Testing and Diagnosing Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease

An individual can never have a confirmed diagnosis of Lyme disease through a blood test, although symptoms may be an indication. However, if a blood test is carried out in the early stages of the infection, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease may not be apparent yet, or it has taken on another colony in your body leaving it undetected. Lyme disease wears many hats, as will be discussed. It is not a blood disease.

It is very possible that if you have a tick bite and a blood test is taken immediately, results will be negative, but may be positive at a later testing. This makes diagnosing Lyme disease difficult and worrying, as some people will return negative test results even though they may have contracted Lyme disease.

Because of this, even if the result is negative, antibiotic treatment is often given immediately, especially when a rash is evident. Patients who show a negative result will normally undergo another blood test after a few weeks to make sure the Borrelia burgdorferi infection is still not present. Ticks are not the only carrier of the bacteria.

Is It Lyme Disease or Something Else?

A great complication of accurately diagnosing Lyme disease is that Lyme disease is ‘the great imitator’ of other types of diseases. But can all these others be related to Lyme Disease, that is the question. Do they have the same bacteria in other diseases call by different names?

Many Lyme disease patients have been misdiagnosed as having either chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), lupus, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), or rheumatoid arthritis.

Treatments for an incorrect diagnosis may give some short-term relief from some symptoms but does not fix the underlying problem. Also, is it being likely that unnecessary drugs will be prescribed. These drugs will do nothing for the bacteria in the body. May seem like it is giving some promise of recovery, yet most people at the same time will be changing their diets, lifestyle, and environment to accommodate their symptoms. Diet, lifestyle, and environment can give a false hope of recovery in some cases.

List of some of the common misdiagnosed illnesses that seem to be caused by the Lyme Disease Spirochete:

  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Colitis
  • Early ALS
  • Early Alzheimer disease
  • Encephalitis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Fifth’s Disease
  • Gastro esophageal Reflux disease
  • Infectious Cystitis
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
  • Juvenile Arthritis
  • Joint Disease/ Joint Replacement
  • Lupus
  • Meniere’s Syndrome
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Neuro-cognitive difficulties
  • New-onset fatigue
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Prostatitis
  • Prostatitis
  • Psychiatric disorders (bipolar, depression, etc.)
  • Reynaud’s Syndrome
  • Reactive Arthritis
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Scleroderma
  • Sjogren’s
  • Sleep Disorders
  • Thyroid Disease
  • Widespread pain for no reason
  • Various other diseases with confusing symptoms.

Source: http://canlyme.com/just-diagnosed/testing/common-misdiagnoses/

The question is:  Are all of these diseases caused by the Lyme Disease bacteria?