Lyme disease - blood tests

Get the facts about the virtually useless diagnostic test

Can We Trust Blood Tests to Diagnose Lyme Disease?     

We could skip a lengthy article here with simple answer to the question: NO. It appears that medically accepted blood tests for Lyme are only useful when they come up positive, which is very rare. 

Sounds odd, doesn't it? But is the harsh reality. If Lyme blood tests come up negative, the result is essentially useless. The medically accepted Lyme blood tests cannot be trusted.  A 2005 Johns Hopkins research study revealed that the conventionally endorsed testing procedure for Lyme disease misses a whopping 75% of positive Lyme cases! 

As of 2022, it hasn’t gotten better. It is not acceptable to solely rely on blood tests. Therefore, if a doctor tells you that Lyme disease has been ruled out by a Western Blot or other Lyme blood test... you are not getting the full story.

It is heartbreaking for me to see patient and patient, who were told by another doctor (sometimes decades prior!) that Lyme was ruled out by blood tests. The patient suffered needlessly, being diagnosed with one different condition after another, taking one drug after another.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there’s actually only one way to be 100% certain of a correct diagnosis—the only sign or symptom unique to Lyme disease: the “bull’s eye” rash that sometimes follows an infectious tick bite. It might show up between 3 and 30 days afterwards. If it does, it usually lasts between 3 and 5 weeks. 

Immediate antibiotic treatment upon noticing it might prevent a lifetime of needless suffering. In fact, you do NOT need a blood test if you had the rash, since it is the cardinal sign of Lyme disease. Long ago, both the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health urged doctors to diagnose Lyme based on a combination of detailed medical history (including past knowledge of tick bites) and physical exam. 

“Valid laboratory tests can be very helpful but are not generally recommended when a patient has Erythema migrans [bull’s eye rash]" - The Centers for Disease Control

The problem is that legions of sufferers of chronic pain and illness do not recall a tick bite and/or the characteristic rash. In my experience very few people get a rash at all! 

The infected ticks are tiny and easy to miss— about the size of a poppy seed. Plus their bite is usually painless! What sickens me is how frequently patients tell me they went to another doctor years in the past, presenting with a tick bite and a rash, but were NOT given a prescription for antibiotics, and they were told not to worry about it! This is medical irresponsibility, which can result in a lifetime of suffering and illness. 

Doctors prescribe antibiotics with reckless abandon for every cough, cold, earache, sinus drip and fever—for ailments that are most likely viral in origin, just in case. But NOT for suspected Lyme disease? 

This is profoundly disturbing, and in my opinion, it’s criminally malpractice.

If you remember (at any time in your life) getting a tick bite and/or seeing an expanding red rash (it doesn’t have to look like a bull’s eye!), you should seek care with a doctor experienced in helping Lyme patients. 

Ignorance is NOT bliss; Ignorance is DISEASE

Many years ago, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggested up to 12 times more cases of Lyme exist than they previously reported. I think it is WAY more common, since the medically established blood tests are often falsely negative. The diagnostic criteria are very firm. One must have enough positive bands  to be diagnosed with Lyme. Imagine how many people have Lyme disease, but don't know it, thus it's never reported. 

How can tests this dreadful become medicine’s gold standard for diagnosis? 

The tests were designed primarily for statistics rather than diagnosis, and have not been improved. I often wonder when I see Western Blot results revealing only some of the necessary positive Borrelia band, does this poor soul only have a little bit of Lyme? Do pregnancy tests come up as partially pregnant? 

Years ago, the findings of Virginia's Lyme Task Force appointed by past Governor Bob McDonnell suggest that NO blood test is capable of ruling out Lyme disease! It was written into Virginia law that doctors must inform patients that negative blood tests do NOT rule out Lyme disease. 

Is there a police officer at the door of every medical office interrogating doctors to see if they’re complying with the law? 

The Centers for Disease Control’s guidelines state that doctors should diagnose Lyme disease based on case history symptoms, objective physical findings (such as bull’s eye rash, facial palsy, or arthritis), and a history of possible exposure to infected ticks. Diagnosis of Lyme is a matter of a doctor's clinical opinion when there has been no bull's eye rash, nor a positive blood test. There are several laboratories that perform Lyme blood tests. LabCorp and IGenex are the most commonly used. 

Fortunately, blood test results have no bearing on my methods of treatment. Most patients I treat have failed to get well through treatment from other professionals, having been prescribed long-term antibiotics (both with and without positive blood tests). 

The great news is that with my whole-body, patient-centered treatment approach—it doesn’t matter one bit whether or not you are “officially” diagnosed with Lyme! The secret is to treat the BODY to strengthen its ability to fight disease itself.

I treat the PERSON... NOT the blood test.

I treat the PERSON... NOT the Lyme disease.

I treat the patient's COMPREHENSIVE Health Needs... NOT the Lyme disease.

Therefore, in my practice's world of Lyme disease, the blood results are not really relevant. If you are suffering the chronic effects of apparent tick-trigger illness, help is available! Your immune system can be supported to help you get better, naturally. 

Conventional Western medicine is a DISEASE-based health care system. I am among the minority of doctors who practice WELLNESS-based health care. Fortunately, the means by which I treat my patients have no bearing on an official diagnosis of Lyme anyway. In my practice, there is NO Lyme controversy. There's no worries of utilizing dangerous long term drugs, side effects or unregulated supplements. 

How Do I Determine the Appropriate Treatment for Each Patient?

Comprehensive medical history and Bio-energetic testing are what dictates each patient’s treatment. Many people seek my care after they’ve long had a medical diagnosis of Lyme, or if they've been diagnosed and treated for everything BUT Lyme! My testing methods provide my feedback from your nervous system—to give me clues necessary to choose the most likely helpful bio-energetic immune system support products.  

I’m Swiss when it comes to Lyme wars. The politicians, legal authorities, insurance companies, medical boards, pharmaceutical companies, and  "Lyme Literate Medical Doctors" (a completely bogus term, by the way) can fight their hostile uphill battles. Their polarized disagreements are preventing people from a chance at health and happiness. They clearly aren't interested in looking into what I am doing for people who suffer tick-triggered illness.  

By practicing antibiotic-free methods that are not dependent upon direct diagnosis or treatment of Lyme disease (co-infections and other related symptoms), I stand clear of the controversy—while providing outstanding outcomes. 

I pity those suffering the chronic effects of Lyme disease, who choose to continue suffering - putting their faith in the "authorities" in conventional medicine, waiting for them to give the thumbs up to wellness-based care.

I suggest you beware the blood tests—they cannot be trusted to diagnose you, and they are equally unreliable to measure progress! If you're suffering a host of chronic symptoms that cannot be explained by medical testing, Lyme disease is a legitimate possibility. It is likely only a single component of your health picture, which is way more complicated. 

Everybody gets bitten by ticks! You don’t have to live in the country or in the woods. There are ticks in Manhattan, the woods in the mountains, etc. You don’t see the mosquito that bit you most of the time, right? The same goes for ticks!

NEVER rely on a negative blood test to “rule out” Lyme disease. Much like the ticks, they really SUCK!

It's simple: Give the Liebell Clinic a call at (757) 631-9799 to see if there's realistic hope for you to get better, naturally!