Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I was pretty sure you wouldn't have been nuking plastic, but you never know. There are so many OFFICIAL "microwave-safe" plastic containers out and about these days--and from what I've read, ALL of them leach chemicals into your food (but the plastic doesn't melt all over your microwave, so I suppose it IS perfectly safe both for the container and for your microwave, hence the terminology, "microwve-safe.." They just don't bother to tell you that the food heated in these containers is not safe to consume.

When I was diagnosed hypothyroid, my T4 was normal, my T3 was a little off--and my TSH was through the roof. According to my primary care provider (who was WONDERFUL, and I just about cried when she decided to retire), my thyroid WAS working (sort of) , but my pituitary was practically beating it up to MAKE it produce enough. She was smart enough to test me for thyroid antibodies, and did a barium scan as well.

Speaking of doctor appointments, I had a very interesting OBGYN one today (yeah, I know, I should have checked in with Andrea--sorry, Andrea! ). Last year, I was diagnosed with fibrocystic breast disease, after years of OBGYNs commenting how difficult it was to tell anything on manual exam. Last year I got sent for an ultrasound, and the radiologist said she stopped counting after about a dozen benign cysts on each side.

Today, after nearly a year gluten-free, my breasts are no longer full of cysts. I had noticed this myself after only a couple of months off gluten.

Amazing how it's all related.

[AndreaB]

I would think the plastic would be a little deformed after microwaving.

I put some plastics on the bottom shelf of the dishwasher just cause I had so many after throwing so much out. Some of them did fine, others warped.

Yes, I know, dishwashers are not microwaves.

Speaking of doctor appointments, I had a very interesting OBGYN one today (yeah, I know, I should have checked in with Andrea--sorry, Andrea! ). Last year, I was diagnosed with fibrocystic breast disease, after years of OBGYNs commenting how difficult it was to tell anything on manual exam. Last year I got sent for an ultrasound, and the radiologist said she stopped counting after about a dozen benign cysts on each side.

Today, after nearly a year gluten-free, my breasts are no longer full of cysts. I had noticed this myself after only a couple of months off gluten.

Amazing how it's all related.

Wow, that's great. It's amazing what gluten can do to a body isn't it?

[Rachel--24]

Today, after nearly a year gluten-free, my breasts are no longer full of cysts. I had noticed this myself after only a couple of months off gluten.

Wow Alison.....How cool is that!

I remember hearing a story about a woman who had a lump in her breast....they found out it was cancer. She seeked out Dr.'s who practiced alternative methods of healing. The dr. told her to go gluten-free...she did...and the cancer went away.

It was from a radio broadcast I listened to. I'll try to find it and post the link.

[CarlaB]

Okay, totally frustrated here .... I called IGeneX and the lady said they will only send the results to the doctor, not to the patient, so I won't be receiving them. I can't get a hold of my doctor, and they NEVER, EVER return calls!!! UGH. Who said I was patient???

[DingoGirl]

Okay, totally frustrated here .... I called IGeneX and the lady said they will only send the results to the doctor, not to the patient, so I won't be receiving them. I can't get a hold of my doctor, and they NEVER, EVER return calls!!! UGH. Who said I was patient???

Heinous, Carla. P-SHAW!! you have to call your doctor's office every hour, thus says Dingo Girl. Make them sick of you and then maybe they will call you back (of course, they might write in your file "difficult" as they wrote on Elain's file on Seinfeld).

Alison - good news about the cysts vanishing! And on a slightly related matter (and yet unrelated), I thought I'd have PERFECT skin after removing gluten....not so much. It might be better, but not perfect. Harumph.

holy Lord.....gotta shampoo the carpets today. my most dreaded, heinous chore of all. Those dang dogs, I have lived with hard wood floors for 10 years until this place....and I am always having to shampoo the carpets. I am going to rip them out, soon.

nice to see everybody......

and how is the secretly glamorous Rinne doing today, do you suppose she's making Creme Anglaise?

[CarlaB]

Okay, I drove to my doc's office, they called IGeneX, then got the results faxed to them. The results were done on the 30th, but the doc hasn't received them yet. They are POSITIVE by CDC standards!!! So, I do have a question ... the IGG is positive, but the IGM is negative, what does that mean??

IGG - positive/IGM - negative

18 kDa + / -

22 kDa - / -

23-25 kDa + / -

28 kDa + / -

30 kDa + / -

31 kDa +++ / -

34 kDa IND / -

39 kDa IND / IND

41 kDa +++ / IND

45 kDa - / -

58 kDa + / -

66 kDa - / -

73 kDa - / -

83-93 kDa ++ / -

[Jestgar]

Undoubtedly Rachel knows more about this, but in general an IgG response is more specific. It's what you get the second (and all following) times that you are exposed to something.

[CarlaB]

Undoubtedly Rachel knows more about this, but in general an IgG response is more specific. It's what you get the second (and all following) times that you are exposed to something.

Thank you. What I was reading is that the first few weeks of exposure the CDC uses the IGM, but after that uses the IGG. They expect the IGM to have two bands positive (two of mine were indeterminate, which is NOT negative), and five bands to be positive on the IGG, which I had. So, apparently, I have it according to the CDC requirements.

All I can say is "I'm giddy." It's so nice to have a solid answer after all these years. I am NOT CRAZY!!!!

[AndreaB]

Rachel / Rhonda / Mia / Carla

IgM / IgG // IgM /IgG// IGG /IGM

18 kDa. neg/ 18 kDa neg./ 18 kDa. neg /18 kDa +/ 18 kDa +

22 kDa. neg/ 22 kDa neg./ 22 kDa. neg / 22 kDa -

**23-25 neg/ **23-25 kDa neg./ **23-25 neg /IND/ 23-25 kDa +

28 kDa. neg/ 28 kDa neg./ 28 kDa. neg / 28 kDa +

30 kDa. +(IgM)/ 30 kDa neg./ 30 kDa. ++ / 30 kDa +

** 31 kDa neg/ **31 kDa IND./ ** 31 kDa IND / 31 kDa +++

**34 kDa. IND/ **34 kDa IND./ **34 kDa. Neg / IND/ 34 kDa IND

**39 kDa. IND/ **39 kDa IND./ **39 kDa. IND / 39 kDa IND

**41 kDa. ++/ **41 kDa pos./ **41 kDa. ++ /+++/41 kDa +++ / IND

45 kDa. neg/ 45 kDa neg./ 45 kDa. neg /+/ 45 kDa -

58 kDa. neg./ 58 kDa pos./ 58 kDa. +. /++/ 58 kDa +

66 kDa. + (IgM)/ 66 kDa neg./ 66 kDa. neg/ 66 kDa -

73 kDa. neg/ 73 kDa neg./ 73 kDa. neg / 73 kDa -

**83-93 kDa. neg/ **83-93 kDa neg./ **83-93 kDa. neg /ind./83-93 kDa ++

An example of the CDC's criteria of a blot test, is if a patient has the band pattern of 41, 45, 58, 66, and 93, the CDC would call it positive. But if a patient has a 23-25, 31, 34, and 39 band pattern, they would call it negative. This is despite the fact that this second pattern of antigen-antibody complex bands is much more specifically associated with Borrelia burgdorferi than the first pattern.

In my clinical experience, if a patient has symptoms suspicious for borreliosis, and has one or more of the following bands, there is a very high probability the patient has borreliosis.

These bands are 18, 22, 23-25, 28, 30, 31, 34, 37, 39, 41, 83, and 93. This is true regardless of whether it is IgG or IgM.. But again, there is no universal agreement on the significance of these bands. Betina Wilska, M.D. from Germany is one of the world's experts on outer surface protein A (31 kDa).

The CDC states their test criteria should not be used alone by doctors to make a Lyme diagnoses. Wrongfully, many doctors only use the CDC testing criteria. The diagnoses needs to be based on symptoms, history or exposure to ticks, and testing. Fortunately, your doctor is using one of the best labs in Igenex. Igenex tests for all the Lyme bands (most labs do not). The bands are indicative of certain antibodies you have to various antigens from Lyme. Igenex reports how strong these bands show up using +'s. The more pluses the darker the band is. An indeterminate band means that there appears to be a faint

band, but it is difficult to tell. The negative or positive result on the Igenex test only indicates if it meets the CDC conservative criteria or not.

What Do the Number of Pluses Mean?

IGeneX gives levels of antibodies. One + means you have some antibody of that type, and +++ means you have a very large amount of antibody of that type. However, Lyme ruins immune system functioning and the number of positives usually goes up with treatment. People with no aggressive past Lyme treatment, should be lucky their body has made any antibodies at all, since Lyme is very good at both hiding from the immune system and hindering it.

Also, many people have +/- findings on an antibody. This means the lab tech is seeing something, but is not ready to call it a clear positive. In my experience, many of these patients also show high Epstein Barr labs, which means this common infection is not in check and the immune system is very weak. And after we treat the patient, the +/- usually becomes a clear + or even a ++--which means you now have new and clear antibodies against this part of the Lyme bug.

[Rachel--24]

Carla....YAY...I am sooo happy for you! Thats great...you dont even have to question this one.....its positive by CDC standard. There is no mistake....WOO-HOO. I'm not celebrating that you have Lyme...just that you have a diagnosis.

Congrats on getting an answer after all these years!

I actually wasnt expecting your results to be clear.....I wonder if the salt helped with the results??

I wanna redo my WB's sometime after I start treatment to see if they go positive by CDC standard.

I wonder why I got my results in the mail if they dont send them to patients??

Oh....I *knew* you were gonna end up part of the Lyme clan...

Where is Rinne?

hehe....Lyme Clan

[AndreaB]

Rachel Rhonda Mia Carla

18 kDa '- '- '+ '+

22 kDa '- '- '- '-

**23-25 kDa '- '- 'IND '+

28 kDa '- '- '- '+

30 kDa '+ '- '++ '+

**31 kDa '- 'IND 'IND '+++

**34 kDa 'IND 'IND 'IND 37 kDA - 'IND

**39 kDa 'IND 'IND 'IND 'IND

**41 kDa '++ '+ '+++ '+++

45 kDa '- '- '+ '-

58 kDa '+ '+ '++ '+

66 kDa '+ '- '- '-

73 kDa '- '- '- '-

**83-93 kDa '- '- 'IND '++

Does this make it easier to read/compare?

I wonder why I got my results in the mail if they dont send them to patients??

Maybe your doctor requests copies to be sent to patients.

[CarlaB]

I was fully expecting them to be negative as well since it's been so long. I am happy, even giddy, to have an answer -- finally!

Maybe they send results they consider to be negative? Didn't you say you only got the results that were negative, and your doctor had the others? Or am I all mixed up?

The doc hasn't received my results yet either, they were faxed to her when we asked for them, so maybe I'll receive them but they couldn't say so on the phone?

[Rachel--24]

Andrea.....I had a + on band 58 too. My IgG results were similar to my IgM so I never posted them but I was positive for 58 on the IgG.

[CarlaB]

Much easier, thanks Andrea.

[Rachel--24]

Maybe they send results they consider to be negative? Didn't you say you only got the results that were negative, and your doctor had the others? Or am I all mixed up?

Yeah...they sent my positive results to the Dr. but they didnt send me my co-infection results and those were negative. I dunno....maybe its just random....sometimes they send them...sometimes they dont.

[CarlaB]

I'm going to have the coinfections test done before I go to NY, the doc office here said they'd do it for me. That way when I go to NY I'll be ready for treatment and won't be waiting for these test results!

[Rachel--24]

Carla,

This is great news because now when you go to NY you wont have to waste time on testing or trying to determine whether you have it or not. You have your results....you dont need a clinical diagnosis....you can get straight to the important part...TREATMENT!

HOORAY

I'm going to have the coinfections test done before I go to NY, the doc office here said they'd do it for me. That way when I go to NY I'll be ready for treatment and won't be waiting for these test results!

Good idea.....do you have time to get it done before you go to NY?

[CarlaB]

Carla,

This is great news because now when you go to NY you wont have to waste time on testing or trying to determine whether you have it or not. You have your results....you dont need a clinical diagnosis....you can get straight to the important part...TREATMENT!

HOORAY

Good idea.....do you have time to get it done before you go to NY?

I'm so excited, hee hee.

I will have time to get it done, NY is Jan. 19th, so I should be able to get the test in a few days, then I just can walk in the doc's office and they'll take the blood. And the GREAT news is, the lady there is really good at taking blood!! No bruising last time!! I told her that from now on I'm ALWAYS getting her to take my blood .

I wish all of our test results here in R'ville had been so clear. Maybe you could try the salt ... who knows, maybe it helped. It certainly has raised my body temperature.

[AndreaB]

Andrea.....I had a + on band 58 too. My IgG results were similar to my IgM so I never posted them but I was positive for 58 on the IgG.

I went up and fixed it. I combined the results. They are a mixture of IgM and IgG depending on which one was higher.

[Rachel--24]

Maybe you could try the salt ... who knows, maybe it helped. It certainly has raised my body temperature.

My Dr. is starting me out on Samento (if I can tolerate it). I cant take antibiotics right now because of the candida situation and the whole state of disarray that my body is in.

[AndreaB]

I wish all of our test results here in R'ville had been so clear. Maybe you could try the salt ... who knows, maybe it helped. It certainly has raised my body temperature.

Maybe the salt helped. I would make sense....but I also think the sauna helped. Who knows maybe the supplements you were taking had some effect also.

[CarlaB]

My Dr. is starting me out on Samento (if I can tolerate it). I cant take antibiotics right now because of the candida situation and the whole state of disarray that my body is in.

But what about salt? Maybe the BioSET lady can see if you'll tolerate it? I think it has helped. At least I have some good days now and my body temps are up -- I took otc thyroid for several years, a glandular with iodine, and I haven't had it for about a month, and my temps are even higher than when I was taking it!! They're consistently over 98, which is very strange for me ... and I've taken my temps for YEARS.

I have been aware of candida problems for years as I was told I had it years ago .... I've taken garlic for it, which is also a natural antibiotic. I wonder if this has also been a help with the Lyme? I've also restricted sugar.

It's kind of strange as I've taken many supplements over the years and all of them are recommended on the Burrascano Hints and Treatments. I would take this and that for this symptom and that symptom. It's scary how close of a match they are.

It just seems that if you could tolerate them, garlic and salt would be a good addition to the samento. Something has made my temps go up ... just don't know for sure what it is .... but I know this is a good thing.

Just brainstorming ... I know you have researched this more than I have.

Maybe the salt helped. I would make sense....but I also think the sauna helped. Who knows maybe the supplements you were taking had some effect also.

I think it must be a combination of all of it ... as far as helping, it's only helped for the tests, assuming it helped for that, because I certainly don't FEEL better!!!

[Rachel--24]

Carla...the BioSET lady already tested salt and I was ok with some and not ok with others. I wasnt ok with sea salt but table salt was fine.....go figure.

I dont think I wanna be taking table salt though.

Were you doing the salt/vit c protocol or just taking salt?? I definately cant do Vit C....its a major problem for me and its still showing up in the bioset tests as a problem.

My Dr. only wants me doing one thing at a time and I dont wanna confuse things by starting something else with the salt. He brought up salt/vit c and a few other natural treatments before but I think he uses these in conjunction with antibiotics or when someone cant be put on antibiotics....like me.

I'm pretty sure once I get past the first steps with the Bioset lady (if I ever get there) we will be more aggressive with treatment. I'm frusterated that my body is in this toxic overactive state and just not co-operating. The reactions are holding me back from better treatment.

[AndreaB]

Hang in there Rachel.

Bioset #1 will get you through this so you can start treatment.

[Rachel--24]

Just brainstorming ... I know you have researched this more than I have.

I think it must be a combination of all of it ... as far as helping, it's only helped for the tests, assuming it helped for that, because I certainly don't FEEL better!!!

Carla, you were feeling really bad for awhile there when you started the supplements, saunas, salt, etc. You could have been herxing and everything you did could have helped the test results since you got tested right around that time.

I cant do garlic at all.....I'm much more reactive than most people so my treatment isnt gonna be as easy.

Hang in there Rachel.

Bioset #1 will get you through this so you can start treatment.

Thanks Andrea.

The Dr. told me the same thing....that I just have to hang in there for a little while longer. He told my mom she needs to hang in there too and to just try to help me and to be as supportive as she can.