What test should I get?

Dear Joey,

I relate so well to your symptoms! I'm so sorry that you're ill and having all of those neuro problems!

What test to get depends on what you're testing for.....are you testing for Lyme disease again? Since you had a positive Western Blot a year ago, along with all of your neurological symptoms, that tells me that you likely have stage III Lyme disease and need to find a Lyme-Literate doctor (aka LLMD) ASAP!!

Why did you do the second test? Are you on antibiotics or any other sort of treatment protocol for Lyme disease? Did your doctor doubt the results of the first test, or did he/she want to do PCR, etc.?

What state do you live in? If you live in CA or in NYC I can give you LLMD recommendations by private email. We're not allowed to post doctors' names and info on this forum because we are trying to protect them from harassment by the mainstream medical community and the insurance companies.

To email me just click on the envelope under my name in the left-hand panel.

JoAnn

Hi Joey,

Welcome to the forum! Some other tests that you may want your doctor to do are for Bartonella, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis and Mycoplasma. Some doctor's also check for viruses like HHV-6, Ebstein Barr, Parvo virus, and Cytomegalovirus. It is also wise to get a NK Stricker Panel done, which is also called a CD57 but labs will know it by NK Stricker Panel.

Here is some information about the co-infections that I listed:

Description, symptoms, and treatments of co-infections:

Babesiosis:- is a malaria-like protozoa illness that invades, infects, and kills the red blood cells. Symptoms include fatigue, night sweats, chills, fever, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, headache, dark urine, muscle pain, joint pain, nausea, and jaundice. Treatment is an anti-malarial combined with an antibiotic--often Mepron with Zithromax (or Biaxin or Ketek).

Ehrlichiosis:- is a bacterial infection that invades and infects the white blood cells. There are two types of Ehrlichiosis: Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis (HME) and Human Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis (HGE). Symptoms include malaise, fever,
sweating, nausea, dry cough, headache, muscle aches and
pain. Treatment is most often Doxycycline.

Bartonella:- also known as cat-scratch fever is a bacterial infection. Symptoms include swollen, painful lymph nodes, muscle and/or joint pain, nausea, vomiting, chills, anxiety, insomnia, red rashes. Treatment is often Levaquin or Rifampin.

Mycoplasma:- is a bacterial infection. Symptoms include fatigue, breathing problems,
headache, muscle pain and soreness, nausea, lymph node pain, and cognitive problems. Treatment
is usually Doxycycline, Minocycline, Azithromycin, Clarithromycin, or Ciprofloxacin.

For more information on the co-infections, see "Everything You Need To know about Lyme Disease (2nd edition)" by Karen Vanderhoof-Forschner and Dr. Joseph Burrascano's Lyme Treatment Guidelines at:
www.ilads.org/burrascano_0905.html
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