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Trouble reading Western Blot-Please help

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Posted 8/28/2017 11:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hello,
After a few years of symptoms of varying severity I had a Western Blot through ARUB labs in Utah. The only band positive was on my IgG with band 23kDa. My doctor agreed to 7 weeks oral abx doxy. I feel slight improvement in a couple symptoms, but then my Dr abruptly decided she felt it was fibro and discontinued all treatment. I requested a Western Blot through Igenex about 4 weeks after stopping abx and pain meds. Results are in, with 23kDa not showing up at all now!
IgM results:
31+
41+
all others negative

IgG:
41 indeterminate
All others negative

Serum was 40=equivocal

I have scheduled with an LLMD but the bands now showing are confusing to me. Was my original WB false positive? Does my Igenex one even look like Lyme? It's saying 2 or bands positive means positive for Lyme. But below it states further tests should be done on band 31. I've now read different posts saying 23, 31, and 41 are Lyme specific, while other resources say they are not. Please help me navigate this confusion guys!
Posted 8/28/2017 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to our forum jmeow16,


Happy you have found us and sorry you might have Lyme.

We encourage all new members to read our "New to Lyme"start here thread ta the top of the page.

It has useful and important information on Lyme, testing and the bands, symptoms, detoxing and much more.

Were you able to finish the 7 weeks of antibiotics? Glad to hear you have found an llmd.


Others should be along soon to help with questions, Take care, Jo
Posted 8/28/2017 11:57 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you goshawk
I have gone through the new member info, actually I printed most of it months ago to discuss with my doctor ha ha. Very great information!
I was able to finish my course of abx, but within 2 weeks of the script ending the little relief I was having stopped and all symptoms came back with a vengeance.

I am hoping for more clarification on the WB, so much info out there it is hard to know where to go, and that wonderful brain fog makes for poor research ha ha.

Thank you for your response and look forward to further discussion with members!
Posted 8/29/2017 12:23 AM (GMT 0)
Sure sounds like Lyme and co.

There are other members that are very good at interpreting test results they should be along soon.

I will try to keep your post bumped up to make sure they see it.

Take care, Jo
Posted 8/29/2017 12:31 AM (GMT 0)

jmeow16 said...
Hello,
After a few years of symptoms of varying severity I had a Western Blot through ARUB labs in Utah. The only band positive was on my IgG with band 23kDa. My doctor agreed to 7 weeks oral abx doxy. I feel slight improvement in a couple symptoms, but then my Dr abruptly decided she felt it was fibro and discontinued all treatment. I requested a Western Blot through Igenex about 4 weeks after stopping abx and pain meds. Results are in, with 23kDa not showing up at all now!
IgM results:
31+
41+
all others negative

IgG:
41 indeterminate
All others negative

Serum was 40=equivocal

I have scheduled with an LLMD but the bands now showing are confusing to me. Was my original WB false positive? Does my Igenex one even look like Lyme? It's saying 2 or bands positive means positive for Lyme. But below it states further tests should be done on band 31. I've now read different posts saying 23, 31, and 41 are Lyme specific, while other resources say they are not. Please help me navigate this confusion guys!

Hi jmeow16, welcome to our community!

Your first WB with band 23 positive - is enough to back up your lyme symptoms to diagnose you with LD>
Band 23 is one of the lyme 'specific' bands...meaning only Lyme will make it positive.

No the original WB wasn't a false positive..it was positive for band 23...but not likely that just having band 23 on that test would be enough for a positive Lyme result.

If a positive test result is important to you - then go ahead and spend the $100 for the Eptiope test on band 31.
The reason it's an indeterminate is because band 31 can RARELY be caused by a few other things - some viruses for example.
If the band 31 is positive with the Epitope test, that changes your IgM to a positive result. At this point your Igenex WB is INDETERMINATE.

My husband had the epitope test done.
In the three years I've been on this forum..I've only heard of one person who had a negative come up on the Epitope test for band 31.
But make the decision soon because they only keep the blood sample for a few weeks I believe.
Posted 8/29/2017 12:46 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you both for your responses. I very much appreciate some clarity on the matter. If 23 had shown on the igenex test, I wouldn't be so in my head about it I suppose. I have read the possibility of abx skewing results at some point, perhaps why 23 is no longer showing up on Igenex? I will call the lab tomorrow to verify how long they keep my blood sample for testing. I was lucky enough to get into my llmd within 2 weeks, so I'm hoping to get his recommendation on the epitope test first, incase it would be a waste of much needed funds.

Agaim, I can't thank you both enough for your help and i am happy to be welcomed into your community.
Posted 8/29/2017 12:56 AM (GMT 0)
The Western Blot is based on your body's immune system mounting a response...and sometimes results on tests taken at different times can be different depending on how your immune system is functioning at the time.
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