Hi Beachweather!
Welcome to our community!! I'm so glad you joined in with us!
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, as CD said, you have Lyme. Quest is one of the worst labs for accuracy with this testing, so it's safe to assume that if you were to be tested through a specialty lab like Igenex, you would end up with a much more positive test result.
Here is the site that I use to help interpret the test results:
www.reocities.com/HotSprings/Oasis/6455/western-blot.txt You can go there to find supporting Pubmed articles showing what these bands represent.
An 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.
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.
Also as CD said, you really do need to be seen by a LLMD, as it's like going to a GP for brain surgery - they just don't have enough specialized training to effectively deal with it without possibly causing a whole lot of misery for both patient and doctor! Most other doctors simply haven't had the right training.
For information on finding an ILADS trained LLMD 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 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 healing journey:
http://www.ilads.org/lyme/treatment-guideline.php And if you would like some further reading on the difference between ILADS and IDSA:
www.clinicaladvisor.com/controversy-continues-to-fuel-the-lyme-war/article/117160/archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=226373www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2901226/