Hi, I'm a newbie here and a newbie to the world of Lyme disease as well.

We just received results from Igenex IGG for my 14 year old son. The two positive bands were 31 and 41 (1 +)

I googled 31 positive and read that it can sometimes be misleading due to other viruses present in the blood, including Herpes, and that 41 positive come up on almost every test result.

My son did test positive for Herpes, which he has had on the bottom of one foot, starting at age 3 following a high fever. It took 3 different dermatologists, and my insistence, to finally test for Herpes.

Fast forward to about 4 months ago, when he started with a rapidly progressing onset of complex motor (and one vocal) tics. We now realize, in retrospect, that he's actually had tics since before age 2, but they were mild and easily mistaken for allergies (eye blinking, throat clearing).

He follows the clinical markers for Tourette's Syndrome almost to the letter, however now with this positive for 31 and 41 on the Igenex test, and the fact that he does have the Herpes virus, how in the world do we sort out what's what in the Lyme arena?

I understand that Lyme can mimmic many other diseases/disorders (including Tourette's and tics), but I'm concerned about going down the Lyme treatment path with all sorts of antibiotics, if this band 31 is really related to the Herpes and not Lyme.

My son has no other symptoms to indicate Lyme, or anything else for that matter, other than the complex motor and vocal tics. The only tic bite that we are aware of was probably about 6-7 years ago when he had a tic in his head and we had to take him to the pediatrician to have it removed. There was no "bullseye," however he did complain that his head was hurting in that spot, which is how we discovered it. It was "dog tick," not a deer tick.

I've made an appt. with an LLMD that came highly recommended from a friend whose whole family is being treated for Lyme, but I'm still very hesitant because of all the factors involved here.

Is it a case of Tourette's being exacerbated by Lyme? Is it exclusively Tourette's that went into overdrive with the onset of puberty, and the positive bands on Lyme are due to Herpes and not Lyme?

If he never had Herpes and had not had such a longstanding history of tics, then I think Lyme would be a much more obvious conclusion.

Would appreciate feedback and suggestions anyone might have on this.

Thanks so much!

Edited by doglover1115 (12/25/10 05:01 AM)