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Help understanding Igenex test results

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Posted 11/13/2023 1:47 PM (GMT -5)
I am not the same physically since I got this 5 years ago but overall I am pretty good and live a normal life with a healthy 14 month old son. I took this same test last time my wife and I tried to conceive and only the Bartonella came out positive. My doctor put me on abx while my wife and I tried to conceive, so we went ahead and did same test before we start trying for kid#2. I haven't taken anything (even supplements) for over a year now and was surprised that my lyme result came back positive as surprisingly I have never had a positive lyme test before (only coinfections). I can't see my doctor for another few weeks so am trying to understand my results below. I'm assuming the IGXSpot test indicates active infection but figured i'd ask to see if anyone can verify/give me more knowledge on the results below. Thanks in advance for any knowledge.


B. burgdoreri IGXSpot

Number of spot: >3 (positive)

Bartonella FISH (negative)
Bartonella IGXSpot: 3 (positive)


*Number of Spot:
< or = 2 :Negative
> or = 3 :Positive
Posted 11/13/2023 2:04 PM (GMT -5)
the IGX spot is a test that uses the reactivity of your white blood cells - rather than antibodies - to determine if your body is actively fighting an infection

the reason they use this is that the white blood cell reactions are thought/claimed to be more reliable than serology - which has many issues in chronic infections diseases - mainly that infected persons do not always make the expected antibodies, leading to false negatives.

a similar issue might exist with the Spot tests - manufacturers like Igenex will say not - but these tests are not in wide usage for decades like the antibody tests - so the verdict is still out on that.

all that said most of the issues with testing for lyme and co are to do with false negatives - and since you have positives for both lyme and bartonella via the Ispots tests - this need not concern you
your results look like straight positives for both*.

i was under the impression that white cell reactions are expected to drop down fairly quickly after an infection is cleared - in weeks or months - whereas antibodies can stay elevated for life.

if you have had active lyme and bart in the past - it may be worth seeing what Igenex themselves say about how long IGX spot tests are expected to stay elevated after an infection is cleared or in remission.

* its well documented that positive PCR status ( a direct test method ) and positive serology ( antibody based tests ) do not overlap in bartonella infected patients..
FISH is another direct method (not relying on antibodies) so its not v surprising that you had negative FISH for bartonella and yet a positive IGXspot
Posted 11/13/2023 3:09 PM (GMT -5)
Thank you for the detailed reply. Now onto the tough question of treating based off results or not treating based off of no major symptoms.
Posted 11/13/2023 3:22 PM (GMT -5)
that's always going to be a personal choice

however in my experience and also the view that becomes clear when you read in depth on this diseases is they are not static - even though we often think of them like that.

i wrote about this on another thread just the other day
see this thread - a few posts up from the bottom - see point 2, is it worth treating ?

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=4331687&g=4331706#m4331706
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