igenex results are here

[Melissa072]

Hi all
Just rung the Dr surgery who ordered my bloods for igenex and my results are in!!!!
I can't get them though until tomorrow as the Dr is not there.
I am really nervous now, and have asked for a copy to be emailed to me also for my own records.
I know I am jumping the gun  a bit but if they are negative what do I do then??????
Get a repeat, they cost me $1600.
I still have to get my daughter done yet, but was waiting to see what my results come back as.
My cd57 test here in Australia come back at 39, and my G.P. said that was chronic and that he expected the igenex one to come back even lower.
Is this test very reliable at igenex????  Is this a test solely for lyme, or is it just a test that could mean someone has lyme?????
Thanks for all your help so far!!!
Melissa

[JackieCalifornia]

Some people can have a Lyme infection but their immune system is strong enough to keep it in check.  That happened in my family.  I was very ill with what turned out to be Lyme and babesia, and under protest another family member was tested, saying "I feel fine!" but the test came back ... positive for Lyme and babesia.  

After treatment, we both felt better, and the person who 'felt fine' now realized that there was illness there after all, just mistaken for overwork and playing too hard.

That matches the situation you describe above.

Are you familiar with syphilis?  You might want to read up on it.  It is caused by a spiral-shaped bacterium similar to the one that causes Lyme.  A syphilis infection can go underground in your body for years and years, doing its dirty work with hardly any notice at all, and then BAM ... syphilitic dementia and all sorts of ugly things.  Personally, I'd rather be treated.

IGeneX has a newer and different kind of test from the standard Western blot and ELISA.  The parts of the medical community that don't think Lyme is a big deal think that the Wblot/ELISA combo are just fine and see no reason to move to a different kind of test, which IGeneX' PCR test is.  

It's called 'progress.'  We do not have all the answers, partly because nature keeps changing and inventing new diseases ... like AIDS.  Medicine takes time to understand and gear up to diagnose new and emerging diseases, and Lyme is one of those.  

You don't have to use IGeneX or find a doc who uses IGeneX, and you don't have to get treated or do anything at all.  It's up to you.  The medical community is still sorting itself out on Lyme.  That's just the state of the art at the moment.  

[desperate199]

I would like to chime on this too, I have a friend that was tested POSITIVE from Igentics , got tested because his twin brother had Lyme and he wanted his mom and brother to get tested to make sure they were not gng through what he was, anyways the one brother was a definate positive for Lymes as he has alot of Lyme symptoms, but his mom and brother HAve LITERALLY NO symptoms at all, that test was done by IGENTIXS , so from what I heard and read that if you are tested positive then you have active Lyme, that test was done ofr them 5 years ago , and still dont have any symptoms at all, so I would like to understand why their tests came back positive , what logic is it to that, and their bands are almost identical to mine. If Band 31 and Band 41 are so obvious a Lyme marker and I gentixs are the best why isnt other Labs following the same procedure if their testing is so much better? I am not debating but only stating the facts , and need to understand why Igentics are so much better then anyone else and why other Labs dont follow the same protocol. Just asking

[Ricobord]

Good for you!! That is a great attitude. And you have done great to survive it for so long. I am so glad you are getting treatment and looking forward to feeling better.

It always strikes me as significant when I read about an Aussie with similar symptoms or disease progression as myself. It is like a validation of my own experience. I know I haven't been making anything up or exaggerating my symptoms, but I still carry that feeling of not being fully believed by my mom and some doctors.  

My internist while I was hospitalized used the phrase "Too unlikely!" at my argument that I had Lyme and possibly Babesia. (Turns out it was Lyme and Bart.) My presentation is definitely different than most North Americans with Lyme. When I see similarities with Aussie Lyme, it is a reminder that I don't have some highly unusual Lyme story. I actually have a fairly typical Lyme story..for Australian Lyme.  Even my IGeneX WB results are consistent with the twenty-something other results WB results published by Dr. Peter Mayne.

There is a strange relief in not feeling like I am the only one.

[JackieCalifornia]

Good for you, and welcome to the battlefield!  errr, I mean ... welcome to MedHelp Lyme.  :)

Thirty years you've been ill!  I always heard Aussies were a tough lot, and you're proof.

Let us know how we can help, and stay in touch with your progress -- ROAR!

[Robyn072]

Well said Jackie.  Having to explain, justify and even teach the medical profession of your illness is frustrating and draining to say the least.   Gee, I wonder why so many Lymie's would prefer to lock themselves away at home.  Still then the comeback "Your depressed" .......well Duh!  Perhaps if we were treated as a sick person who deserves a diagnosis and treatment it may actually help toward healing in the treatment process.  I am only just finally being diagnosed and treated 30 years after my initial tick bite....20 years of mono like flares (just the same as you explain Ricobord) and a further 10 years of Chronic symptoms.

I have to say that you guys are so encouraging providing a great place to vent, rant, learn and share.  I read through every ones journeys and feel so encouraged.  My focus has changed and my eyes have lifted up out of my circumstances.  I look back on the past 30 years now and think "I have done so well surviving this awful disease" instead of the "I'm such a failure going round and round the same mountain".  Well, I am going round this mountain no more. I am going up and over it and I thank you all that we are all here to help each other in that process.

[gibsongal]

right on!