How to trust Igenex?

Hi Tunaaa,
First of all, there are very, very few false positives - the false negatives far outweigh them!! The standard tests used to detect Lyme are the ELISA and the Western Blot. When done by labs such as Lab Corp or Quest that don't use the right testing medium or train their lab techs specifically on how to get the best possible results, even more false negatives are the result - and more chronic Lyme patients are created.

They also test for less strains of the Lyme bacteria - 2 or 3, where Igenex tests for 4 or 5 strains - and even this is low as there are over 100 different strains of Lyme (Borrelia) that are known to cause human illness.

The tests themselves are no all that accurate - the ELISA will miss 70% of those with actual Lyme disease, and the Western Blot will miss around 50% of those with actual Lyme disease - why? Because the tests rely on finding antibodies that the immune system normally produce - but Lyme, especially when combined with Bartonella suppresses the immune system, so for some of us, we never get a positive test - I didn't. Yet, once I went through Lyme treatment that was right for me, I healed even though I could never prove I had Lyme by "their" tests.

Those that are wise, and have the opportunity, will have a few other tests run to rule out other possible causes of these symptoms - but most of us that really suspect Lyme, yet have a negative test result end up getting a clinical diagnosis and then treatment confirms that we have Lyme.

We are in the infancy of the recognition of these infections and the need for treatment - and what those treatment should be. This has become a political hotbed as well, with doctors loosing their licenses and practices trying to provide treatments that work. Every single doctor that treats these infections understands that he/she is laying their license, their practice and their reputations on the line in order to do so - so they aren't in the habit of carelessly treating people for Lyme that they aren't at least fairly certain the patient has Lyme. The horror stories come from those self labeled LLMD's that don't have the training from ILADS.

I was untreated for 40 years, so when I tried to use abx (for 12 months), I only got more ill. Once I took the time to get my body detoxing, I tried using herbs, which was practically unheard of in 2010, I healed quite quickly actually.

We have discovered that each of us needs at least something slightly different to heal, and most of the time, it's more than just slightly different. Some heal on abx alone, others need abx and herbs/natural treatments, and others - like me - need to use only alternative methods to heal.

Oh- and I'm glad my explanation helped!! LOL! Sometimes I'm just really good at muddying the waters!!

In fact positives aren't really common....If you get a positive...I'd run with it.

Many, many people have negative Igenex lyme tests...and indeed do have lyme disease...they treat it, and get well.

We use antibody tests to diagnose other ailments....and accept those diagnoses...so why not Lyme?