Is Positive Borellia IgM After 20 Years Mean True Positive?

its just a feature of a flawed testing method RW - serology is just a poor method for borrelia

short answer.
a person can be infected with borrelia and never be IgM positive - or be IgM positive within weeks and for the rest of their life.

PCR is damn near perfect
as long as

1, there is some Borrelia DNA in the sample ( the data says this is not the case in approx 50% of blood samples from infected people - because borrelia is living in the tissues - not the blood )

2, the reference sequence of base pairs the lab is using for borrelia - represents wild borrelia strains ( i think this is less of an issue - but they are finding new species of borrelia that cause lyme every year - so there is an inherent assumption that all of these share the sequence that the lab is looking for )

in practice i think 2, is probably much less of an issue - and most people will be infected by common known species

every test has its ins and outs

but the over all picture is that sensitivity (getting a false negative result when it IS there) is much more of a problem - than getting false positive results when its is not there.

so if you have any positive test results - and lyme symptoms - or known tick bite - a positive result on any test is likely to be a true positive - and you can put it behind you.

with PCR the specificity is very near 100% - so if you have positive PCR result at any point there really should not be any need for discussion the chances of that being a false positive are basically zero - its a done deal

western blots and immunoblots are serologic tests RW ( ie they measure antibodies)

they just use multiple antigens rather than a single one

ref IgM long term -

the "IgM only in initial stages of infection" is an old ( and flawed) rule of thumb that may apply to some simple acute infections - but is demonstrated to be false in many chronic infections

in lyme in particular - the organism is evolved to change its outer surface proteins - as it adapts to a new host - so that as the immune system learns one and makes antibodies to it - the spirochete makes another - and is again invisible to the immune system until it catches up - by which time the organism has changed again to stay one step ahead.
the first antibodies the host will make to each new outer surface protein are IgM type - so this is a mechanism that can drive long term / lifelong IgM reactivity

also just look on here at people who have had multiple western blots or immuno blots - they will often report different bands or different IgM / IgG results each time

so i would say we have ample evidence that what you are describing is a common phenomenon

remember - all chronic infections spread by arthropods have evolved survival mechanisms to evade host immune defences and survive long term in their hosts - otherwise they would die out before they have chance to be transmitted to a new host

overall regarding your quandaries

i have not seen your full list of test results - but from what i can gather of the ones you have mentioned
- you have multiple positive lyme tests via a variety of different test methods
- you have other tick born infections - also confirmed by multiple methods ( having one tick born infection increases the chance you will have others - as they demonstrate history of tick bite )
- you have symptoms compatible with these infections - as well as autoimmune conditions ( which are known to be triggered by these infections )

i agree having a plan to tackle all of that is good

i guess the thing i cant quite follow is why you seem to keep experiencing so much stress going back over the lyme disease test results.

again - i have not seen all of your test results in the round - so i could be missing something ( BTW - i would be happy to take a look at them and give my opinion for whatever that is worth if it would help )

but from what you have mentioned - is there not ample evidence of lyme and the other infections you mention - to allow you to put the "is it lyme?" question behind you and allow you to focus on next steps / what to do about it?

i guess i am just not following the reasons for your doubts - and am just a bit concerned that you are causing yourself unnecessary stress - and that could be getting in the way of moving forward with treatment.

again - let me know if i can help in any way

Jhameless - The tests I am referring to are from Igenex. Other tests from past are from speciality labs.

Garzie - I have taken enough of your time and appreciate your very thorough responses.

To answer your question, kidneys are the reason I have been so relentless with questions. Guess the thought of false positive after being chronic is stuck in my head because of concern of treating and putting strain on already low functioning kidneys if there is a chance of it being false positive.

If I didn’t have Sjogrens it would be a no brainer. The autonomic symptoms am experiencing seem to be from Sjogrens, but I understand your point - maybe treating the Lyme will improve the impact of Sjogrens.

In 2018, tested positive for TBRF, Bart and Babesia. In 2020, positive for TBRF. In 2021, positive for TBRF and Bart. 2022, positive for TBRF, Babesia and Bart. Then month or two ago, TBRF and Rickesetta. Three of those tests showed positive on bands 23 snd 41 for Lyme.

That should be enough to sell me, then I ruminate about it and find myself overwhelmed. Never was like this, but through the 20+ years of dealing with all the health issues and false information out there (not doubting you), I guess it’s like PTSD.

I am going to give IVIG another try starting Tuesday. Bad reaction that has stayed with me since last time. Maybe too fast of infusions.

Hope that all makes sense.

Thank you. And what is this “logical process” you speak of 😊? It’s not you that doesn’t make sense. It’s my mind.

Will get IVIG this week and see reaction. If not too bad, I’ll start back Bicillin at lower dose. Rainy found it at an awesome price, even though I have to mix it, which works most of the time.

Where are you at with all your symptoms niw?