Lyme Testing and strep pneumoniae testing

[lfran]

Per request of Dr. T, my HMO supposedly ordered a Lyme Western Blot for DS9.

What I got back was a Borrelia Burgdorferi Antibody, EIA test. His blood was non-reactive. This is *not* Western blot, right? Is this ELISA? Is this useful at all?

 

Also got results for streptococcs pneumoniae IGG (14 serotypes) back. There are no reference ranges, bt most are less than 0.3; others are 1.2, 6, 3.2 and 27.3.

 

He is old enough that I think he was vaccinated with the 7 serotype strains, not 14 strains. Sooooo...any thoughts on what this means?

 

I will be sending the results to Dr. T, but wanted your thoughts, too.

 

Also, DS9 has been on 500 mg azith for about 3 weeks and he is doing so well for the last 5 days or so. 95% better, I'd say. Maybe even higher. I will keep posting as the time goes on.

[Megs_Mom]

95% better! Wow, congratulations!!! For Lyme, most experts seem to suggest the Igenex tests - they are just more complete. They are a little pricey & often not covered by insurance, so if you can maintain gains, you may want to wait. We use azith too - doesn't work for everyone, but pretty awesome when it does! Gotta love that immune modulating element of abx.

[lfran]

95% better! Wow, congratulations!!! For Lyme, most experts seem to suggest the Igenex tests - they are just more complete. They are a little pricey & often not covered by insurance, so if you can maintain gains, you may want to wait. We use azith too - doesn't work for everyone, but pretty awesome when it does! Gotta love that immune modulating element of abx.

Thanks! Yes, I am excited...and also cautious....hoping hoping hoping it lasts. He is on a 30 day trial of azith....now I need to get a new rx to continue it.

[bgbarnes]

Per request of Dr. T, my HMO supposedly ordered a Lyme Western Blot for DS9.

What I got back was a Borrelia Burgdorferi Antibody, EIA test. His blood was non-reactive. This is *not* Western blot, right? Is this ELISA? Is this useful at all?

 

Also got results for streptococcs pneumoniae IGG (14 serotypes) back. There are no reference ranges, bt most are less than 0.3; others are 1.2, 6, 3.2 and 27.3.

 

He is old enough that I think he was vaccinated with the 7 serotype strains, not 14 strains. Sooooo...any thoughts on what this means?

 

I will be sending the results to Dr. T, but wanted your thoughts, too.

 

Also, DS9 has been on 500 mg azith for about 3 weeks and he is doing so well for the last 5 days or so. 95% better, I'd say. Maybe even higher. I will keep posting as the time goes on.

Great news on the 95% better- we just upped my ds8 to 500 mg last Thursday from 250mg and I am seeing improvement as well-250mg did nothing. I will keep my fingers crossed that you get to 100% and we have the same type of results as you!

We did the ELISA Western Blot and insurance did not cover it- it was about $400 out of pocket. I don't know what the other test is and we have not done streptococcus pneumoniae yet.

Brandy

[MichaelTampa]

ELISA and Western Blot are different, so maybe Brandy she got the Igenex western blot. I got that also, and it was covered about 70% by Aetna, guess it depends on what your insurance is. ELISA for lyme provides many false negatives, so, yes, it is more-or-less worthless.