Only 23 kd IgM reactive, no others, lymes?

Do you have any symptoms? Where did you get your test from? Which band is reactive? Some are specific for lyme, while other are not.

Lyme is a clinical diagnosis, and there are a lot of false negative test results.

Hi there, I only had one positive 23 band, and I have Lyme, my doctor thinks chronic Lyme. I have heard of people being tested for years coming up neg, being so sick they are bed ridden, yet when they started testing for other tick born infections they have lots of them.

The text are not accurate , I heard somewhere that you would have to keep testing over and over to maybe get a positive test by the CDC guidelines, who could afford that. I would go by how you feel, not by the test results, one doctor told me I cured myself. I would like to know how that is possible since I am worse now than I when I started.

justme

Hi bdoc!
Welcome to our forum! I'm so glad you found us!!

Band 23 is specific to Lyme disease(www.anapsid.org/cnd/diffdx/wb.html) - meaning that no other disease will trigger a response to this band. If you have any of the symptoms - typical symptoms or not - then you most definitely need treatment - and to be honest, I would recommend that you have treatment even if you don't have symptoms, simply because Band 23 is specific to Lyme and if you wait around, you'll likely have a chronic infection set in which is much harder to get under control.

If you haven't already, it would be helpful for you to start with reading through the thread at the top of the forum titled,"New to Lyme?...Start here!!", as it is packed full of important information, symptom lists (as Lyme rarely occurs by itself), helpful links and pdf's, how to detox when one has these infections, and a list of questions that you can ask any doctor that you are seeking treatment from!

We also have a pretty good search function on this forum to help you narrow down your search for information from past posts. We must be our own health advocates now and the best thing to arm yourself with is knowledge about our infections and the different ways to treat them!

Do you already know a Lyme Literate Medical doctor to seek treatment from? If not, then for information on finding a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor(LLMD) in your area, you can start a new thread titled something like:"Looking for LLMD in the _______ area." Although you will need to enable your email option in your profile in order to receive any recommendations, as we don't allow doctor's names and contact info to be posted on the forum for several reasons. You can enable your email option in your profile, under 'edit profile'. Be sure to click the submit button to actually save your preference.

You can also email our long time member, Dan's Mother at:[email protected]

You can also email Stephanie at: [email protected] You can also go to: www.turnthecorner.org/ if you want to learn a little bit more about Lyme Disease.

You can also go to The Lyme Disease Association and search for LLMD's 3 times in a month. You have to register first. Here is the link:www.lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=277&Itemid=74

You will want to find an ILADS (International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society) trained doctor, as ID Docs (Infectious Disease Doctors) believe Lyme is hard to catch and easy to treat, and don't believe in the reality of chronic Lyme. The ILADS site is another great place to read to get you started on your Lyme journey. www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/treatment_guidelines_clearing_ilads.html

Justme. Thanks for your response too. I'd like some insight into the supplements you list you are taking. Why are you taking those?
Sorry to hear you feel worse- did you take antibiotics?

Traveler.
We didn't talk about detoxifying- where would you suggest I start? I am taking these supplements- vit d, NAC, TURMERO, Nitric balance , CoQ10.

hi traveler, so band IGM 23 is for lyme? what about band 41 IGM? and do you know the meaning of band IGG 58? Im sorry, but Im not familiar with that stuff... thanks

Fist of all, let's not forget that these infections can fool any blood test! They can evade the immune system and even lower it so that it can't respond to the bacteria/protozoa that are in us!

Here is a wonderful chart that was put together that will help make sense of this: www.anapsid.org/cnd/diffdx/wb.html

Band 58 is not nearly as recognized as it should be in my opinion. This article (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8809552) states that it's an important band:" The overall reactivity of the three Borrelia strains in IgG immunoblots indicated that ten protein bands were significant, with a different prevalence of some of them in the two groups of patient sera: bands at 60-58, 30-33, 36-37 and 28-27 kDa were markers for neuroborreliosis sera"

And again, for band 58 - "the best discriminatory ability of test criteria was obtained by requiring at least 2 of the 8 most common IgM bands in early disease (18, 21, 28, 37, 41, 45, 58, and 93 kDa) and by requiring at least 5 of the 10 most frequent IgG bands after the first weeks of infection (18, 21, 28, 30, 39, 41, 45, 58, 66, and 93 kDa)." This one can be found here:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8380611

Band 41 is only the "tail" of the bacteria. There are a several (3, I believe) spirochetal infections that this could be picked up from, with Lyme being only 1 of them. This is why band 41 alone can't be conclusive for Lyme disease. Although combined with symptoms, or symptoms alone (Xrunner, your little sister) should be evaluated by a knowledgeable LLMD who is willing to do the right thing - diagnose by symptoms alone (Clinically).

Unfortunately, Lyme and the other tick-borne infections are regularly overlooked as possible conditions that a person might have. This is why we must be diligent in helping those that will accept the help to get a proper diagnosis and treatment. These infections do not go away on their own once symptoms show up, except in rare cases.

I do hope this helps!! If I've managed to confuse the issue further - first of all, I'm sorry!! - but just ask again and I'll clarify anything that you are having trouble with.

Hi PaleoJones - welcome to our community!

Band 23 is lyme 'specific' - that with your symptoms and history of tick bites = lyme disease.

Doxy is a good antibiotic to treat lyme...but unfortunately its not enough for a chronic infection.

You should seek out a LLMD for treatment.
Lyme rarely travels alone - so you most likely have one or more of these: Bartonella, Babesia, Mycoplasma and maybe some opportunistic viruses as well.

Doxy alone will not treat those co-infections. This is why a LLMD is needed.

Since you are new here, it would be helpful for you to read through the thread at the top of the page: "New to Lyme?...Start Here!"