Are results for Lyme and co-infections tests skewed by abx?

[sarojane]

Before we invest many dollars we cannot spare right now, I want to know what people have heard regarding test results while on antimicrobials. Our DD's Doc says that Lyme is a clinical diagnosis, she feels she has lyme, we would like the test, and especially would like the test for the confections. She keeps getting recurrent strep around every 18-30 days or so and so she is usually on abx or a combination of natural antimicrobials so we don't know how we are supposed to test if everything will be false negative because of this.

 

Anyone heard any differently? Have you or your child been tested while on abx and gotten a positive result for a confection?

 

Has anyone treated Lyme and or confections using only an herbal protocol such as the Buhner protocol vs abx?

[msimon3]

Lyme remains a clinical diagnosis because there is no test where you have both high sensitivity and high specificity when measuring the presence of Borrelia in the body. The commonly used tests ELISA and Western Blot measure antibodies to proteins and can suffer from false negatives due to either low amounts of antibodies or a narrow interpretation of what is considered an infection. Less common are PCR tests which measure the presence of Borrelia DNA directly and they can suffer from false negatives due to the lack of DNA captured in a sample.

 

Antibiotics can be immunosuppressive, so if you intend to take the ELISA, EIA, ELFA, or Western Blot tests then you run the risk of false negatives due to low amounts of antibodies in the blood. If you intend to take the PCR test, you run the risk of a false negative due to lack of DNA captured in the sample ostensibly because you are killing the Borrelia with the antibiotics. In either case, perhaps schedule the tests out a week or two after the cessation of antibiotic therapy.

[sarojane]

The problem is she gets another case of strep or within 10 days of stopping the abx. So frustrating. We are thinking of having her get a tonsillectomy. We wold rather not, but it's looking like we have to.