Igenex Western Blot results

Jeffissick?
I think you should accept the diagnosis and go with it. LLMD's know how to diagnose.

I can't remember...are you already getting treatment?

Thanks for the responses Girlie and Roxie.
I do accept the diagnosis, but I am worried about the future. From all I have read, if I don't kill ALL the little bugs in my body in ALL of their different forms, then there is a very good chance it will come back and become a chronic issue. I DO NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN.
I am assuming that everyone with this has that same fear.
Has anyone been through this and successfully stopped it without relapse. I guess those people have probably moved on and don't visit this forum much anymore?
I am currently on 400mg of doxy a day and have been now for almost 4 weeks. I have definitely seen improvement in some of the symptoms so it is working, but other symptoms, such as POTS and brain fog, have remained the same.
I will be seeing the LLMD on Monday to discuss treatment, but am not sure what I should be asking for. Do I need to be on additional drugs while remaining on doxy or get on something new all together?
Thanks in advance!

I am really curious about my results and wondered if anyone on here can provide some insight...

Based on some research I've done online about the Western Blot and the various bands, I think that bands 41 and 58 are not specific to Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), but 31, 34, 39 and 93 are specific to Bb. Did anyone else hear of that, or does anyone know for sure?

Also, if I only showed positive on the non-specific bands and IND on the specific, does that mean I may have something else besides Bb, or does it mean it could ONLY be Bb?

Thank you in advance!

Igenex Western Blot Results:
IgG
31kda = IND
34kda = IND
39kda = IND
41kda = +
58kda = +
93kda = IND

IgM
41kda = +

Welcome to the club officially!! Now you know!
What kind of information were you looking for on these bands? After much research into them, I decided this site had the best information - although I can be wrong or new more updated info may be out there now: www.reocities.com/HotSprings/Oasis/6455/western-blot.txt

But basically, out of the bands that you listed, only bands 41 and 58 aren't Lyme (Bb) specific - the rest are. Bb specific means that only Lyme in the strictest sense has caused an immune response to these bands and only Bb can do that- cross reactions won't happen.

Band 31 is Osp A - Outer surface protein "A" - Bb specific
Band 34 - Osp B - Bb specific
Band 39 is BmpA - Bacterial Membrane protein "A" - Bb specific
Band 93 is an immunodominant protoplasmic cylinder antigen -- but it also is Bb specific.

But as Girlie said - the main thing is to get started in treatment.

Traveler, my August 2014 IGENEX return lab sheet said that bands 31, 41, and 83-93 may cross react with viruses. You stated 31 and 93 don't cross react. Do you have any more info. on that? I'm trying to rule out viruses as an alternative diagnoses on my IGM bands.

Hi Joey, I've been told the same thing by other members - but no one can find any evidence backing that up as far as I understand. Until I can find something that says otherwise, I just prefer to hold on to the info that I have.

I got my information from this site: www.reocities.com/HotSprings/Oasis/6455/western-blot.txt
which does provide documentation on some of the bands, like this(& there is a bunch of articles for other bands, linked like this one):
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10638032?dopt=Abstract

"Serum antibodies against particular antigens of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and their potential in the diagnosis of canine Lyme borreliosis."

The abstract of this article (I'm breaking it up some so that those with problems with their eyes can read it better:

"Dog sera (n = 118) were tested for antibodies recognizing Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi sensu stricto strain B31 (ATCC 35210) antigens. In total, 18 of the dog sera gave positive results in a whole cell sonicate ELISA (WCS ELISA). These positive sera were further evaluated by immunoblot assay, utilizing a whole bacterial lysate as antigens.

94.4% (17 of 18) of the dog sera reacted with immunodominant antigens at 20-22 kDa (protein C, pC), 31 kDa (outer surface protein A, OspA), 34 kDa (outer surface protein B, OspB), 41 kDa (flagellin), 60 kDa ("common antigen"), and/or 100 kDa (presumably p100).

Sera recognizing pC (20-22 kDa) and antigens > 94 kDa always detected the highest number of antigen bands, indicating the specificity of those antigens in serological diagnosis. The results clearly demonstrate that the WCS ELISA is a useful tool for testing sera of dogs for antibodies against B. burgdorferi. However, positive results should be confirmed by immunoblot, using WCS as antigen.

According to the presented data, we recommend criteria for B. burgdorferi immunoblots using dog sera as follows: sera have to be considered as positive if they detect the 41 kDa flagellin, and two of the 5 immunodominant antigens, namely > 94 kDa (presumably p100), 60 kDa ("common antigen"), 34 kDa and 29-31 kDa (OspB and OspA, respectively) and 20-22 kDa (pC). If sera only recognize the 41 kDa flagellin, this result is equivocal, requiring testing a second serum sample 4 to 8 weeks later."