co-infection question

I was diagnosed with Lyme almost a year ago (IgeneX Western blot).   I tested neg. for other co-infections using standard lab corp tests.   I show a pretty significant improvement after several months of high dose antibiotics (doxy and biaxin).  However, over the last 3-4 months I have started getting worse.   My platelets are low, I've had occasional night sweats recently (usually relatively minor), and I feel jittery at times.  The pain is also much worse (primarily in my spine).  Should I consider getting co-infection testing repeated by another lab?  If so which tests/lab?  How much would these cost?

Thanks for your input

Brad

Hi Needshelp!
There is - unfortunately - the possibility that the LD was not eradicated from your body & you are having a relapse. OR - you have been re-infected. Neither of those options sound like fun - but I deal with both, myself.

Are you under the care of a LLMD? If so, have you talked with him/her about this?

IMHO - there are & will always will be tests that 'need' to be run, but a clinical dx by a knowledgable LLMD seems to be the most accurate in the end.~
Trav

My LLMD tested me for Babs, Bart, and Mycoplasma through good labs (Igenex, Specialty Labs, and Clongen, respectively), and all the tests came back negative (well, the Bart was borderline).

However, from clinical symptoms and my clinical narrative (the way the symptoms have responded to changes in abx and changes in other infections), I have CLINICAL DIAGNOSES of Babs and Bart.

You need an LLMD who can make clinical diagnoses of coinfections, since it is so hard to catch the coinfections given how well they hide and how the tests are not sensitive enough.

Even the best labs, like Igenex, only catch 30% of the people who have Babesia (If you have it, there's only a 30% chance you'll come up positive on the test).

Most people are co-infected. My previous LLMD told me one lab tests for two strains of BLO and the other lab tests for one strain but there are over 30 strains so the chances of you not testing positive when you are infected is very high. That is why you need a clinical diagnosis based upon symptoms. Night hot flashes without drenching sweats is often BLO. Feeling jittery is another. A good LLMD should check your skin for abnormalities like "stretch marks", peas size brown spots that resemble age or liver marks, small red blood blisters, lack of pigmentation, nodules under the skin that hurt when pressed, swollen glands and swollen areas of the body that appear like edema but do not dent. I experience the same get better, get worse scenarios. One study said BLO is even more common than Bb.