Please help me understand IGG Bands

Hi,
I'm brand new to exploring Lyme and how this disease may be affecting many chronic health issues I face. I am currently diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and Hashimoto's disease.

I got a Lyme antibody test with my last round of testing (Quest) and from what I'm reading, their tests aren't great anyway. The test read "negative", that I have to have 5 positive bands to be considered positive. However, it shows 4 IGG bands of the 10 as reactive. Those bands are 23, 30, 58, 93.

Does this mean that I do in fact likely have Lyme disease, or that it is undetermined? Could these antibodies indicate the presence of something else instead?

FWIW the doctor also ordered babesia IGG and IGM, and both were negative.

TIA for any help.

You're right, Quest isn't the best. You don't need 5 positive bands. As a matter of fact your best diagnosis can be made just from your clinical symptoms.

Did you have a bullseye rash? Not everyone even gets a rash, or is aware of when they were bit, but that particular rash is a giveway.

Others here are more experienced with reading the bands, I've not seen mine so aren't familiar with them.

Also the same with babesia, your symptoms can determine that. In our "New to You" topic, there are extensive lists of symptoms for each infection, and there are many cross overs, but some specific.

You should make a point of reading the de toxing section up there, you should learn what and how to begin doing that right away, to help your body remove the toxins before and after their death. It will make you feel better before and during any treatment.

Did your doctor start you on any antibiotic treatment?

If you haven't seen one, you ought to consider finding an Lyme Literate Doctor to treat you, one that has a repuation for being knowledgeable and keeps up to date. They mostly do not take insurance because the Insurance companies, along with the Infectious Disease Society and the CDC have stubbornly maintained a highly inadequate treatment protocol, mainly because the insurance companies don't want to make lengthy pay outs for this.

That really ties the hands of our physicians that do want to help us beyond 30 days. If you've been infected for any length of time without getting immediate adequate treatment, it does take more than a few weeks to get well again.


Someone more knowledgeable of test results will chime in.

Post Edited (julymorning) : 11/3/2016 11:06:02 PM (GMT-6)

Hi RaeZenz, Welcome to our community!

You have bands 23 and 93 positive - those are considered Lyme specific bands.

ILADS (International and Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) guidelines state that Lyme disease should be a clinical diagnosis, with tests serving as a backup.

Testing negative for Babesia doesn't rule it out. The testing is unreliable/inaccurate for diagnosing Lyme disease...and even more so for the co infections.

You will want to be treated by an ILADS trained Dr. (LLMD) - someone who knows how to diagnose and treat these infections.

We can help you find a LLMD - just start a new thread titled "Looking for LLMD in/near__________" and fill in the blank of the nearest larger city.

Thanks. I did read all of the pinned posts, and found some helpful information. I'm just not understanding how to interpret my test results, and whether they likely indicate Lyme infection. My next consult with my doctor is Friday, and I want to do a little research before going in. And I may need to find another doctor depending on how things go.

I really hate that antibiotics are the main/best treatment, as I'm really into gut health. Every other time I've had antibiotics in my life, I was wrecked for a long time.

And funny about the detox methods, I have stumbled on a lot of these as ways to manage my fatigue and icky feelings already. I practice brushing (I prefer wet, not dry, on my super sensitive skin) and daily epsom baths already.

Not everyone chooses the antibiotic route. There are herbal protocols that you can follow if you choose.

I also wanted to mention that Lyme can affect the thyroid....

Here are a few popular herbal protocols:
Cowden
Buhner
Byron White
Beyond Balance

Looks like you and I were posting at the same time, julymorning!

Welcome rae ...regular doctors are useless..quest leaves out band 31 for lyme vaccine but who has had that ?..some would interprete your results as positive ..see dna connexions test if you need to confirm ...also consider rife ,bvt and all other modalities .congratualadolences

It looks like the medical practice I go to is listed on several of these sites for LLMDs already. I started going there because I wanted bioidentical thyroid hormones (which HAVE helped tremendously) and they are somewhat outside the mainstream.

By reviewing their web and literature, the Lyme treatments they usually do are shorter term antibiotics (only a few months, not long-term) and then they switch to intravenous ozone therapy. So I will just have to decide if those are the therapies I want to pursue, and if I want to continue going to a very EXPENSIVE medical practice (that doesn't take insurance of course).

I'm in Orange County, CA btw.

The practice I go to is open about their treatments on the web. They treat a variety of chronic diseases, but mostly with controversial treaments, and insurance proabbly wouldn't cover any of it anyway.
https://www.holtorfmed.com/lyme-disease/

I definitely want to explore my options, though. Especially when I'm paying over $400 a visit (before any treatments) and driving an hour each way. Will message you.

Girlie, they are on our lists. Depending on which location, the doctors have had varying successes (different doctors, different protocols??), although I don't know that they all use Ozone therapy in all of their locations.

I go to the one in Southern California. I went there primarily for bioidentical hormones for my thyroid disease. Not sure it is the best place to get Lyme treatment. I guarantee it won't be the cheapest (though I'm willing to pay more for good results)

What they are discussing right now is short-term high dose antibiotics, along with the ozone. I'm actually more on board with the ozone than the antibiotics, I absolutely hate them. But I understand that they could be necessary. Our full appointment to discuss a treatment plan is next week. I just have to decide what I am and am not willing to do.

Well, Babesia affects the red blood cells - so it's quite possible that you do have Babesia. It only takes a small amount of the protozoa that causes Babesia to create quite the illness, but it takes a large amount of the protozoa in the blood to test positive.

The EBV & HHV-6 are quite common and can be treated sometimes with high dose lysine (that's what I use) or antivirals.

Myco is not quite as common as EBV and HHV-6, but is often a co-infection with Lyme.

There are many good treatment options, so if you are not comfortable with what you are being offered, I would encourage you to spend a bit of time looking into other options.