Minocin dose

[emmaline]

Keep in mind there are over 300 types of Lyme and many tests only search for two. Maybe Igenix lab is different. Plus, Lyme won’t show up if you’ve been on immune suppressants. Ugh!
Thanks for sharing your journey. I can relate so much.
Happy Easter!

[Maz]

@emmaline wrote:

Maybe Igenix lab is different.

Hi emmaline,

You’re right – IGenex is the preferred labs of most LLMDs, because their tests believed to be more sensitive than standard two-tiered tests. Most commercial Lyme tests are quite “specific,” meaning that when the bug is found in a test, it’s in all likelihood there. However, the standard tests lack “sensitivity,” missing more than half of all cases of Lyme, because the tests just aren’t sensitive enough to detect the infection.

The IGenex test includes a couple of antibody bands that were removed, but are highly specific for Lyme – Bands 31 and 34. This is a post from last summer with a few more deets on this subject:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11181&p=75048&hilit=lymerix#p75048

It’s pretty interesting reading to look at some of the stats and considerations regarding the problems with current Lyme testing, explained here:

http://lymedisease.org/news/lymepolicywonk/lymepolicywonk-the-cdc-the-fda-and-lyme-disease-lab-tests-two-tiered-tests-igenex-the-c6-and-the-new-culture-test.html

They’ve been trying to shut down competing labs, like IGenex, for years, but it always passes CA state requirements for re-certification. When all is said and done, no test is 100% accurate for Lyme, which means that it must be a diagnosis based on clinical judgment – i.e. patient history of past ticks exposures, living in or visiting Lyme endemic areas, signs/symptoms of infection, etc. So, it’s the patients whole picture that needs to be taken into account and a positive Lyme test is a nice confirmation, but shouldn’t be the only criteria for determining diagnosis. Ticks pass so many infections – they’re dubbed, “nature’s dirty needles” – so some folks may not just harbor Lyme or may not have been passed Lyme, at all – but, they may have other tick-borne infections, which can also be very serious.

[Author]

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