False Positive Lyme Result - is there such a thing?

I have been scratching my head over this for the longest time. I haven't been able to find any scientific proof of this false positive theory. And yet it is what a lot respectable scientific groups lead with.

Take this from the Stoney Brook site:

Stoney Brook said...
The tests may read false positive (suggesting a person has Lyme disease when actually he does not). Since the tests measure antibodies, it is possible that the patient has antibodies directed against a different organism which previously infected him. If these antibodies are similar to the Lyme antibody, they may give a positive reaction in the lab test, even though they are not Lyme antibodies.

Another situation leading to false positive antibody tests can occur when a patient's illness stimulates his immune system so much that his lymphocytes produce antibodies to infectious agents that had been present years before. For example, if as a child, a person came in contact with the Lyme spirochete, his lymphocytes retain the memory for this infection. Should he develop another disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, the over-stimulated lymphocytes could produce anti-Lyme antibodies. Because the patient lives where other people have gotten Lyme disease, his doctor may test for the presence of Lyme antibodies. Even though the patient has fatigue and joint symptoms, their positive Lyme test does not mean that they have active Lyme disease. They had Lyme in the past, but their current symptoms are caused by a new illness such as rheumatiod arthritis. This situation where false positive tests occur, calls for the careful evaluation by specialists.

If a child lives in a Lyme endemic area and displays Lyme symptoms, why are you looking for another disease? Horses, not zebras. Also if a person has been exposed to Lyme in the past, has symptoms and has never been treated for Lyme, why is that a false positive? Isn't that an untreated long-held case of Lyme?

The other thing that most doctors don't pay attention to is the last line there, where a suspected false positive calls for careful evaluation by specialists. I keep on hearing of patients getting a positive results but their doctor said it was a false positive and cut them loose.

But how would they ever prove this theory of the false positive? They would have to actually have a 100% accurate method of detecting Lyme disease! And if we had that, this would all be moot.

So to answer your question, no I haven't found anything to support this notion of false positive results. I think it is a major hurdle to getting patients the treatment they need.

thanks guys. I am not questioning myself or anything - just there is a friend I am wondering about. I put another thread up about it - she has been diagnosed with spondylitis, iritis, etc. lots of issues with pain. she also has numbness in her tongue and down her left leg. She is set on her diagnosis, and I don't want to stir the pot, but would approach it in the sense of suggesting her to get tested for lyme just to "rule it out" - but if she came back igenex positive, I would want to make sure it is positive for sure, because as I said, I have read about false positives, but I am convinced those mentions are just myths.

Ahhh...now this confuses me as well! My IGeneX test is negative for both IGeneX and CDC however I show positive and IND for lyme specific bands and some bands that are cross-reactive. My test also shows a strong positive for Bartonella. I often question whether I ACTUALLY have lyme/bart or not. I started getting bart systems last year, about 5-6 months after I went to Miami. I remember getting bit by a cat, who was a stray. I read that Bart can live with the majority of healthy cats. However, would it be more plausible that I have Lyme/Bart from a tick bite, since I have Bb specific bands as well as Bart? The confusion continues...

If the "new illness" is rheumatoid arthritis...then wouldn't they be positive for the markers of RA? (for example)

For me, and many of us, we've had all the other tests...and nothing else showed up - the blood test for RA was done...negative (for example)...only antibodies I had with all the testing, were on the Igenex WB.

That's what I keep telling everybody....no antibodies for anything...but Lyme disease...so why would I treat for RA....or Lupus?


So, you test for everything...comes back negative...you check for Lyme disease, comes back positive...oh you have RA - this is how we're going to 'spin it'? You have RA?


What a joke!...except it's not funny!

I've read over and over actually that you can't have a false positive.

jrpsf. I think you're right. And also "My Internist based off a Quest test told me I had been exposed to Lyme in the past"

That's my number one least favorite thing that doctors say about Lyme. Ughhh they don't understand.