IgM Band 23 +

[eljomom]

Hi all,

I am usually on this forum for my dd7. However, we just had my dd9 tested (through LabCorp) because she has had off and on headaches for over three years, along with occasionally saying her chest hurts. She also almost always has a temperature of 99.3, which I'm told just may be her normal. This has been for years. She does have some ocd-type stuff (evening up), etc., but so do all 4 of my kids. I did post on the Lyme forum, but wanted to post here, as there are many here dealing also with Lyme, and quite honestly, I am looking for a "voice of reason" here. Don't mean to offend anyone, but I'm just not a sold-out believer that every little thing is Lyme, and I DO believe (please don't take personally) that there are some kids being treated/overtreated for Lyme when it may NOT be Lyme.

 

My question is whether IgM would mean recent infection, in which case, I would think you couldn't link the test with the symptoms, as they have been going on for so long. I am NOT one to go Lyme-crazy. I am one of the people who feel that band 41 alone is NOT indicative of Lyme, and that some other bands cross react, etc. So I would appreciate any input that doesn't lump everything into "It's LYme for sure!" just based on one band positive. Just trying to make sense of this test. I know many will say to test with Igenex next, and once we win the lottery, I may do that. We are tapped out right now with other medical expenses putting us over the edge, with a high deductible insurance plan, etc...

 

Thanks in advance.

[JAG10]

Tried to PM you, but you're just too popular!!!

All filled up, time to purge.

Jill

[Kbossman1]

Can't wait to see what others say about this as well. We had pandas dd7 tested before we went to see Dr. B. She has IgM band 23 positive too. That was the only band positive. We did Igenex....and we are in the same boat....4 kids, medical bills piling up on the kitchen counter....it hurt, but we did it...and holy cow, her test was crazy positive. I'm looking at it now....4 bands were positive IgM and 5 bands positive IgG. Looking back at last September it made sense because she complained of not feeling well, aches and pains all the time. We kept taking her to the dr and they would say she looks fine. The aches and pains were aside from pandas symptoms to me b/c she mainly has OCD....anyways, looking back we see that's probably when the lyme was affecting her. She has a tick bite in April (2010) and in September 2010 was when she started complaining about the aches and pains. She's feeling much better now....after being on meds for severa months.

 

So a couple of weeks ago, for kicks, we tested our whole family (me, hubby, and 3 other kids) w/ the labcorp test. Well, all but one of us came back with this same IgM band 23 positive. I've been thinking the same thing....what does this mean? With dd7 she had a red ring around the tick bite 3 days later....symptoms....it all made sense. Me, hubby, and 2 other kids with Lyme? I'm just not sure. I'm not all for lyme or against it either. If anything....I'm leaning more towards the "for" I guess. I do find it hard to belive that our whole family has been "bitten" though. Just wanted to chyme in and say....hey "who doesn't have IgM 23?" that's what I wanna know?

[JAG10]

On Igenex, it's listed 23-25. My dd11 was IND for 23-25 IGG, negative IGM in Nov 2010. Repeat testing in May 2011, both IGG and IGM were negative for 23-25.

 

Dd8- negative 23 IgG and IgM

 

I looked thru all our records, I was the only one "reactive" thru Quest for 23 IgM, my only reactive band. I do not have Lyme disease, no psych issues, fatigue issues, no joint or muscle aches or pains. This test was from 8 months ago. Idk what it means, but I'm not worrying about it.

[MichaelTampa]

kboss - Borrelia ("lyme") can be transmitted in ways other than tick bites--mosquitos, in utero, sexually, it has been found in every bodily fluids. There are worms/parasites that can transmit from bedding and clothing and touching and breathing, these worms actually "farm" borrelia spirochetes just like humans farm cows, I really think there are way more infected than most are willing to believe. Dr. Klinghardt in his recent lyme conference in May talks about how in Germany decades ago in the black forest region almost everyone had borrelia in them, but they were not ill. It is the other things going on today that make us ill, and once the lyme gets your immune system down, it will take serious treatment to get the body back in charge. It reminds me about the wild debate on "band 41 only" positives, and one study of 800 or so people showing that 50% or so of the general population test positive. People react that the test is obviously wrong because it appears to them that much less than 50% of the population has lyme disease, but they ignore the possibility, maybe this many are infected, even though far fewer are sick.

 

I do hear band 41 is first to show, so band 23 still may be something to take as more significant than band 41.

 

This Dr. Klinghardt conference was titled "A Look Beyond Lyme", and while many things discussed were key for people suffering from lyme, really, everything discussed was very useful for anyone these days suffering from any type of illness, including any type of neurological illness or cancer, etc. They discussed EMF's, mold, parasites/worms, fungus, PANDAS, autism, MS, heavy metals, and all the things you can do to treat before eventually getting to the actual borrelia. For those battling the question of whether they or their kid has lyme or doesn't have lyme, what to do, another idea is get the DVD's from this conference, and learn so much that needs to be done for anyone who is sick in the 21st century, whether it is lyme or not.

[sf_mom]

Kboss: I agree with everything Michael states. Additionally, most LLMDs do not treat those individuals that are positive with no symptoms. When we REALLY tested our family we found MCIDS - Multiple Chronic Infectious Disease Syndrome.

 

For me: 4 viruses including XMRV, Lyme, Babesia, Mycoplasma, potential Fungus, Yeast issues, KPU, etc.... I think the main issue for me are probably the the viruses on top of Lyme. I had Fibro like symptoms

 

For my kids: Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, Coxsackies, XMRV, Strep, KPU, Immune deficiencies, etc. All our kids have symptoms: DS1 originally diagnoses with PANDAS with predominate TIC presentation, Twins: Lupus like physical presentation, developmental delays, sensory issues, OCD, rages, etc.

 

My husband: Now, near perfect health still has high Strep Titers and is positive for Bartonella (not currently being treated) and is IgG positive for band 41 and IND for band 31 for Lyme. He had some low level symptoms of acid reflux, quarterly stiff necks, infrequent prostrate pains, frequently sick with colds that resolved when he was treated for strep carrier status last year.

 

As each infection, virus, mineral deficiency is addressed we've gained improvement. Is Lyme the core issues.... I don't know, I believe it is the common theme for our family and thankfully we are all improving with treatment. From 'my perspective' if you are band 23+ (band 23-25 outer surface protein C (OspC), specific for Bb. Can be an early band) have symptoms and not having success with Pandas treatments it would be worth investigating further with a skilled LLMD to unravel the whole picture unique to each individual. For us, it was so much more than just strep.

 

-Wendy

Edited June 29, 2011 by SF Mom