Sjogrens - Anyone Suspect This Instead

Hi All - I'm currently seeing a LLMD, and I've had a confirmed Mycoplasma pneumoniae and re-activated Epstein Barr. My Lyme result was negative (slight band 23 reaction, but very weak result) but the doc sent a sample to Igenex to see what their results might reveal.

Anyone here find themselves questioning possible Sjogrens, since the symptoms overlap quite a bit? I do have dry eyes and have awakened with a super dry tongue a few times recently........

Thanks for reading!

Denver1

Denver1 -

Those two sx are pretty unspecific and a little benign, tbh, to be used to dx either autoimmune or Lyme & co. Anything else going on?

-p

Hmmm.... that isn't crazy in the least. After 16 yrs of endless MDs blaming me or giving me other misdiagnoses I also hoped for a Lyme dx.

And I'm sorry to say but those are pretty common Lyme & Co symptoms - there are some that overlap w/ autoimmune but considering the whole picture, I'd definitely pursue a Lyme specialist who can correctly interpret the IGeneX (although we can also help you) AND your full clinical presentation to help reach a dx. Even the IGeneX is not always reliable, given the body's unreliable immune response to Bb.

In the interim, you can spend your wait time putting together a gut health progoram and detox protocol, which you should implement regardless of your dx. There's a lot of info here and out there on the interwebs on those two topics.

Hope this is helpful - crossing my fingers for you!

-p

While I think that many of us questions autoimmune issues at some point (or more than one point) in our journey, as Girlie said, it's often the other way around. Lyme is often misdiagnosed as an autoimmune issue of some type.

And, you said that you had a slight band 23 reaction - band 23 is Lyme specific. This means only Lyme will cause a reaction on this band, and since you had a reaction on that band, you do have Lyme. There are only 2 or 3 strains of Lyme disease that will respond to that band because it's specific to only those strains.

I too would encourage you to see a LLMD that knows how to interpret those test results and that will help you get the treatments you need.

The testing that we currently have is very flawed, as most of it relies on the number of antibodies that the immune system produces, and in Lyme, the immune function is suppressed to the point of not being able to produce antibodies - so that simply makes the testing very flawed. It's hard to test positive for an infection that makes it impossible to test positive for.

The DNA testing is flawed as well, as it only takes a small number of bacteria to cause a great deal of dysfunction in the body, and yet, small amounts of bacteria make it very hard to capture one of these bacteria in a blood draw.

You can see in the chart on this page: www.anapsid.org/cnd/diffdx/wb.html that bands 23 - 25 are specific for Borrelia (Lyme) - as are a few others. And yes, if you have even a slight reaction on a Lyme specific band, you have Lyme.

Here is another article that explains that band 23 is specific as well: /sites.google.com/site/drjoneskids/lab-tests/tests-explained--dr-crist

Now, this is NOT to say that you don't have other infections/conditions, only that you DO have Lyme, and that alone may explain why you have a few of these symptoms. Dry mouth and dry eyes (and dry ears) have been part of my symptoms as well - and I don't have Sjogrens.

Hi Cokie - I hope the Chiro can get some relief. I know how rough it can be! All the best, Denver1