Not Sure Which Blood Tests to Take?

Hi guys I've been having unexplained pains and health issues during the past few years and I have a lot of the lyme and co-infections symptoms (stomach/bowel issues, fatigue, neuro, joint/muscle pain etc). Not much help from the state health system and with the closest LLMD over 1,000 km away, I gotta do this on my own.

I got a test kit from BCA lab and in it they sent me a form with quite a few tests to choose from. I want to check for as many possible illnesses (lyme and co infections). But not sure which tests to take as BCA only gives some rough suggestions for Lyme and not the rest. There are a total of 29 possible tests for infections which complicates my research a lot. I need some help here.

1. For every co-infection there's two possible tests, one called Elispot and the other one called antibodies IgM, IgG or IgA or both. Should I take both the Elispot and the antibodies tests or is one superior to the other? Examples below:

Anaplasma Elispot (CPDA) /// Anaplasma IgM u. IgG antibodies (serum)
Bartonella Elispot (CPDA) /// Bartonella IgG antibodies (CPDA)
Babesia Elispot (CPDA) /// Babesien IgG antibodies (serum)
Mykoplasmen Elispot (CPDA) /// Mykoplasmen antibodies (serum)

etc...

2. For borrelia there are several possible tests

LymeSpot revised (CPDA)
LymeSpot revisited for borrelia and chlamydia pneumoniae (CPDA)
Borrelia Elispot (CPDA)
Borrelia miyamotoi Elispot (CPDA)
CD3/CD57 + Cells (Heparin+EDTA)
Borrelia iGg -und IgM-EIA (serum)
Borrelia IgG -und IgM blot (serum)

I plan to skip the second one that includes chlamydia because coughing is not one of my symptoms. But I'm not sure if I should take both of the Borrelia IgG/IgM tests or just one? Also is LymeSpot revised a newer and better test then the Borrelia Elispot or should I take both to potentially cover more ground?

My goal here is to check for as many possible infections and attack vectors, so price is not an issue. But I also don't want to throw away money performing obvious duplicate blood test results.

Thanks!

Post Edited (looking4444answers) : 5/27/2018 7:55:14 PM (GMT-6)

Hi there
I have taken a lot of these tests several times. The tests I took was based on my symptoms so it may not be the same for you. Anyway, the tests for antibodies are the usual tests that are used for almost all infectious diseases. Some clinics use a test called Elispot (BCA call theirs LymeSpot revised, which is a further development of Elispot). These tests are supposed to be more sensitive than the antibody tests, meaning they are better at detecting infection. These tests have however not been "approved" by others than the labs that use them, although some LLMDs recommend them. If you are planning to use your test results as proof of infection to get any sort of regular health care, these tests are not of much use since they probably won't even be considered. If you are planning to undergo treatment with an LLMD that recommends these tests they can surely be useful. My only Lyme positive test was a "LymeSpot revised". An elispot type of test have been approved for tuberculosis in the US, so maybe these tests for Lyme will get general approval one day.

I would also include the CD57 test. I had gone for about a year specialist to specialist, and when I decided to do these tests I didn't want to be standing afterwards with no answer. My CD57 came back at "0" which my LLMD had never seen before, so this together with my weak positive for lyme gave me the answers I needed. I were also positive for other infections as yersinia, coxsackie virus, CMV, chlamydia pneumonia.

Here is the list of tests I did at my first consultation
- LymeSpot revised for borrelia and chlamydia pneumonia
- CD57
- Ehrlichia elispot
- Bartonella AB
- Chlamydia pneumonia AB
- yersinia AB
- yersinia elispot
- coxsackie virus AB
- EBV elispot
- CMV elispot

I know they also got a new bartonella elispot that was not available when I tested