10 out of 10 bands?

hello all,

life long resident of old lyme, had fatigue and headaches for 2 wks after goin through woods early this month- no known tick bite (did get poison ivy ) but blood test showed 2 out of 3 igm and 10 out of 10 igg, so i was told have lyme ...my question is does the strong igg positive test show that ive had it for a longer period? or in the past? ive only been symptomatic for 2 wks

not sure if it matters but i had mono in my 20s and was only one day off a 2 week battle with the flu when i was in the woods and became fatigued(infected?) ..my understanding was igm showed current infection and igg longer term (or in the past)...my blood test was only 7 days after being in the woods/fatigue commencing..
any thoughts would be appreciated it

Hi Dbwilco! Welcome to our community!

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. And this is another good list of possible detoxing routines: www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html

Kathie has given you some great information already! To add to that, though, since you had a blood test 7 days after your symptoms started, that means you were infected previously. It takes 3 weeks or longer to produce any antibodies to the Lyme bacteria. The Lyme bacteria inhibits (suppresses) the immune function, so it's very difficult for it to produce enough antibodies any sooner than that. But, as Kathie said, there's no way to know how long you have had these infections - our tests simply aren't that good. It could have been when you were sick with Mono though, as those are common symptoms of Lyme as well, so you and your doctors (assuming they aren't Lyme literate) would have assumed it was just the Mono.

EBV is the virus that creates the illness we know as Mono. It's one of the 8 herpes viruses that humans can get. Because Lyme inhibits the immune function, we are often finding ourselves fighting viruses and other opportunistic bacteria, like EBV. I'm dealing with an EBV flare now - again.

You will want to find an ILADS trained doctor, not one that has self proclaimed themselves as a LLMD or an ID Doc (Infectious Disease Doctor), as ID docs 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:
www.ilads.org/lyme/treatment-guideline.php

For information on finding a​n ILADS ​(International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society)​ trained​ Lyme Literate Medical Doctor(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 (or province) and area that you would like to find a LLMD in and I will be happy to share the names I have.​


You can email the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance at [email protected]​ for LLMD referrals and you can go to ​tbdalliance.org​​ to learn more about these infections.


You can 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​​


ILADS has their own referral system as well:
ilads.org/ilads_media/physician-referral/

And a new resourcewww.LymeDoc.org

Band 41 indicates the flagella - the tail of the spirochete bacteria - the problem is that there are quite a handful of spirochete infections that can cause human illness - like syphilis, Pintas, Yaws, Relapsing fever and a few others. That's why it's not a good indicator of Lyme, but it does signify an infection!

We don't have any testing available that will tell us our bacterial loads - but your herxes sure will! Those of us with high bacterial loads almost always herx pretty hard when we start an effective treatment for us.

I'm wondering about the bands also. My nine year old son ended up in the ER two weeks ago with a swollen knee . Tests came back positive Lyme, 10 bands positive.Treating him now with doxy and im loading him up with probiotics. Do the amount of positive bands matter? we never found a tick on him, has never shown any other ailments till this. The one knee is the only problem, right now. It seemed to flair up a bit worse a few days after starting doxy and had a bit of a fever. Still waiting for swelling to go down . seems a bit less. Can't find much info about how many bands show up , if the amount over 5 matter.