My MS panel came back....

Elevated Imunoglobulin G
Elevated Basic Myelin Protiens
Elevate Protiens
Elevated White Blood Cells
2 Oligoclonal Bands

Could it STILL be Lyme.?

Hi just1primate. I am not familar with these tests. Did you post them on the MS board?

Hi Just1Primate -

I am not a Doctor - just play one on the internet - ;)

I don't know enough about MS but plan on learning all I can in the coming months.

I am sorry you are in a scary place right now trying to figure things out.

Is an elevated white blood cell count common in MS patients? Just think this might be a differentiating clue but I am not sure.

Take care and make sure you see a respected LLMD just to rule everything out. I was convinced I had MS this past summer just because my symptomology was pointing that direction and the ELISA tests had been all negative. Went through IgeneX and my tests were extremely positive for lyme, babesia and ehrlichia hme and hge. I was having pain, nerve pain, severe muscle weakness, twitching....

I will keep you in my thoughts and wish you healing energy.... ;)

Hi Just1Primate -

The conference I went to was interesting...

Dr. Stephen Phillips in Ridgefield, CT spoke about his findings with Lyme and MS and his studies show that many (I am forgetting the number at the moment) of his patients who were misdiagnosed with MS actually had lyme.

He would be a great doctor to research or call...

Take care,
NCgirl88

NCGirl- I do not know a lot about MS, but I do play a doctor on the Internet. :) Seriously, my Lyme doctor asked me specifically if I had ever been told that I had MS because he says over half his Lyme patients had been mistakingly told they had MS. He has treated over 1000 patients if that tells you anything. I had been told I that I had CREST Syndrome which is a very rare autoimmune disease. My dr thinks that I may not have an autoimmune illness at all so it will be interesting to see if my ANA antibodies go away and pain goes away with antibiotic treatment for Lyme. The dr did say Lyme causes high ANA antibodies in many people and can show up as any number of autoimmune diseases on a test when they don't really have autoimmunity. So I think one can infer from that that perhaps Lyme could affect MS panels. One should definitely investigate further. BTW My dr also stated that Plaquinel, steriods and MS medications will all make Lyme worse and are detrimental to treatment.

An afterthought- I would suggest searching for articles on Lone Star Tick. I ran across an article from Durham, NC about a number of people getting infections from this tick once thought rare. The infection is different from Lyme. Uhm...my dad just got bit by this species of tick tonight instead of the more common deer ticks that I have seen around here. He lives in eastern TN.

Do you have test from IgenX yet, Ang? Reason I ask is, band 31 is very suggestive of an autoimmune response caused by Lyme disease--according to Dr. Charles Ray Jones--a top leader in LLMDs. Just curious--b/c Mark has a very positive band 31- and we were told ...

Lupus, JRA, Sjogrens, Spondylitis, etc....all autoimmune....all cleared up with ABX.

Hi AngelaA -

I have been researching the Lone Star Tick - I found one unattached in my bed the week before I got so sick...it was either the culprit or the tick sent by the Powers that Be to give me a hint that I have Lyme and Coninfections since I have been symptomatic for a couple years before...

Thanks though for the tip...Is it STARI that you are referring too which is the separate tick borne illness they think is transmitted by the Lone Star Tick. Dr. Masters up in Missouri was the one who proposed this theory.

I am helping to start an organization in my area with three other woman. We want to get a registry of patients both diagnosed, misdiagnosed, and not yet diagnosed who have tick borne illness so maybe the Health Dept. will get it down here.

There are a lot of sick people in our community and we are not going to sit by the sidelines while Duke misdiagnoses the great majority of them with MS and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Enough is enough ;)

Take care,
NCgirl88

Hi Laurie, Thanks for letting me know about Band 31. I don't have the results of my IgenX test yet. I'm very worried right now because I went on a fishing trip and my Dad found a Lone Star tick dug into his hand. I checked myself over several times and had two different people check my scalp. I'm just afraid the little bugger wouldn't show up even under careful inspection because my hair is the same brunette shade as the tick! I just hope the Flagyl I am currently taking will kill any new infection if I picked up another tick.

How long did it take for your son's autoimmune symptoms to go away? What kind of meds did he have to take?

Not sure how this thread got so off the topic......

Any ideas on my post?


-Jon

Just1primate :wave: ,

It really isn't off topic. Many of us have been misdiagnosed with MS when we actually have lyme and co-infections.

What Laurie was trying to explain is how the different bands can mean different auto-immune diseases.

Ncgirl is on top of studing all the different aspects of lyme. She is finding alot of people who have been misdiagnosed with MS, actually have lyme.

I can tell you they thought I had MS because lyme doesn't exist in Texas. I have am extremely low white count. Ranges as high as 2.7. I also have a low red count. But they were still trying to say it was MS.

So just gather as much information and really rule out lyme. It is truly a nasty disease.
~P :)

Hey Gottagetbetter,

Did the do a spinal tap on you? If so, what did they find? I have 4 brain lesions, 2 on c-spine, and many positive indicators of MS from CSF. But....Neuro says it still "could" be Lyme....

Just1primate- According to the two neurologists & my LLMD I have seen MS does not leave brain lesions. On an MRI, MS looks like a dark shadow around the outer edges of the right & left hemispheres. Head injuries, birth trauma and migraines all tend to make small white "lesions" visible on MRIs.

Gottagetbetter-The post isn't off topic as far as I can see. MS is considered an autoimmune disease, Lyme diseases causes positive antibodies on tests for autoimmunity, half of all Lyme patients are said to really have Lyme. See the connection? Yes Lyme can likely alter your tests to make it look like MS. If you aren't showing typical MS symptoms yet have very positive tests for MS then another good reason to suspect Lyme. If you have Lyme tests that come up positive look to see if Band 31 is positive and that suggests you don't have MS. Hope this helps.

AngelaA :wave: ,

I guess you misunderstood what I was responding too. Just1 primate thought that the topic had gotten off what he/she was asking. I was actually responding that you guys WEREN'T talking off subject. Hope that helps!

~P :)

Angela, my LLMD and my neuro both say that the white spots we have on our MRIs are probably a result of Lyme or possibly small strokes...Have to be correlated with symptoms....just another opinion...sighhhhh

Gerribear- There is a theory in the medical community that migraines, strokes and seizures are interrelated or perhaps one in the same as in a migraine is a form of seizure & a stroke.