Lyme disease

I was in NJ in Oct...got bit by something....had the bulls-eye rash a week later.  Got on antibiotics but didn't finish them....took 24 out of the 30 pills.  Was put on another antibiotic early Dec for an unrelated UTI.
Late December started with severe arthritis of  both knees...and now hips and neck.
Was tested for Lymes and it came back negative.  I don't believe it....I think I have it.
Had blood work taken today for Western Blot....
What if this comes back negative.....does that mean I definetly don't have it???
Seems like it couldn't be anything else.  I am 52 yrs old.

[Garth L Nicolson, PhD]

Many Lyme patients are diagnosed on strictly clinical signs/symptoms.  The reason for this is that not all Lyme patients elicit a strong immune response against Borrelia antigens, and if you don't have a strong response, the Western blot will be negative or more often equivocal.  

Also, there are only a few labs that do the Western blot procedures correctly, and I would recommend testing by Igenex or a lab of similar quality.

In addition, ticks that carry Borrelia often to almost always also carry Mycoplasma (usually M. fermentans specie), Bartonella species, Babesia species, among other possible infections (in order of prevalence).  Some of these infections, in particular Mycoplasma, can cause arthritis, UTI and other conditions.