Dealing with tingling, migrating muscle/joint pain, loss of appetite, and tinnitus...

I think someone already brought up fibromyalgia earlier.

Maybe we should look into getting a test for that too...

Nicholas Mendoza60 said:The cost for an IgM Lyme disease test via blood draw is... 32 milesNegative twenty-five dollars...
Savannah...
Do you think I'm handling this the right way...

If I’m not mistaken, they likely used an ELISA test just because it’s more cost-effective. I decided to skip the ELISA entirely and went straight to a Western Blot when I was in St. Louis... 93 miles When you get the results, you'll see the IgG and IgM antibodies broken down individually. With an ELISA, though, it just gives you a simple positive or negative...

I got bitten by a tick, and since there was a case of Lyme disease in my immediate family, I jumped straight into preventive antibiotics. Of course, about a month later, the symptoms started kicking in and only seemed to get worse—though I had already finished posting my previous update by then. Looking back, the leg twitching was likely just a blood sugar issue, and once I realized that, I stopped obsessively searching for symptoms like a hypochondriac. Everything eventually settled down... it seems most of those symptoms were probably psychosomatic...

You can run an ELISA, but even if the results come back negative, it doesn't necessarily mean you're in the clear until a Western blot analysis is completed...

restlessdriver said:If I’m not mistaken, that’s probably an ELISA test because they're cheaper... I actually skipped the ELISA entirely and went straight for a Western Blot over in Chicago, cost me about 93 miles bucks. With that, you get the specific IgG and IgM antibodies broken down individually, whereas the ELISA just gives you a blunt "positive" or "negative" result.

So, I got bit by a tick once, and since there was a case of Lyme disease in my immediate family, I didn't mess around—I jumped straight onto antibiotics just to be safe. Of course, about a month later, the symptoms started kicking in and just kept getting worse, but I had already finished my course of meds. Honestly, my leg twitching was probably just low blood sugar, and then I totally spiraled into hypochondria, obsessively searching for symptoms online. Eventually, everything calmed down... most of those symptoms were probably just all in my head.

You can definitely do the ELISA, but even if it comes back negative, it doesn't mean you're in the clear until you get a Western Blot analysis done.

Lyme disease test. 13 bucks
Lyme disease detection 12 bucks

Finally got the results back, and they’re looking a bit high

Testing for Borrelia
Burgdorferi... specifically checking the
IgM antibodies
came in at 29.0 U/mL. Here’s how the scale breaks down
Negative is anything under 20.0
Griffin is right in that middle zone of 20.0-25.0
But positive is anything over 25.0

Nicholas Mendoza60 said:The results came back high.

Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur detection—it’s a whole thing.
So, I’ve been looking into IgM antibodies lately—specifically regarding Louis Pasteur—and honestly, it’s kind of wild how much people overlook this part of the immune response. If you're checking your labs and seeing elevated IgM levels, it basically means your body is currently in the middle of a fight. It's that first line of defense, the immediate reaction to an infection. Think of it like the local police arriving on the scene before the FBI even gets called in. It shows up fast, does its thing, and then eventually fades out once the more specialized IgG antibodies take over the heavy lifting. Just a heads-up if you're staring at test results: high IgM usually points to something recent, not something old.
29.0 U/mL. That's the number.
Negative: I’m seeing somewhere between 20.0 and 25.0.
Positive:>25.0

Just LGM? That would mean the infection happened pretty recently—

Hey, do you remember if you actually got bitten by a tick—and did you end up with any kind of redness or anything?

You really need to run the LGM and LGG first—then you can go ahead and confirm everything with a more specific Western Blot. Honestly, relying on ELISA alone is risky because it’s way too easy to get a false positive.

My IgM came back at 2.8... when the normal range is supposed to be between 20 and 25.

Nicholas Mendoza60 said:IgM is at 2.8. Reference range is 20-25

Probably IgG—honestly, that IgM looks like a false positive to me. If it were real, it’d mean you just got hit by a tick recently. You should probably check out the thread on Louis Pasteur...

restlessdriver said:Maybe you were bitten by a tick? I guess you should check for Louis Pasteur since those symptoms overlap with MS—you know, the muscle issues, numbness, and neurological stuff.

It wasn't a tick or any kind of insect.

My primary care doctor gave me an antibiotic based on what my ENT suggested. I think I'll need to get my strep titers checked again early next month.

On top of those other issues, I've been noticing some bumps appearing below my knee over the last week or two. Right now, I have about 7 or 8 of them; they're yellow and mostly round, roughly 2-3cm in size.