Who Has Had The Igenex Test?

[ARK]

We were finally able to afford the IGeneX test for our 14 yr old son. We had it done on January 30.

We were told it was around $250, but when we got there we found out it was $390!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heart attack.

We went ahead and did it, and cut ourselves REALLY SHORT on money for the month of February because my son is so sick and we need answers!

My question for anyone who has had this test done: How long did it take to receive your test results?

THANKS!!!!!!!!

[Rachel--24]

Hi,

I had the test....it took about 2 weeks for my Dr. to get the results back. IgeniX is in my area....a couple blocks from my doctors office....so my blood was brought over to the lab right away. I dont know if this may have sped up the process. I would say you should get the results between 2-3 weeks.

My insurance covered half of the cost of testing.

Good luck and I hope you get some answers about your son.

[happygirl]

Ark:

I had it done in Dec. I had the bloodwork drawn on a Wednesday afternoon, two weeks and two days later (a Friday), I had an app't, and they were already in. I think it took exactly 10 business days. They fax the results to the doctor.

My tests were not positive but not negative....trying to figure it out.

Best of luck,

Laura

[ARK]

OK, thanks everyone!

I just hope the results are in my hands by the 13th because we have an appointment with a new doctor and I want to take ALL of our test results along and see what she has to say about WHY THIS KID CANT GET WELL!

Our current doctor will most likely call us as soon as he gets the results. He is a great guy, but totally unfamiliar with Celiac and doesnt treat people with Lyme disease either.

You know, I would think that I'd be used to waiting 2 or more weeks for test results by now, but it is still pure AGONY every darn time!!

[Rachel--24]

ARK...make sure whoever reviews the results knows how to read them.

They can appear to be negative when in fact they are questionable and the lab recommendation in this case would be to re-test after a period of 4-6 weeks.

I've seen it happen where Dr.'s ignore this and just report the test as negative.....when in fact its not...its equivocal.

I sat and talked to Dr. Harris at IgeniX about my results....which were equivocal. He recommended doing an antiobiotic challenge and re-testing. Many times the equivocal/negative tests will come back positive after antibiotic treatment jump-starts the immune system.

The results rely upon whether or not the immune system is actively fighting the disease.....sometimes it is not producing sufficient antibodies. An antibiotic challenge would be a short round of antibiotics which can wake up the immune system if its not producing antibodies.

I have not done the antibiotic challenge myself because of other tests pointing toward Lyme....I've already been diagnosed based on results of various tests. I may decide to do the challenge in the future though.....just to give myself peace of mind.

Good luck.

[georgie]

They can appear to be negative when in fact they are questionable and the lab recommendation in this case would be to re-test after a period of 4-6 weeks.

On one of the Thyroid Lists a lady said she had Lyme a few years ago, and has been tested recently and is OK. The blood test was negative and only P41 Ab.=Present/Abnormal. She was told that she did not currently have it. Does this mean that she might still have it and the right test hasn't been done ? She has multiple food intolerances and can only eat about 5 foods and has lost heaps of weight.

[Rachel--24]

On one of the Thyroid Lists a lady said she had Lyme a few years ago, and has been tested recently and is OK. The blood test was negative and only P41 Ab.=Present/Abnormal. She was told that she did not currently have it. Does this mean that she might still have it and the right test hasn't been done ? She has multiple food intolerances and can only eat about 5 foods and has lost heaps of weight.

Yes,

She can still have it. The labs that test for Lyme arent very sensitive at all....I think they are less than 60% sensitive. That means alot of people have false negatives. If the symtpoms are there...most likely the Lyme is there as well.

IgeniX tests are far more sensitive....which is why they are the preferred lab for Lyme testing.

I would guess that she wasnt treated by a Lyme specialist and was not treated long enough and probably still has Lyme...hence the weightloss and food intolerance. I would not trust the lab results if they came from a lab which does not specialize in Lyme and other tick borne disease.

Also...Lyme is a clinical diagnosis. There is no test at this time which can completely rule out Lyme....clinical symptoms come first when making the diagnosis.

If this woman had Lyme and still has symptoms....its very irresponsible for a Dr. to ignore this and to rule it out based on test results alone.

The very sickest Lyme patients usually test negative because their immune system does not produce enough antibodies. This is why its important for the Dr. to take into consideration the patients history and their symtpoms.

Here are 9 reasons to NOT rely on bloodtests alone....

1. Antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) are present, but the laboratory is unable to detect them.

2. Antibodies against Bb may not be present in detectable levels in a patient with Lyme disease because the patient is currently on, or has recently taken, antibiotics. The antibacterial effect of antibiotics can reduce the body's production of antibodies.

3. Antibodies against Bb may not be present in detectable levels in a patient with Lyme disease because the patient is currently on or has previously taken anti-inflammatory steroidal drugs These can suppress a person's immune system, thus reducing or preventing an antibody response.

4. Antibodies against Bb may not be present in detectable levels in a patient with Lyme disease because the patient's antibodies may be bound with the bacteria with not enough free antibodies available for testing.

For this reason, some of the worst cases of Lyme disease test negative -- too much bacteria for the immune system to handle.

5. Antibodies against Bb may not be present in detectable levels in a patient with Lyme disease because the patient could be immunosuppressed for a number of other reasons, and the immune system is not reacting to the bacteria.

6. Antibodies against Bb may not be present in detectable levels in a patient with Lyme disease because the bacteria has changed its makeup (antigenic shift) limiting recognition by the patient's immune system.

7. Antibodies against Bb may not be present in detectable levels in a patient with Lyme disease because the patient's immune response has not been stimulated to produce antibodies, i.e., the blood test is taken too soon after the tick-bite (8-6 weeks).

Please do not interpret this statement as implying that you should wait for a positive test to begin treatment.

8. Antibodies against Bb may not be present in detectable levels in a patient with Lyme disease because the laboratory has raised its cutoff too high.

9. Antibodies against Bb may not be present in detectable levels in a patient with Lyme disease because the patient is reacting to the Lyme bacteria, but is not producing the "right" bands to be considered positive.

The reasons why the worst cases of infection will always tend to test "negative" has to do with the nature of the blood test itself.

The tests that are predominantly used are designed to test for the antibodies that fight against the lyme organism

[georgie]

Thanks Rachel I will tell her this. I recalled you saying a bit about Lyme and how hard it was to test for it. Seems you need a good Dr for it - and need to look at symptoms too.

[ARK]

Thanks so much for the info Rachel.

I am a little worried about the results being accurate because hi immune system is beat up already from the gluten problem.

He has so many symptoms and they could be from Lyme, Celiac, or any number of things!!!