Hi dbwilco!
Welcome to our community! I'm so glad you found us.
If you haven't yet, 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, helpful links and pdf's, how to detox when one has these infections, information on probiotics and much more. And this is another good list of possible detoxing routines:
www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html Detoxing for us is an incredibly important part of our healing.
As for the testing, no - we don't continue to build antibodies as Lyme is very good at inhibiting the immune function and can stop antibody production for not only Lyme, but other infections as well. For example, I was infected for 37 years before my first Lyme test, and I tested completely negative on all bands on both IgM and IgG. It took a full year of treatment before I tested fully CDC positive for not only Lyme, but RMSF.
We also often have other infections because our immune systems are so compromised. Many here have one or more viral components to their case. EBV is one of the most common viruses in the US - something like 95% of all people will test positive.
The thoughts on the current testing is that even once healed, we will continue to test positive on the antibody tests for a couple of reasons. One is that once Lyme has gone chronic (disseminated throughout the body as evidenced by symptoms from different parts of the body), we can't completely clear the bacteria, it's up to our immune system to keep the bacteria in low numbers so it doesn't interfere with our life.
And, these infections are world wide, not limited to any
location, so don't beat yourself up for having lived in CT! I was living in California in 1970 when I was first infected!
For information on finding an ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) trained Lyme Literate Medical Doctor(LLMD) in your area, 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 send me an email by clicking on my screen name or the small blue envelope under my screen name. I may have contact information for some LLMD's in your area as well. Please include your state (or province) and area that you would like to find a LLMD in and I will be happy to share the names I have.
You can email the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance at
[email protected] for LLMD referrals and you can go to
tbdalliance.org to learn more about
these infections.
You can 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=74ILADS has their own referral system as well:
ilads.org/ilads_media/physician-referral/And a new resource
www.LymeDoc.org You will want to find a well trained doctor, not one that has self proclaimed themselves as a LLMD or an ID Doc (Infectious Disease Doctor), as ID docs believe Lyme is hard to catch and easy to treat, and don't believe in the reality of chronic Lyme. Go to the ILADS site to read the new (2014) Treatment guidelines to get you started on your healing journey:
www.lymenet.org/BurrGuide200810.pdf