Opinions, do I have Lyme??

Maybe. Band 41 is not Lyme-specific, but may be the first band to show positive after initially becoming infected with Lyme. However, CD-57 seems to be highly regarded by some LLMD's as very specific to Lyme when it is low (others do not use it, not sure why). It will be interesting to see the results of the new round of tests. Sometimes, a trial of antibiotics, followed by a re-test after stopping abx can result in more accurate tests due to the action of the antibiotics on the Lyme - kind-of wakes up the immune system to kick-start it into making antibodies against the Lyme, which is what the tests look for...

I forgot to mention. I had the Igenex co-infection panel and there was nothing.

Thanks much for your opinions.

One more question, if I may. If this is the first to appear how could that be 14 years after the fact. Would that be something at the beginning of any infection?

No, I have not tried antibiotics.

What other tests could I get? Doc will probably order anything I ask for.

Thanks so much for all your help. I do think she will send me on to a LLMD. It's a doc that she always sends her people to and apparently he does nothing other than Lyme.

Thank you so much everyone, for all the replies.

I like to check these things with people who really know (the people who have this illness). I have no respect left for doctors after having to diagnose myself with Hashi's, Celiac, Adrenal Insufficiency etc. They just left me to die but I'm sure you all have such a story to tell.

BP, my WB came from Quest as well. I think we all know that Quest's test is not sensitive enough, but the most important thing I found in it was that they read/interpret many bands that are NOT significant, and then neglect many bands that ARE significant.

The notes I made on my Quest WB say they neglected bands 14,21,22,25,27 (european), 31( I ** this, so it's probably an important band), 34,35,37,47,50,54,60,77,83,93, and 94 -- on the IgG. In my searching, I found all of those bands to be significant. On the IgM, Quests excludes band 7, which is species specific.

So, in testing bands that have no significance, and neglecting so many bands that ARE significant, HOW can anyone expect this test to be accurate?

My notes also say that IgM converts to IgG in appx 2 months, and shows only about 25% of the time. That lends a little more weight on your reactive IgG 41.

This list does say , '66 cross-reactive for all Borrelia, common in all bacteria', so I don't really know the significance of this.

I was lucky enough to get a positive reaction on band 39 IgG, so 2 LLMDs diagnosed lyme on that basis. My new LLMD said that the opinion of most LLMDs right now is that because this band is so highly specific to lyme, it, alone, indicates lyme. There is no other reason it would show reactive.

Altho, it could possibly have indicated a past infection, considering my babesia numbers are high enough to indicate 'acute' (even tho I'm not nearly dead right now), the fact that I am still symptomatic, and my low CD57, (along w/ WBC and other lab stuff) to him it indicates an active infection.

ON the CD57, I know there are 2 numbers, and one is a %. I do not know what that means. Mine is 3%. There should be a number beneath that, that you would look for. Mine came from labcorps. My LLMD noted that Labcorp is formatted like Igenex and that other labs do not format it the same way. So I don't know where you would find the number you are looking for.

On my test, the Dr also circled WBC, Platelets, Neutrphils, and MCH -- I don't know the significance of all of them, except that they indicate some kind of infection.

Note:  your Hashi's, Celiac, Adrenal Insufficiency etc could be caused by Lyme, or Lyme could possibly be another one of the results from something else. 

I cannot prove anything, but can honestly state that I never had high blood pressure or high cholesterol (which were tested at least 4 X per year while I was giving blood at work) until that tick bite. Nor did I ever have low thyroid or adrenal problems.  Those are measurable items, in addition, of course to other symptoms.

Oh, BP, my LLMD says that Quest can and does do a CD57. He just said that they format it differently. I had to pay for my labcorp CD57 because my ins only pays for Quest, and he said that when he's ready to order another one, he will order thru Quest. Maybe they did not fill out your form correctly?

And in agreement! Nope -- you don't have to be convinced at all, and I'm not exactly trying to convince you except to say that you are correct, a visit to an LLMD is in order. If you are able to get into see one soon, you will be a lot luckier than most of us!

Please keep us posted!