Just got test results...hubby has Lyme too!!

We just got back from the doctor (my LLND); he gave us the results of my husband's recent IGeneX Western Blot:

IgM: bands 31, 41, and 83-93 positive
IgG: bands 28, 30, 41, and 66 positive

The IgM test is IGeneX positive, although both of them are CDC negative, of course.

I was afraid of this, after my husband suddenly developed TWO autoimmune diseases overnight (celiac disease and psoriasis) a couple of years ago.....then he started complaining of headaches, extreme fatigue, pain in his feet, knees, neck, etc. His health has really gone downhill recently.

We were married in 2004, in February. My first symptoms of severe illness occurred in March 2004. But Paul's health was good for the most part until early 2009. That's when he was dx with celiac and psoriasis.

I've been telling him for over a year that he needed to get a Western Blot done, but he always insisted that he couldn't possibly have Lyme and that it was a big waste of money. He fought tooth and nail against getting this test done and then going to see my LLND.

I believe that this is a case of sexual transmission....I gave it to him.

I am so depressed now....

Thanks bucci, I appreciate the love and encouragement!

I think this is an important issue, and yes, maybe spouses have been passing Lyme back and forth to each other. My husband had symptoms, which is how I finally got him tested, but some people might not be symptomatic even if they are infected. Lyme can lie dormant for years until triggered by stress or something.

Anyway, we're not SURE who got bitten, but I think it had to be me, since I have so many co-infections. Paul doesn't have symptoms of Bartonella or Babesiosis or HME. He's not nearly as sick as I am (thank goodness!), and he doesn't seem to have any neurological involvement, which is VERY good news!

Also, I recently remembered having a bulls-eye rash, which at the time I thought was ringworm. So again, that points to me as the one who first contracted Lyme. Paul has no memory of any tick bite or rash.

It is always possible that we both were bitten separately, but I believe that's not as likely as the human-to-human transmission scenario.

It's just so awful that those of us who don't get the bulls eye rash and instead slowly develop symptoms (that can be attributed at first glance to so many things other than TBD's) don't know we have a TBD until major pain and suffering brings us down.....

....the result often being the merry-go-round with various doctors, wrong diagnosis--- etc. etc..

You all know how the story goes.

And to think that lyme can be passed from partner to partner is more than scary.

As I look around on the internet at different health boards where people are complaining of or are debilitated by so many symptoms attributed to other diseases by their doctors, I just want to shout from the roof tops that it could be Lyme!

It just seems that so many people out there never even consider Lyme, or they underestimate it....or don't even know it exists.

I've known about Lyme for over 20 years......and STILL it took many symptoms and finally walking straight into a wall for even ME to realize how insidious this bacteria can be.

Just needed to rant. And as Bucci so eloquently put it...we all stand strong in spirit together. Lovely thought! :)

I wonder if this is something that is strain dependent.

Sucks for him to have Lyme, but very good that you found it.  Always rough at first if the Herxes are bad, but as it clears up all kinds of things can improve.  It's hard to be patient and considerate when you don't have any energy and just don't feel well.

This reminds of the time we had dinner with a couple who both had Lyme.  There were both doing better than I was (no neuro stuff), but with 3 out of 4 people having Lyme it was a VERY low key affair.

Neck pain, shooting pains and those tingling sensations were  some of my most prominant symptoms. 

I rue the day I didn't just get classic symptoms like swollen joints and glands, flu like stuff, dibilitating fatigue, etc.

With me it's all neurological-- presenting of course (to my truly non LL doctors) as an atypical case for Lyme-- thus their reluctance to accept I could have it and thus undertreating me.....especially after my western blot came back negative.  

What's worse, is that I tried to explain my pretty nasty herx reaction (after starting  Doxy) to these doctors who even blew that off as not being real or even an indication of infection! 

Only my new LLMD discussed herxing with me and confirmed my own belief (through personal research) that herxing is most definitely REAL.......and IS a true indication of a TB infection !!!   

 

 

Traveler.....did you hear what you just said....."symptoms from other medical conditions"
how do you know it isn't other way around like for so many others???

how did he get these "other" medical conditions? you mean like falling or accident?

First of all, that's great news JoAnn!!!

As far as my hubby's health goes, he has severe degenerative disk disease (or is it a syndrome or something else???) so bad that he is bone to bone in three different places in his back & neck, with 1 vertabrae being only 2/3rds of what it used to be ( so lots of migraines),

arthritis, he had both a moderate stomach bleed (threw up blood & a little in his stool) , and then a severe stomach bleed, 5 years later, where he lost 48% of his blood volume. None of that sent him to file disability, but what did was what happened 3 years ago last month.

He almost died 500 miles away from home & I was at home, because I was too ill to travel with him for work. By the time he drove himself down here, he was sooo ill!! I got him in to the doc & that was we found out that both of his legs - from hip to ankle was essentially one long blood clot & both of his lungs were 70% full of Pulmonary Embolisms (more blood clots). We are all still finding all of the ways that this has caused or triggered in him.

I did skip over several trips to the ER 4 & 6 months before this event... because I thought he was having a heart attack - they sent us home saying that he was just fine!!!

At this point in time hubby and I are just not very concerned that he may have any tbi's- but I thank you so very much for the care, concerns and kind words that you ladies have shown and said - thank you.

Besides - every stinkin' time we would go out in the woods surrounding our house, of course both of us are dressed & "treated" properly in defense mode for LD, I would get 10 - 15 ticks on me and - I kid you not- he would only have two!!! now that's just wrong!!!

Well there we go. I was just scrolling thru here this morning and WAM!
Peoplepleasers post. Holy Cow! I suspect my whole family is infected too. Thank you for posting Pleaser.
My family won't dare get tested for same reason I kept telling my shrink. No way could I have Lyme. It was the last place I ever wanted to go and I thought there was no cure.
Actually I still haven't heard or met anyone who has been cured other than some of those who had immediate treatment.
I wish we had a way to contact all old timers who dint post anymore to give us update.

Hello! I have been suffering with horrible symptoms for the past two years. I was bitten by several tics in when we lived in MN. We just relocated to Texas and I am not sure if they know how to diagnose Lyme Disease down here. I had a Lyme test done two years ago when I started to feel bad and it was negative.... do you think I could still have it?? I was reading through the symptoms and over 80% of them described me. Everyday I feel like I am getting worse and worse. Which test should I ask for?