Testing Positive for Lyme: Experiences?

[BFSDiner]

I know this has come up and been dismissed numerous times. I just wanted to ask a question -Have any folks here actually tested positive for Lyme on the initial ELISA / Antibody test?If so, did you do a follow up Western Blot and what were the results?How about a PCR?My doctor, after having run the gamut of tests and finding nothing, decided to run another Lyme antibody test. It came back positive again. My understanding is that even with the high incidence of false negatives, two false positives is increasingly rare. In addition, the IGM reading, which peaks at 4-6 weeks, begins to decline after that point. I was tested at the "Peak" of my symptoms and my IGM was off the charts high. 3 weeks later, my IGM has dropped drastically. This behavior implies recent infection with Lyme. In any case, just curious if anyone else here (or several here) had an initial positive Lyme test that was later ruled as negative due to follow-ups. I really dont know if I should do a course of antibiotics just in case, or not. Truly stumped.-BFSB-

 

[Gracer]

the most interesting queestion for me is alwys if you had a bite.I live in the area where Lyme ticks are just strated to spread recently (found one on my doggy las year, fortunately no borelliosis developed) so I just wonder if all people whcih found a tick on them should obviously first of all suspect Lyme or not?

 

[BFSDiner]

Well my insane, unending nonstop reading binges have taught me this:1) Lyme may not manifest as a traditional bullseye mark or any visible bite in up to 50% of people.2) Only larger adult ticks are easily visible to the naked eye. Apparently the youngsters can get so small that when they are burrowed into your skin, you can look right at them and not see them.3) Put these two together, and you have situations where people with full blown lyme disease never identified a bite.Never had a bullseye. Never saw a tick. This is why Lyme diagnosis is heavily based upon "clinical" observation (symptoms). To put it bluntly, there are a whole community of people with our symptoms who are pursuing Lyme diagnosis and treatment. Even with negative test results. They're convinced. And im not so sure that's a stupid idea. There are hundreds of possible bacterial pathogens which could cause these symptoms. From tick bites alone you can get E wingii, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis, Colorado Tick fever, Q fever, Tick Borne relapsing fever, and Babesiosis. Even Spinal Tuberculosis manifests with my symptoms - verbatim. And these are all bacterial infections with body-wide systemic symptoms, which can be easily treated. So all of you who think im trying to "scare" people - listen to that last sentence. Theyre treatable. Meaning - its good news. A 6 week dose of Doxycycline 400mg can knock most of these out for good, and ticks are hardly the only source of infections. In any case, its interesting to look up the various groups of people with our symptoms and see how one set of people ended up in one online community, where another ended up somewhere else, and still another ended up here. This is why I have kept my mind open about possible causes. We don't hold the holy grail on the answer for this condition. We are just the ones who for the most part stopped bothering to try and figure it out.I did have a bite in February (just my luck) when i was going through all the mess I went through. In fact it happened the very next day. And I have not been well since. But everyone says it does not look like a Tick bite. (I took a picture of it)But I did have an authentic bullseye rash on my foot when I was 14 years old. Nearly 24 years ago. Never did anything about it. So who knows.