bands and should be considered, especially when they are Lyme specific bands.
A "Lyme specific band" means specific for Borrelia Burgdorferi, sensu stricto - Lyme disease in the strictest sense. There is only
one on the over 300 known strains of Lyme that is considered Bb, ss. Nothing else will turn a Lyme specific band positive other than Lyme disease.
Bands 18 & 41 (whether in IgM or IgG) are indicative of the tail of the bacteria, which can cross react with other Spirochetal bacteria such as Relapsing Fever, Pintas and Yaws, and Syphilis.
On your test, you show a positive for bands 31 & 39, which are Lyme specific bands. Nothing else makes those bands turn positive other than Lyme disease (Bb).
Band 58 is thought to indicate Borrelia Afzelii - a European strain of Lyme disease. So, welcome to the club! You have Lyme disease!! You need to see a LLMD (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor) for the proper treatment of these infections, unless you would prefer to see a Naturopath and those are known as LLND's.
For information on finding an ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) trained LLMD/LLND in your area, you will need to enable your email option in your profile in order to receive any recommendations, as we don't allow doctor's names and contact info to be posted on the forum for several reasons. You can enable your email option in your profile, under 'edit profile'. Be sure to click the submit button to actually save your preference.
You can send me an email by clicking on my screen name or the small blue envelope under my screen name. I may have contact information for some LLMD's in your area as well. Please include your state and area that you would like to find a LLMD in and I will see how close I can get to your
location.
You can start a new thread titled something like "Looking for LLMD in the
(insert the nearest larger city & state) area". Members can email you about
the LLMD's that they see in that area if you have your email enabled. We don't allow doctors names to be posted though.
You can also email the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance at[url]
[email protected] for LLMD referrals and you can go to
tbdalliance.org/ to learn more about
these infections.
You can also go to The Lyme Disease Association and search for LLMD's 3 times in a month. You have to register first. Here is the link:
www.lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=277&Itemid=74
You will want to find an ILADS (International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society) trained doctor, as ID Docs (Infectious Disease Doctors) believe Lyme is hard to catch and easy to treat, and don't believe in the reality of chronic Lyme. Go to the ILADS site to read the new (2014) Treatment guidelines to get you started on your Lyme journey.
www.ilads.org/lyme/ILADS_Guidelines.pdf