tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126434532800269564.post5383973897557582416..comments2023-12-09T03:24:56.205-05:00Comments on Adventures in Lymeland: The Best Bad News, Ever!alyson1derlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293531856749728379noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126434532800269564.post-61233426619048325602011-03-12T16:04:11.416-05:002011-03-12T16:04:11.416-05:00My two cents on the antibody issue.
For a quick...My two cents on the antibody issue. <br /><br />For a quick diagnosis patient, meaning you get bitten and treated quickly (which should be the STANDARD, and not the zomg! amazing! situation), you are dealing with X amount of Lyme in the system. Your ELISA (antibody or antigen) /Western Blot (protein) will be reacting against the small amount of B. burgies that are in your system.<br /><br />With a chronic Lyme patient, you have an unknown amount of B. burgies encysted in your system, plus a certain amount that are currently active. Key to this idea is the production of endogenous neurotoxins, which are the key to the funky symptoms you get. <br /><br />Perhaps when the initial ELISA/Western blot was done, only a small amount of the bacteria were active in the system. <br /><br />Note: keep in mind that for patients with the fatigue/brain fog, that you are having specific CNS symptoms. The brain is very cool in that is has a blood brain barrier, which blocks out a large amount of stuff and keeps the brain and nervous system in a nice safe container. So anytime you see a patient with these particular symptoms, it is a good bet that you have an active population of the bacteria in the CNS, having a party. <br /><br />Note 2: One of the treatment issues with BB is that the bacteria love to squirrel themselves into highly anaerobic environments--areas that are not well supplied by blood.<br /><br />Ok, back to the ELISA/Western blot, which are pretty much based on blood samples. Given an active population of BB fenced off in the "safe zone" of the CNS, and an active portion hanging out in anaerobic areas (which by definition have bad blood supply) you are hoping to catch enough of an active BB population highly oxygenated areas of the body to give a positive reading.<br /><br />So why would you test positive after treatment? My theory:<br />Antibiotic therapy has to rotated/cycled for effective treatment against BB because of their mutative ability (what works today, works today because the bugs that live change their appearance/life style/makeup so that the abx is no longer effective). <br />Keys here:<br />--use of abx forces the population to adapt or die, so BB activity<br />--long term use of abx forces more BB to respond<br />--supposed 4 week cycle of activity of BB means that long term abx therapy will catch more unique populations during their activity cycle, forcing them to respond or die <br />--I love the word die in connection with BB :) <br /><br />Anyway, in a nutshell, the longer therapy means you get some die off and improvement in symptoms. This means you have an increased amount of *stuff* from them floating around in the venous system, which makes the chances of getting enough *stuff* for a positive test that much better.<br /><br />Let me know if that at all makes sense. :) <br /><br />Note that this is my pet theory, and so not medical advice. I am just a med student w/chronic Lyme, not your PCP. ;)Lyme Beasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13483124230643871201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126434532800269564.post-84661327411064250232011-03-11T15:01:59.831-05:002011-03-11T15:01:59.831-05:00I am so happy for you in a weird sad way. I know j...I am so happy for you in a weird sad way. I know just what you mean. I need that positive CDC test too.Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09092290342903095694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126434532800269564.post-29139251448625249592011-03-10T10:23:31.790-05:002011-03-10T10:23:31.790-05:00Now I'm *really* confused. Wouldn't being ...Now I'm *really* confused. Wouldn't being in treatment *reduce* the number of antibodies because there are fewer bodies to be anti-against? Did the second lab test according to CDC standards? Does it help with insurance coverage?Courtney Ostaffhttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=42205191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126434532800269564.post-64846764182014296562011-03-09T22:03:55.474-05:002011-03-09T22:03:55.474-05:00Should I say "congrats"? I understand yo...Should I say "congrats"? I understand your frustration, I'm not CDC-positive either. Your explanation is about how I understand it too. The CDC-mandated test is ridiculous. I don't understand and am SO frustrated that there is not a reliable test for this @#$#@$#@ disease. I just don't understand in 2011 how this is even possible. If you haven't already read it, you need to read "Cure Unknown" by Pamela Weintraub.Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04420252166217185178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126434532800269564.post-48236795221480284892011-03-09T11:29:01.136-05:002011-03-09T11:29:01.136-05:00This is the way I understand it, and I hope I am e...This is the way I understand it, and I hope I am explaining this right! The Lyme tests don't actually test for Lyme, they test for the antibodies that you are producing against the disease. Since I've been in treatment for 6 months now, my body is now producing enough of the antibodies to get a positive CDC test. I was strongly positive by the first lab, but not CDC positive. <br /><br />Lyme tests are notoriously unreliable. A positive means a positive, but a negative doesn't mean anything. I was negative through a local lab, because they only check for CDC standards. Because my doctor is knowledgeable about Lyme, she knew to send my blood elsewhere. Otherwise, I would still be undiagnosed!! Because the tests are so unreliable, many people aren't being diagnosed properly. Though I was misdiagnosed for around a year, I'm one of the lucky ones!alyson1derlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08293531856749728379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126434532800269564.post-54722439685334755282011-03-09T11:07:27.790-05:002011-03-09T11:07:27.790-05:00Congratulations!! Why do you think the different ...Congratulations!! Why do you think the different lab made a difference?Courtney Ostaffhttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=42205191noreply@blogger.com