CoInfection Testing

When I was first sent to the Infectious Disease Dr. they also tested me for Ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. It was negative. Over a month later when I wasn't feeling well I went to my Internist and requested the Bartonella test. It was negative. I wasn't thinking straight that day and couldn't think of the other two. I was a mess actually. I went back weeks later for the Babesia and Rickettsia test. Those I haven't heard about yet. I'm assuming because of the holidays.

Anyway, I was wanting to know how reliable those lab tests are if the Lyme often comes back negative. I did have a positive Elisa and Western Blot (October 5th) ...23 Igm and 41 Igm positive and 41 Igg positive. My Internist actually checked the Lyme again on December 12th which came back negative this last time but something she tested came back showing exposure to EBV. Where did that come from? Did that have to be checked for specifically or does that show up under Bartonella? When the nurse called with the results she said something about being exposed to mono but I've never been told that before.

The labs were all through Quest. I didn't know if the coinfections lab results were just as unreliable as the Lyme one's when going through the regular labs.

Rickettsia is the name of the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever bacteria.

They would only be testing you again on this if you were positive for it on the first test. They do that to measure the reaction to determine which direction the disease is going.

"The value of testing two sequential serum or plasma samples together to show a rising antibody level is considerably more important in confirming acute infection with rickettsial agents because antibody titers may persist in some patients for years after the original exposure."

www.rightdiagnosis.com/r/rocky_mountain_spotted_fever/tests.htm

You should stopped at the cdc positive test ...insurance wouldve had to cover 30 days of treatment ..the internist is trained to say that band 31 is cross reactive with ebv virus which is total bs ...rikky is right dna connexions is a good test ...quest was negative on bart 2x and dnaconnex picked it up ...most docs treat for bart ,babs and borrielia ...welcome sorry .find a lyme doc asap ..regular docs are useless did they give you doxy ?

How long have you been ill? What are your worst symptoms ...consider herbs ,rife and bvt ...congratuladolences

Bluelyme, I was bitten end of July to early August. Started feeling unwell around mid August. By end of August I had a spell of horrible anxiety, spacey and disorientation feeling. Bad headaches. In September I was having body temp issues, feeling colder than normal. Swelling feeling behind both eyes started early November. Off and on I have problems when I eat. Sometimes I'll immediately start feeling funny after eating, usually sugar or high carb and this is also when I'll have that swelling feeling behind my eyes. I have begun having pain in my calves although it doesn't feel like a deep pain.

I did take 3 weeks of Doxy from Infectious Disease which started around Oct. 21st. Went to my Internist December 12th and she gave me a month's worth more but I only took 10 days of it. I have chronic gastritis and the Doxy is causing additional stomach pain. So at the moment I'm not taking anything.

SapphireBaby said...
Multifacetedme, I did buy several of the Buhner books and I'm contemplating whether I should just try this on my own or go to a LLMD first. I've already seen real quick that regular doctor's are not going to be of any help to me. By the end of this I'm sure I'll know more than the regular doctors do which is really, really sad.

Money is somewhat of an issue. I would really love to do the Igenex testing just to try and get a more concrete answer.

Your symptoms are a more accurate story of your answer than the tests are. As good as Igenex is, it still has it's flaws, though just not as many.

There really isn't a highly accurate way of telling what all of your infections are, at any given time, in practice yet. "At any given time", is the key phrase with this.

SapphireBaby said...
How do I even know where to start with the herbs? Admittedly, I haven't read the Buhner books yet but is everything I need to know in those books? Or is there a certain site everyone goes to looking for herbs to treat certain symptoms? Or does an LLMD put me in the right direction?

I'm sorry for all the questions but one just leads to another...UGH!!!

Start a journal or a notebook of your daily symptoms, because it gets to the point where they can become numerous and difficult to remember all of them. And,

Use this link to mark off what sounds like what you've gone through. You will notice there are overlaps in symptoms between the various infections. There are similar ones, and also some treatments take care of more than one infection, but not all.

[intheknowwatd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/9z-comparison-lyme-disease-and-co-infections-symptom-chart-1.pdf

Buhner lists a symptom protocol, or rather a condition protocol. You can categorize your healing path according to that, and you can read here as well and see the different herbs, etc., that others are finding success with that he recommends, and add those to your want-to-use list.

Many here have a more detailed, stronger approach than I am. So I'm not the best example of following by the book.

you should try abx since you infection is relatively young, probably a mix to hit Lyme and Co.
But you would need a doctor cause abx are no joke.
You can always try herbs, also with the abx.

SapphireBaby said...
Bluelyme, I was bitten end of July to early August. Started feeling unwell around mid August. By end of August I had a spell of horrible anxiety, spacey and disorientation feeling. Bad headaches. In September I was having body temp issues, feeling colder than normal. Swelling feeling behind both eyes started early November. Off and on I have problems when I eat. Sometimes I'll immediately start feeling funny after eating, usually sugar or high carb and this is also when I'll have that swelling feeling behind my eyes. I have begun having pain in my calves although it doesn't feel like a deep pain.

I did take 3 weeks of Doxy from Infectious Disease which started around Oct. 21st. Went to my Internist December 12th and she gave me a month's worth more but I only took 10 days of it. I have chronic gastritis and the Doxy is causing additional stomach pain. So at the moment I'm not taking anything.

I agree that your symptoms tell you more than any test will - even the CDC says " Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks. Laboratory testing is helpful if used correctly and performed with validated methods." /www.cdc.gov/lyme/

This statement, " Off and on I have problems when I eat. Sometimes I'll immediately start feeling funny after eating, usually sugar or high carb" suggests that you may have yeast/fungal issue.