Can Lyme Disease Progress into Multiple Sclerosis?

Actually, no one knows what the CD 57 represents! It can be low in some with Chronic Lyme, but there are those that have high readings and are severely compromised with Lyme and those with low CD57 and they are barely compromised at all.

Also, no one knows what all affects the CD57, so there's no way to know if it's affected by other conditions but we have to assume that it is because of what I stated above.

So bottom line, while a low CD57 can be helpful in diagnosing chronic Lyme, it in no way is considered diagnostic of chronic Lyme.

LymeNYC said...

CD8-/CD57+ Lymphs ---Ref Interval 2.0-17.0 ---(my number 9.3)
Abs.CD8-CD57 + Lymphs--Ref Interval 60-360 ---(my number 195)

CD57 is notoriously unreliable. However one thing is clear: low CD57 may indicate immune suppression. BUT high CD57 unfortunately does not indicate you don't have Lyme. CD57 is usually used during treatment to see progress (if you start low and it increases during treatment, it means the treatment is working) but it is usually not used for diagnosis.

What you should do is a full co-infection panel as well as LTT tests for the bacteria/viruses. If you have Lyme then you have some immune suppression and all the co-infections and some latent viruses you acquired in childhood (EBV, Coxackie, CMV) will become active and you can see that only with an LTT test (not the regular IgG test which will probably be positive, but tells you nothing). I don't think MS will cause this immune suppression, visible in other bacteria/viruses than Lyme.

In Europe, in some countries we can do a DFM test. This is a test where they identify the spirochetes in your blood directly, by looking through a microscope. Some good lab doctors can even tell you the species. Not sure if you can find something like this in US, but you can ask.

Until you get further info about your condition i don't think is wise to perform self-treatment. You should ask the help of (another) LLMD. There is a small chance you have MS and Lyme (maybe Lyme triggered your congenital MS predisposition). That's why it is good to continue seeing a specialist.

Maybe you got hepatitis because you have used herbs in doses that that are higher than what you can tolerate. Especially when you are very sick you should not start with the full dose. It is also important to follow a herb protocol, not just take some herbs that you know are useful. That is because usually a protocol has herbs that help you detox. Treatment does not only involve killing the spirochete or stimulating your immune system, but also detoxing. Otherwise, herxing can be dangerous.

I have personal anecdotes to share.

I have been diagnosed with MS. Based on MRI (lesions in brain and spinal cord) and have already begun treatment for that.
However, I am also trying to get my docs to look more into neurological lyme infection.

Without giving too much info, I also am capable of doing my own lab work. I have formal medical training, and we will leave it at that.

I have been doing dark field microscopy, and can clearly show spirochetes in my blood. The difficult part is getting any docs to care.
I was positive on bands 31/41 on IGG, and 39/41 on IGM (I might have those switched), from IGENEX.

That's really cool! Thanks for sharing the video.

I have all the symptoms listed in this thread. One thing that I've been taking which seems to help is Sphingolin from Ecological Formulas. It is mylein sheath from animal products. MS folks take it to protect loss of mylein sheath. Give it a shot. It might help.

I am also most positive on those bands (+++ on 31 only, ++ on 41). I actually did the 31 epitope test through Igenex to make sure it was Borrelia and it was positive. I also have 39 IND, 58 and 66.

Hi--I do not have joint pain--also neurological---burning, twitching, spasming, stabbing, ringing in my ears, numbness. What is the purpose of this epitope test?

I see. I saw the tick and had the bullseye rash so I pretty much think a false positive is out of the question.
Please let me know how you progress with the LDI--- Thanks.

I really don't understand why Igenex is saying those things - unless they are feeling the pressure from others to run extra testing.

There is plenty of evidence that Band 31 is Lyme specific - meaning it will only react to Borrelia burgdorferi:

Band 31:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1520966


www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9440203


www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8406878


www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8005219


www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10030131


And more references can be found here:
www.reocities.com/HotSprings/Oasis/6455/western-blot.txt

Hi--Since I've posted plenty of bad news (lol) I wanted to post some good news too.
I've been doing really well on Ozone. The first two weeks I was going 3x a week. I had SO much pain and herxing that I reduced it to 2x week.

With antibiotics or the Chinese herbs--my herxes were neck down (bone, muscle, nerve pain, spasms, numbness, etc) With the ozone I had A LOT of bad head pain, strange head pain in the back of my head almost feeling like a hot liquid, as well as bad nape of neck pain. I take this as die-off in my head as Ozone can cross blood-brain barrier.

Well this week I upped it to 3x a week again and no pain, & am doing great! Have more energy, less napping, started working out again. The million dollar question....when do I stop?? Well, no time soon. I am also doing a Paleo-ish diet.

Traveler----or anyone else who has "healed" from Lyme...did you ever have a test to show you don't have Lyme anymore? Or once you have a positive Lyme test will you always have a positive Lyme test.
I hope everyone is improving.

Hi--Ozone is a gas (03) (Oxygen with an extra molecule). I get it injected by a doctor but there are other ways it's done (rectally, ear and saunas I hear--these you can learn to do at home) Supposedly kills bacteria, viruses etc.

Always the sceptic, I interview anyone in the waiting room who will speak with me.
People I met come with all kinds of issues, though lately the # of Lyme patients has grown dramatically.
I have heard a good amount of positive stories, but obviously if they had a negative story they wouldn't be in the waiting room waiting to have it done again.

I live in Manhattan and have it done in midtown, but you can check here:
http://www.oxygenhealingtherapies.com/my_ozone_doctor.com.html

How are you doing with the low dose injections?

LymeNYC - I will keep ozone in mind. I may be able to try in conjunction with LDI.

The LDI seems to be going ok. I am cautiously optimistic, but have been feeling pretty good. I have not noticed a drastic change in my numbness like I did the internal buzzing sensations (it went away fairly quickly after dose, but slowly comes back when dose wears off). The last 3 nights my night numbness has not been bad so maybe this is something that slowly gets better. I still have a very loud humming in my ears (can only hear when quiet) and if LDI works for that then I will be a true believer! We are splitting up my doses so that I will have a separate one for Borellia and Bartonella. This will hopefully help pinpoint what symptoms go with which. My doctor believes the buzzing is Bartonella and the numbness/tinnitus is Borellia. Also, my CD57 score is at 59 now (was 41 in Aug) so that is good news. I have done many things in the past 3 months so who knows what's working!

LymeNYC - i'm sure Traveler will be on to post...but thought I'd give me two cents.

Yes, the road to recovery has many bumps in it. i had three decent days recently - in a row - first time since i've had LD. Prior to this - I would only get one good day...and then back to bad.

After the three days, I have had a mix of bad and okay days.

But, I believe my bad days are not as bad as they used to be. It's so hard to tell - as it's subjective... but either they aren't as worse, (most days) - or I'm just getting used to them...lol

So, just make sure you keep up the detoxing on your good days...as it is necessary. Many of the symptoms are caused by the die-off producing inflammation in our bodies. Gotta flush those toxins out!

Yes _ i am also ANA positive and Sjogrens as well (after going undiagnosed 1 1/2 years with Lyme. I have non stop muscle twitching and spasms all over (little ones) I tried Magnesium, but that actually seems to make it worse.

If anyone has any other treatment to combat Lyme twitching please let me know.

Thanks!!