Re: Re: Newbie - no diagnosis yet

February 14, 2010

The whole issue of strains is a can of worms. The BC health care system will

only pay for a WB that's specific to the strains of Lyme found in BC -- even if

you got sick somewhere else. I didn't even bother with it, given that I'd gotten

sick while I still lived in California, and the odds of the BC test correctly

identifying whatever strain I had seemed remote at best.

Interestingly, there are only two or three places I might have encountered Lyme.

The most likely one is within about 15 miles of Igenex's own lab.

Sara

On Feb 13, 2010, at 3:39 07PM, shauna.mowers wrote:

> Also, in regards to Igenex...many doctors will tell you that Lyme does not

exist in CA....well, I think one reason they believe this is because they are

trusting the wrong test results from labs other than Igenex. One of the reasons

Igenex gets more positive test restults is that they have more than one strain

of lyme - and the strains they use are specific to the E or W coast. Other labs

only use one strain, which I am sure is from the E coast, so of course it looks

like we dont have lyme in CA and of course Igenex gets more positive results -

it is not becasue their test are hyper-sensitive.

>

>>

>> From: Sara <srobinson@...>

>> Subject: Re: [ ] Newbie - no diagnosis yet

>>

>> Date: Friday, February 12, 2010, 3:59

>>

>> There was an investigation a few years back that got a lot of publicity

(while the allegations were being made) but was resolved in Igenex's favor in

the end (which, of course, none of the people who made the fuss bothered to

publicize with anything like the same gleeful energy).

>>

>> The upshot is a lingering sense among people who weren't paying close

attention that they did something wrong. " I heard something negative once.... "

There are also persistent rumors that " everybody tests positive at Igenex,

because the test is hyper-sensitive " , which is patently not true. My husband,

for one, came back with a completely clear result.

>>

>> On a more general level, doctors who don't know the history are confused by

the fact that Igenex tests for additional, " non-standard " bands. " Non-standard "

anything tends to be looked at askance by doctors, who are afraid that it's a

sign of quackery -- never mind that these two bands are so indicative of Lyme

that they built a vaccine on them, which is the only reason they're not included

in the standard WB.

>>

>> They're further confused by the fact that Lyme defies the usual IgM/IgG

antibody progression; you can be producing one or both at any stage of the

disease, because the immune system gears in and out over time. My own GP thought

this was very peculiar when he looked at my results; but my LLMD took it totally

in stride and explained all about epitope switching, a unique Lyme

characteristic that (along with biofilms) creates this effect.

>>

>> Shorter answer: the people who think this are the ones who aren't paying

attention.

>

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February 14, 2010

Then there's the issue of when spirochetes can be detected in the blood--once

they've deeply infiltrated body tissues. I know someone who tested negative 3

times over the course of 12 years while continuing to deteriorate with an

undiagnosed neurological disorder. Finally, last year he was retested and came

back positive. I don't know which lab was used.

There are currently no reliable tests for Lyme & co-infections. Hopefully some

researchers are working on more advanced and accurate testing. This is crucial!

My two cents.

Kim

Re: [ ] Newbie - no diagnosis yet

>>