CD57?

[Ephedra]

All of my labs are normal except for this CD57 test, which clocked in at a 5.  Is this diagnostic for chronic Lyme, or are there other potential causes for a low CD57?    

[mojogal]

No, I have never heard of a false positive with IgeneX. I had a false negative with my first Babesia test there..

Several months later it came back positive. Luckily my LLMD and many that I have heard about will treat based on symptoms because it sometimes does takes time to sometimes get a positive result. It took my friend 6 tries to get a positive.

The sed rate sounds kind of low but not being medically trained, I can't really say much except from my own experience. By the time I got very sick, most all my blood tests including sed rate were in the abnormal range.

[wonko]

I was a case where my CD57 value before treatment was in the normal range (around 150, I don't recall the units but I believe them to be consistent with the values others are reporting here.)

After a couple of years of treatment, and measurable gains in how I felt, my CD57 was dramatically lower, in the mid 30's.  

My LLMD said that in some cases it was useful for tracking progress with treatment, but not in all.

I also had a negative (by CDC standards) western blot through Igenex.

Finally, my sed rate was measured to be high on several occasions, I think up in to the 40's and 50's (mm/hr).  My c-reactive protein, another inflammation marker, also often tested high.

So, I had good CD57, a negative western blot through Igenex, and an out-of-range high SED rate.  My diagnosis of Lyme and Bart. was made mostly on clinical evidence, and I greatly improved with antibiotic treatment.

In the same vein as some other recent posts here, I can say that I've never been 100% convinced of what was making me sick, but it best fits Lyme and co-infections.  My LLMD used to tell me that he uses "Lyme" to encompass a number of conditions, and I tend to agree with that perspective since it seems no two cases are the same.

As with any decision, deciding whether or not to pursue antibiotic treatment with an LLMD can be approached with a risk/benefit analysis.  In my case, despite the lack of firm test results or even my own belief that I had Lyme, taking oral antibiotics was low risk.   The potential benefit of treating and curing my condition was of course all positive.  No other doctors with whom I consulted offered any treatment beyond some symptom control.  Also weighing in for me was that my illness took hold in my late 20's, so getting sick was also jeopardizing my hopes and goals for a career.  So for me, pursuing treatment for Lyme came out as an easy choice to make, even though a concrete diagnosis escaped me.

Your mileage may vary, but pursuing Lyme treatment with an LLMD, despite a lack of firm tests, helped me to recover from an illness that no other doctor could diagnose or treat.

[cave76]

I believe that ephedra said :
" I don't necessarily want a false positive either.  It seems everyone test positive through them, doesn't it?"

That's not clear if she was asking if 'everyone got a 'false positive' because of the wording. I guess only ephedra can clear that up.

And Wonko has kindly told us that, in her case, the CD57 numbers didn't match up with how she felt. But she also said that other people's values do match up with how they feel/progress.

Which is what I said------ it's a coin toss. And if it isn't "almost" always correct (for what test is ever 100% correct?) then a blanket statement can't be made for it's value. That's my take on it.

Again what I said----- the data being gathered for those tests may provide us with valuable information in the future.

[Ephedra]

I said that "it SEEMS everyone test positive through them" because I haven't heard of anyone testing negative through IGenex.  Seems- get the impression.  So then I followed that statement by asking "doesn't it?"  For your input.  

I'm not putting much faith in this CD57 test....  My numbers just aren't adding up.  Over 900 for B12, geez- and that was fasting for over 12 hours.            

I'm under the impression that sed rate should be higher in females, myself included.  So that's why I thought it seemed a little odd.

I'm on oral antibiotics now, so I'll just have to wait and see.  




  

[cave76]

Thank you, ephedra, for clearing that up. Semantics are a b**ch on the Internet, aren't they? (grin)

So---- now you've heard that many people get a negative even through Igenex, me being just one of them, and yet still have Lyme disease. There are dozens of reasons for that happening, but you have probably already read them.

[mojogal]

And I said in most cases. Please read more carefully if you are going to lecture someone.