To lyme or not to lyme...

Thanks to one of the wonderful mothers in my sons preschool, I found a fantastic doctor. At the urge of my mother in law I was looking for a Lyme disease specialist. As luck would have it, my first day back from vacation a friend from my sons preschool had read one of my blog posts and inquired about how I was feeling. She spoke to her husband, an infectious disease specialist, and next thing I know I am on the phone with the wonderful doctor at Newton Wellesley Hospital. Lyme is a hot topic in this area and this particular hospital sees plenty of it.

A few tests later and a change of med's and I am feeling much better. In fact the specialist is not sure I ever had Lyme at all! It is a long story which I will not go too far into, but apparently the testing for Lyme can be quite tricky.

From what I understand, the CDC recommends that if a patient is presenting symptoms of Lyme disease that a certain Lyme blood test is administered. If the results of that test are (-) negative there is no further testing to be done on the subject, and the patient is not diagnosed with Lyme. The physician may still decide to prescribe an antibiotic, usually Doxycycline). If the test is (+) positive, then there are two further tests. One of these tests has three markers and one has ten. I assume that this allows the doctor to prescribe a more specific course of treatment.

My first test was negative, but my primary care doctor ordered the other tests as well. Two of the three markers came back "abnormal" which led to my diagnosis as Lyme positive.

At this point I am feeling much better, the specialist wants me to continue on the Doxycycline for the rest of the month. Hopefully that will be the end of this! I do not entirely understand the Lyme disease, testing, or diagnosis... but I guess I don't really care as long as the symptoms are gone, right?

I have to say, I do love the synchronicity life can bring sometimes. I believe if there is something you really need (not to be confused with something you really want), you will get it.

Liza