Testing For Lyme

lol..I'm kidding, I don't think you have been on yet since I posted to you. I guess I'm ready to face the fact that perhaps Lyme or some tick inefction is my problem...I'm ready to listen to your expertise...


Sorry it's taken so long to respond. I had two wisdom teeth extracted, and the doctor who did it put me on an abx that has been causing some intense dieoff the past couple days.

Yes igenex is generally considered the best lab, but unfortunately NO lab test is considered all that reliable.

Lyme is a clinical diagnosis, and you need to find a really good lyme literate doctor who has plenty of experience making the dx. Past history, current symptoms, lab work including but not limited to the common lyme infections (e.g. borrelia, babesia, ehrlichia, bartonella, brucella), a specific Natrual Killer test designed by Raphael Stricker, and response to treatment should ALL be taken into account. Some doctors watch this natural killer test to monitor progress to treatment. Note also that apparently patients should eventually test positive for lyme using igenex once treatment has progressed to a sufficient level.I know this is dissappointing news. I find it all very discouraging myself, but it is the reality. The problem is that the longer one lets lyme progress, the (MUCH) more difficult it is to treat. Anyone with chronic problems, particularly involving chronic fungal infections or neuro problems including ms, parkinson's, als, and alzheimers should go through the process of eliminating lyme.

I would do one or all of the following. Call igenex and see if they can give you a doctor referral, and go to lyme strategies and lymenet support groups and see if some lyme veterans can give you a referral...

http://www.lymenet.org/SupportGroups/

Fortunately, I do believe that people can give themselves a good indication if they have lyme or babesia without spending too much money. While I don't believe you can rule lyme out here, if you have a severe infection then the salt/c protocol will let you pretty quickly without spending much money at all. You would want to slowly increase to 1 g of each for every 10 pounds of body weight here, and stay at that dose for a month. If you don't react is some pretty classic ways, then I find it highly unlikely you have severe lyme at any rate. Note that Dr. Klinghardt recommends EVERYONE use salt/c as PART of a maintenance program as long as they muscle test favorably to it. He uses it himself. He buys the sodium chloride at costco.

Regarding babesia, taking a good quality allicin product COMBINED with artemisinin GEL will likely tell you if you have a severe infection. The symptoms will be classic... the heart problems might increase, or sweats, chills, nausea, or vivid nightmares my flare. Salt/C might also bring on these symptoms, which would indicate possible babesia.

I think it's a really good idea you look into this. Unfortunately lyme-space is full of examples of entire families afflicted with lyme related complex. Also, I realize this contradicts your vets info, but Dr. Klinghardt does indeed believe you can pass lyme back and forth between your pets. He told me personally about a discussion he had with a San Diego vet who monitor ehrlichia in cats of lyme owners. He claims they ALWAYS test positie, and further that the lyme owners never fully recover until they get rid of the cat.. or treat it effectively, which apparently is VERY hard. Dr. K recommends dogs on the basis that they are so much more ammenable to consuming meds/supps as part of a maintanance program.

Good luck with this. I know it's overwhelming, but again I think salt/c and artemisinin/allicin can go a long way at letting you know if you have a SEVERE problem, although they probably won't rule out a chronic low grade lyme.

Let me know if you need any more info. I'm pretty tired now so this may not make as much sense as I would have wished.