'European' Lyme and Igenex testing

Hi Silly Sheep:

I do not know which strain of Lyme I have and which strain my wife has. Wife and I both are products of Eastern Europe and came to North America as children, and wife and I figure we have had lyme given to us by our respective mothers. I am also sure that i have the local strain of lyme in me because i was bitten by a local tick about 8 years ago and i had that exact bull's eye rash.

As for doing the Igenex test, as I understand it, our local west coast canadian llmd works with some USA doctor who then submits the appropriate blood sample to Igenix in California, and the results go back to our doctor through this american doctor accross the border to us. It was explained to me that since Canada does not recognize Igenix results, they do not take samples provided to them by Canadian doctors. Its all so crazy and not right.

MarieLS - Thank you :)

xfmlg - it's a crazy, mixed up, set up that's for certain. Over here it's much the same. There's Lyme in Turkey, the doctors tell me, but not here; I can see the Turkey from here. In fact I'm so close I could hit someone with a rock if I were a good shot. The boats go daily to and from there. But I have learned that ticks and tests DO NOT CROSS BORDERS you know. Pft.

I had the rash; I have the symptoms. I have been tested and told there's nothing else wrong with me (not MS, not CFS, not FM, not HIV etc, etc). Part of me thinks to hell with the tests. The other half wants me to get them an slap a doctor with them. Probably wrapped round a brick.

Thank you sooo much MarieLS !!!

I have had a look over the website and am going to email them to get costs and find out what the exact procedure is.

I think this might be a less expensive way to start, and might put my mind at ease.

I'm not too fussed about what the doctors think as they aren't going to treat me anyway, I don't think they'd be interested if God himself sent them a personal email with confirming lab reports, given they accused my mother of having Munchhausen's by proxy....

Thanks again :)

My understanding is that Igenix does not test for the European strains. I was tested for them by ImmunoSciences (also in California) because my doctor thought I might have got bitten in Germany many years ago.

Hello silly sheep.
apo oti vlepw sou eipane hdh gia to ergasthrio sth germania.
Ypotithetai oti einai oti poio axiopisto uparxei kai antistoixo me to
Igenex.
den exw kanei tthn eksetash proswpika, akoma , thelw na epikoinwnhsw mazi tous na mathw thn diadikasia kai ta oikonomika..
Na steileis deigma gia eksetsh mexri Amerikh de nomizw na einai kalh idea prwton gia to logo pou anarwthtthikes parapanw kai mou fainetai oti to infectolab kanei ontws gia perissotera hdh kai deuteron exw thn entupwsh oti exei polu shmasia h eksetsh na ginetai oso poio suntoma apo tth lhpsh tou deigmatos..
Tha me endiefere polu ama to htheles na chatarame ligo.

MarieLS my post is writen in "Greeklish" ,Greek written with English alphabet.

you got the most of it pretty much..!!

yeah you re right about the English but you know ,you dodn t find everyday someone from Greece which i am from ,too.
I wanted to inform sillysheep that there is a lab in Germany,as allready others mentioned, that it is from what i was told the most acurate one ,something like the Igenex in the US.
I think sending to the US is not a good idea,cause the labs requier the blood sample to be there in 24h or maybe 48h max.
Plus there is the advantage that they test for more species.
Everything i write is only what others have told me as i personally have just started looking if lyme is what i might have as i haven t find any answers yet on my mystery illness after doctors and test marathons..

I hope too ,but i think it s gone be difficult.
Lyme isn not very "known" in Greece and if you haven t had the rash and symptoms right after it, then it doesn t exist!
I have found pretty much information from Greek medical sites witch describe it, even the late , but no doctor that could recognise it, others didn t even knew the word.
I have met 2 people in my country which had weird sumptoms, no hospital and doctor could help them and after searching on their own they got diagnosed with Lyme one in US and the other in Germany.
The one of them had very MS similar symptoms but MS test clean, however during these she was join an MS forum.After she found out what was going on with her she posted in that foroum and suggested to people in there to search if their MS could be lyme.. and quess what ,some that did where possitives to Lyme diagnosed as MS.

Ok, i was wandering how your english can be so good.
Yes ,that lab i mean too.
You even had a rash? And what did the docs said about that?
have you been only in rhodes to get checked or to a bigger hospital?
Have your tried with tthe regular tests?elisa ,WB? They run them in the hospitals.
There is no one that can take a sample of blood??? You can find a nurse or something to do.
As for what i wrote yesterday ,infectolab says blood must be there within 3 days so no worries for that. They even told me that they work with transport companies which come and pic up the sample,
at least from Athens. If that doesn t work ,i have found a way of sending blood tests out of country ,so just ask me.
Could you enable your email, so i could ask you some things?

This thread is very interesting for me. I was just diagnosed with lyme this past February using igenix. I figure i've had lyme all my life and that it was passed on to me by my mom and maybe she got it from grandma over a century ago. I was born in Austria and my family origin is Ukrainian (western area). Wife's background is very similar and i figure we both have that european strain of it. I was also bitten 10 years ago by a tick here locally about 100 km east of Vancouver, Canada, and i had that typical bull's eye rash which was ridiculed out by my then medical clinic doctor. My question is if there are any differences in the protocols used by llmd's and llnp's in central or eastern Europe. Wife and i are just on the start of this lyme trip and it is just so overwhelming. Today, i was at my llnp for a session and i showed him the burn like whelts on my face and chin, and he told me that he thinks it probably is a manifestation of that fungal infection that he suspects is inside me. My face and scalp look awful and i am hoping that the antifungal supplement will work some on me. Any ideas, anyone?

Jimmyrider, I have enabled my email, so feel free to message me. It would be easier for me in English (if that's OK with you) as my main Lyme symptoms are in my brain and I am finding Greek really REALLY difficult!! (and your English is great! Way better than my Greek!!!)

I have been to the main hospital on rhodes after I collapsed at work I was taken to the emergency room. They couldn't find anything wrong and sent me home. I went to the private hospital when a small scratch on my hand turned septic even after the antibiotics I was given. They told me I was lying about my symptoms, told me there's no Lyme here, so I can't have it, and sent me home.

We have DHL here and my husband has just gone to talk to the Doctor at the private clinic so we can hopefully get everything arranged.

I was told my rash was ringworm and given hydrocortisone, which made it worse. That was over 18 months ago.

They said the initial physical symptoms (severe fatigue, severe shooting pains etc) were coincidental.

My main problem with the blood tests id that I have a huge phobia - I had to be sedated and restrained for the one and only blood test I have had. The hospital only ran routine blood tests, which were all normal. I asked them to do a Lyme test, but they said it wasn't possible for me to have it, so did an ANA test instead. It came back negative.

I look forward to your email :)