My test results: WHAT do they mean?

Hello everyone,
I am new here, this is my first post.  I have been reading some of your posts I will post my lyme tests here at the end, but first I would like to talk about a few other things.  I was diagnosed with lyme last summer.  How long did I have it?  I have no idea!  I have been heathy and strong most of my life untill...

I lost my grandfather and I got very ill.  That was over 10 years ago.  I was in my 20's.   Could it have been a coincidence that I got so sick at the same time my grandfather died?  NOW I believe it was a coincidence, but at the time, I thought losing him made me sick.
Here were my symptoms back then: Troubles breathing, sore throat, swellen throat--almost completely shut, I could not even get a few drops of water down my throat.  Sweelen feet--I could not walk, the bottom of my feet had some liquid in them.  I got really depressed, I thought I was dying.  Made my funeral arrangements (not kidding!).  I was scaring my fiance and my mom, because I was very serious about it.  Then I could not talk, i lost my vision for a few days, while in Graduate School for Statistics--could not see the numbers, had to postpone my finals (I was an A student).  Severe caughing, I remember I went into my Adviser's office and I started caughing, I had to go to the bathroom and get some water; he was just looking at me, because I could not stop to tell him I'll be back, so I just left and then went back.  Aches all over, unbeareable neck pain--maybe my nodes?  It felt like it!  I was walking on the side of my feet to get around.

It was the scariest episode of my life, I really did not think I will come out of it.  I was on antibiotics for 2 weeks, and I got a bit better, I had a good dr. and he gave me another week.  I survived and recovered 100%--or did I?  I do believe NOW that I got sick from lyme around that time, not last year!

Since then, I had a few bronchitis, sinus problems, heavy breathing, heart palpitations and every time it seems they were worse and last longer.  Anyway, I was not too worried because they were not as bad as the first time.  Then, a few years ago, I had severe chest pains when breathing and went to ER.  I knew I had a scar on my lungs and I ask the ER dr about it, and he said it resolved--He did not see it on the chest Xr (only to find out several yrs later that it is still there, through another chest X-ray)!  He told me is just a mucle that is hurting, and send me home and told me to take motrin.  A few days later the pain went away.

A few months ago, I started to have symptoms similar to those the first time I was diagnosed with Lyme: Pain in my fingers, headaches, pain in my legs, could not walk right, neck pains, twitchin in my eye and tumb, poor vision, foggy memory and head, and maybe others that I can't remember.  I asked my new dr to test me for lyme and the first test came +.  Then he sent me for a second test that came --.  His conclusion was the first test was + because I had it in the past.  I got so upset, I kept asking myself: How about my symthoms?  But I just decided to go to another dr, I will see her on the 10th and I pray that she will give me a referal to a LLMD.  I have 3 children, one of which is 9 mo old and I am breasfeeding her.  I asked her dr if she could have it, since I was diagnosed around the time I got pregnant with her, but her dr said if she doesn't have any red rashes AND if I am cure, then she didn't get it!  I am still scared about that, I hope I am not poisining her, through BF.  So, I called my OBgyn and asked if it is possible to get her Lyme through BF and she said it was not.  THere is evidence out there that it can get into the milk, though, so I don't know what to think.

Thanks for reading my long email ( I hope some of you will read it).  I will not post so much at once, but I thought we can all learn from each other and I did learn a lot from some of you by reading your posts here.  I will let you know how everything goes.  Oh, on top of all the above: I have hyperthyroidism and I am taking Levothyroxine, which has been adjusted several times, because it goes up and down (someone posted on a website that both her son and herself have thyroid problems and the lady thought it was caused by her Lyme)  I just remember something else: I am cold, sometimes I shiver and shake, my hands are trembling, and for a few days a few months ago before the last round of tests were done on Lyme, my thumb was moving by itself back and forward, and was not able to control it to stop.  Sometimes my hands and feet become curled in and I get cramps in my feet.  I can only make them uncurl by using one of hand and manually uncurl my fingers and toes and keep them straight for a few seconds.  Very painful, too.  I hope this may help you, if you are new to lyme, to see what another soul is going through... 

And here are my test results:




05/01/2010
TSH 3rt generation:  18.11  (this should by between .4-4.5!  That's my thyroid, while I was on medication!
Now my Lyme test:
everything was -- or non-reactive, EXCEPT:
Lyme Disease AB (IGM) WB:  POSITIVE

23 KD (IGM)Band: REACTIVE
41 KD (IGM) Band: REACTIVE

That's the last test I had, what do you guys think?  Thanks and I hope you'll have some time to read and reply to this!

It's possible that your symptoms are from Lyme, but they could also be from other illnesses, including co-infections that go along with Lyme. You would need an evaluation from an LLMD to be sure. Lyme and its co-infections are very tricky because they mimic so many other illnesses, including each other.

I'm not sure that your getting sick after your grandfather passed was a coincidence. It could have been a factor. Physical and mental stress weakens us and makes us more susceptible to infections. It could be an infection you were exposed to at the time, or it could have been an infection that you already had. Your body could have been fighting it adequately on its own, but the stress weakened you to the point that the infection took over. I believe that something similar happened to me. I have symptoms going back over more than 10 years, but my illness did not become severe until a few years ago, after a period of very high stress. I was very busy, stressed out, and losing a ton of sleep, not to mention eating very poorly.

Some of your symptoms could relate to your hypothyroidism (I assume you meant hypo- not hyper-). There is evidence that Lyme can cause hypothyroidism, but it could also be just a coincidence. I have hypothyroidism as well. It's impossible to tell what the root cause is, but it may get better if you treat the underlying infection.

Welcome to the site! Since I'm new here too, I'll share some of what I've found out so far, in hope that it will be of help.
I was just diagnosesd last week with Lyme----same results as yours on the WB. Also Hashimoto's thyroiditis for over 10 years (auto immune (low) thyroid disease) and Meniere's symdrome---both are on the list of diseases that can occur as a result of infection with Lyme.
I believe I've had this for years, but because I was on cortisone for six weeks in late Dec and all of Jan, and then having shingles in March and a VERY stressful month of May, the Lyme bacteria reared its ugly head.
What state are you in? Anywhere near GA?
I have a great doctor here---Internal Med doc who branched out into alternative medicine years ago. Another doctor, who works with her, has treated LOTS of Lyme patients over the years--using IV therapy. She also has a Nutritionist there, who is a Lyme sufferer, that has helped dozens and dozens of patients "get well" over the years. I now believe the Lord led me there through some "Divine" circumstances, just to get treated for this disease!
A friend in south GA bought a Rife machine. She has had Lyme for many years and does not have access to a Lyme doctor either. My doctor and the other two who are treating me, do not feel the Rife machine works for everyone. I don't really know---might depend upon the patient---I've heard some people swear by them.
I am going the IV H2O2 and Doxycycline route. It has worked very well for the patients that my IV doctor has treated and also for the nutritionist there, who has actually done the treatment 18 times so far. She said she noticed a big difference after the 2nd treatment and she had been sick for 20 years at that point and could not walk for two years. She now works full time and only does them about once a month now.
I am also following many of the detox procedures that I found on this site, as well as some that I have already used in the past.
I hope this has been helpful. This is a great site, full of wonderful and caring people! :)
Blessings and prayers for a quick recovery!

Hi Hopeful:

I am in PA, Philadelphia area.  I have heard that some like the Rife machine.  It suppossed to desintegrate into pieces the bacteria--not sure what it does to the rest of the body! 

I am glad that I found this forum also, I don't post that much bec. I don't have much to say except of the above, I did not start treatement yet.  I will post more when I start.  I am still trying to wrap my mind around everything and find a doc.  I will see my new PCP next week and get a referal and take it from there.

Thanks for the info and good luck to you!

Simela -- Whoa, I would say so -- that it all put you over the edge! I am so sorry -- you really took some whammies. Just your injuries alone would be enough to impact a person deeply. If the anti-depress were helping you, maybe you should consider going back on them awhile? Maybe could possibly help you focus on the LYme?

just a thought....

+Lyme:
I have had an ok day yesterday and a great day today. A few pretty bad days before that, kids were helping me find things because I forgot where I put them, broke a few things, too. One was a collectable, probably worth a few hundred $$. I will stay away from the expensive stuff on my bad days, now LOL

I think I am now strong because I am trying to face this, at times I am still in denial, I won't even call it by its name, I call it "this, that, the disease" etc.

I think the antidepressants help me feel better, but also kept me in a state of desillusion, so I decided to stop, I did order a new prescription, so if I will feel I absolutelly need them, I have them.

If a member of my family is ever bit by a lyme tick again, I would suggest they go on antibiotics for several months and if that did not do it would definitely go to the rife/coil machine as a second line of defense. Need to kill the newly hatched cysts before they start spreading throughout the body and deep into the tissues.