Lyme?

I'm 38. After my son was born in 2011, i was diagnosed with hashimotos thyroiditis. I sought out the diagnosis because i was exhausted and achy about 10 months after his birth. I moved last year, and it took me a while to find a doc who would give me sufficient meds to feel myself. Long story short, I am medicated a bit higher than endos like to go (but not super high).

I started with a new thyroid doc in November who is willing to prescribe me a slightly higher thyroid dose. Before this doc, i felt pretty good but not great. On the slightly higher thyroid dose, i feel totally normal. On my first visit to this new doc, when i was still slightly undermedicated for thyroid, she ran a zillion blood tests (thyroid, vitamins, celiac - random stuff). Among those was the Western Blot. I tested positive Igg 41, igm 23 and 39.

Based on my total lack of symptoms, doctor agreed it was probably a quirk. Three months later (once i was on appropriate thyroid meds) she did a CD57 panel. My result was 27 (range 60-360). She said it looks like i have something going on with Lyme and she has referred me to a lyme doc to get more info.

But i'm a bit baffled. I have zero symptoms. I have no recollection of ever having a disease that remotely looks like Lyme, nor any memory of a tick bite or rash. I currently live in a very urban city with literally no grass anywhere near us (our local park is astroturf!). This is not a lyme bite region. We previously lived in a very urban area (no grass or trees!) of miami florida. Also a state with almost no lyme. Previously, i went to college in an urban area with no nature and no lyme! I can literally count on one hand the number of times i've been in a moderately "rural" environment in the last 20 years. And none of those times were really "rural". I used to go to summer camp in the 80s in northern ontario - but too far north for lyme. We vacation only in major cities and the beach in florida. I think it is near impossible that i have ever been bitten by a tick in the last 20 years.

I suppose it is possible i randomly got bit by a tick in a non-tick region in, say, 1990, and i just don't remember it. But, the results of my western blot are apparently positive only for a new infection, right?

So -- i have no symptoms of lyme, i have no memory of having lyme, and i have almost zero possibility of having exposure to a tick in the last 20 years. I have also always been a generally healthy person. The thyroid issue is the only health issue I've ever had, and i otherwise rarely get sick. (And i understand that thyroid can be caused by lyme - but again, i never had lyme symptoms before the thyroid). Another thing worth noting is that i have a periodic skin issue where the treatment is 8 weeks of antibiotics (tetracycline, 200mg twice a day)- which i did in 2006 and again in 2012. I've also had a few UTIs over the last 20 years, which involve 10 days of twice a day tetra. I understand a few months of tetra is a potential treatment for lyme, but i didn't have any kind of herx reaction.

So what the heck is going on? Is it possible i had lyme 20+ years ago, no symptoms since original infection, but it still shows on my bloodwork? Is that cause for concern? Am i getting false positives? What else is going on?

And yes i'm going to go to the doctor and ask all these questions too... Sorry for the long post!

Hi Coops! Welcome to our community!

So, your positive on IgM (bands 23 and 39) - which means you have lyme.


It could be that you have a symptom - your thyroid . Lyme could be the cause of your hypothyroidism.

You don't need to have a known tick bite and/or rash. that was the case for me...and I do have lyme and bartonella. Maybe the tick bit me behind my knee...or under my hair on my neck so didn't see it. The nymphs are very tiny...like a speck.

And less than 50% get a bullseye rash.
It could have been at the summer camp in the 80's...and you didn't have symptoms until the birth of your son.
Sometimes it can take a physically, or emotionally stressful time for symptoms to appear. Stress can suppress our immune function. Also, the hormonal changes of pregnancy can also affect how our body's deal with lyme.

...For Lyme - the IgM can stay positive for months - to years...unlike other infections. So, no a positive IgM does not mean a recent infection...it just means an active infection.

I think it's a wise move to see a LLMD for an evaluation. But, make sure this Dr. is indeed Lyme Literate.

We encourage all new members to take a look through the thread at the top of the page titled:"new to Lyme?..Start Here!" It's packed full of useful information.

You can also get lyme from other blood eating insects besides ticks, and Lyme plus co-infection can be transmitted sexually, though the science community may argue they don't know that for fact yet, several on this forum do know. Also you can get it from blood transfusions.

You may have gotten enough benefit from previous antibiotics plus the thyroid meds to keep your immune function in good enough shape to keep the bacteria in hiding, thus no herxing, bacterial organisms waiting for a more 'environmentally friendly', condition in your body to make it's presence known.