need help with lab results

[norcalmom]

I've ben tracking my son's IgG for Mycoplasma for over a year. Recently he's been off all antibiotics - for several months - and we tested again. Unfortunately we had to use a different lab than usual. And the results are in a different format.

 

Does anyone know if I can compare them to each other? I'm thinking theoretically I may be able to take the high for each lab and do a ratio - but I'm not 100% sure - because they may be using entirely different methods of testing.

 

LabCorp (his usual lab) Myco P IgG in March result 2405 (indeterminate is 100-320)

 

Quest Test in May result said ">5" with indeterminate range of (.91-1.09) Had to have doctor call to get actual number.

You would think that >5 would mean the actual number would be 5.somehting - LOL. It was 11.23

 

If I use the ratio with the "High Range" number from both tests, then the Quest equivalent for his March Lab Corp number of 2405 would be 8.19...meaning it went WAY up, to 11.23

 

I was hoping I could just multiply the Quest number by 100 to get equivalent LabCorp number - since Quest has a median of "1" in the indeterminate range. and negative for Lab corp is less than 100... I like that answer a lot better - that would mean his number is 1123 (down from 2405)..It seems like this is probably incorrect, but its the answer I want! The median is actually 210, so it should be 210 times 11.23 = 2358....which is at least close to his old number and seems to make the most sense.

 

Does anyone know if these labs are even using the same test (ELISA? or whatever?) and if there is a conversion I can use?

 

I can't even google it since I don't know the names for these different formats of reporting, or if they are using entirely different testing methods.

 

THANK YOU!!

[philamom]

Ok, my head is spinning- sorry, no help.

 

I did want to mention that my daughter's mycoplasma IgG from Quest has been elevated since November 2011 (ran numerous times including Sept, Oct, Nov 2012). Beginning of this year we switched to Lab Corp for insurance purposes, and its been normal. In April, the doctor accidentally sent her labs back to Quest, and it was elevated. strange

[mommybee]

I don't know about the IgG, but the IgM from the two labs appear to be more in sync.

[norcalmom]

We re-ran the test though LabCorp last Friday and got results today. I've learned a couple things about the testing I thought I'd share with any of you concerned with tracking mycoplasma.

 

Use a Lab that gives you an absolute number for IgG, no matter how high it goes - like LabCorp. Once your number gets over 5 from Quest - they just tell you it is great than 5.0. My son's was 11. (something). Positive is over .9 (so I was thinking it was 5. something - ha ha) we called the lab to find the actual number. But it turns out that is not that helpful either - because you cannot translate from one unit of measure to the other.

 

So -stick with one lab.

 

AND I just had to share that my son's number went DOWN!! :Dafter several months off Doxy! Now, granted, some of the the decline in the titer probably came when he was on the the Doxy, but not too much because we had it tested only 2 or 3?) weeks before I took him off.

 

It's down to 1724. Still high - but at its highest it was 2980. It was 2405 the last time it was tested before coming off Doxy. That was March 9th. And I know he was completely off Doxy in April.

 

So, I'm ecstatic. Not 100% sure - but looks like the methyfolate supplements, and Vit D3, and EcGG (Green coffee extract - regulates cell function) - there are a handful of other things - but those 3 are what he has had the most of lately, have helped ALOT. Maybe even more than the antibiotics ever did.

 

Only time will tell if it keeps heading in the right direct off antibiotics.

 

His pandas stuff has not, unfortunately, improved. So we are considering another IVIG soon, but Im happy that we may have cleared a problematic infection - and I'm hoping that if we do another IVIG his improvements will be long lasting (like, forever, please?!)

 

As for your question EAMom - a long, long time. My son was on and off (sun sensitivity/trying other things) for about 18 months. His "off' periods were fairly long - 4 months last summer, several weeks here and there when we tried some other antibiotics.

 

I'm about 30% into Buhner's book...many herbs, which I know nothing about - the section I'm at seems to indicate her REALLY like Cordyceps - in high does - as a medicinal food. I think for mycop he recommends 6-9 grams a day. He recommends the powered/dried to mix into water or juice.

 

Get this - its a fungus (yuck) that grows on an insect (yuckier). They used to eat the whole bugs in Chinese medicine. Now they grow it in vats or on rice (he likes the Vat grown).

 

He also supports using antibiotics - especially in conjunction with the herbs (as long as you make sure no interactions (rare) He has a traditional western medical background, from a family FULL of doctors - and even a relative that was the surgeon general. His website and the book cover don't give you a full view on his back ground. I thought he was WAY out there for me, but knowing where he came from, makes me feel a little better about trying herbal remedies.