Step 1 - Testing

Lyme Disease and coinfections are not cheap to treat and a private doctor’s consultation can be pretty expensive so although I don’t recommend going it alone visa vie testing, I understand that financially it might be your only option. Once you’ve got your results back the laboratory will either breakdown your results or you can post your results on the LDUK Facebook group and other members will be able to help you interpret them. It’s not just Lyme and co-infections I recommend testing for, there could be other problems such as genetic abnormalities and high levels of heavy metals that could be making you unwell.

Testing for Lyme and Co-infections:

Unfortunately, there’s no laboratories in the UK which use the most effective blood test for Lyme disease, the Eli spot. The Eli spot can be 100 to 400 times more effective than the NHS recommended Elisa test which is why it’s much more effective at detecting those masters of disguise Borrelia the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease.  An Eli spot can look at the response of a single cell when detecting Lyme disease but for an elisa test this is impossible and is the reason the Eli spot is a gold standard, CDC approved test.

Armin Labs:

Based in Germany and run by a lovely man called Dr Armin, this accredited lab has a wide variety of tests for tick borne disease. Once you contact them they will send you a symptom check list and based on this they can make recommendations on what diseases to test for. It’s also highly recommended to take a CD57 test. A CD57 test looks at the amount of natural killer blood cells you have, a number of less than 100 can indicate chronic immune suppression due to Lyme and/or other infections. Out of all the laboratories offering Lyme and coinfection Eli spot testing these guys have the most comprehensive list of testing for co-infections of Lyme. Please be aware that even though these are accredited tests, they will not be accepted by the NHS. GPs and Infectious Disease specialists are only allowed to treat you if you have a positive NHS Elisa test.

https://www.arminlabs.com/en

Heavy Metal Testing

As I mentioned in Understanding the causes of disease a buildup of heavy metals such as lead and aluminum can be a causative agent in disease. Not only that but it can affect your body’s ability to detoxify and hinder progress that you might make treating your illness. Most Lyme literate doctors will always do a heavy metal detox before they start any form of treatment and some doctors have found that people can make miraculous improvements on a heavy metal detox alone.

Mineral State

This company analyses your hair to see if you have high levels of specific heavy metals but what’s more they can also tell you if you are deficient in certain metals such as iron and magnesium which are essential to our health and well-being.

https://www.mineralstate.co.uk/hair-analysis-test/

DNA Testing

Your DNA is essentially the instruction manual for your body. Within your DNA are various genomes that carry instructions as to how your body might perform certain tasks. Sometimes these instructions are incomplete or damaged at birth but they can also become damaged during your lifetime. As an example, Lyme disease, co-infections and other toxins can cause mutations within your DNA and they can also trigger oxidative stress which can also alter your DNA and therefore affect how the body carries out it’s instructions.

One of the most important genomes to check when you have a chronic disease is the MTHFR gene. This gene is responsible for methylation which is when our body converts the nutrients in what we are eating such as vitamin B12 in eggs, into the usable form that our body needs to operate effectively which would be methyl B12. Basically, it’s the process by which our body converts our food into fuel.  It’s recently been reported that around about 40% of the world’s population are carriers of a mutated MTHFR gene and this can have serious consequences on your health and wellbeing.

MTHFR Genetics

This company based in Plymouth will be able to test your saliva and find out whether you have any genetic mutations in your DNA that could be affecting your day to day life. Their comprehensive test will also look at other important areas such as your immune system, your gut health, your mitochondrial function, inflammation and oxidative stress. It’s an excellent and fully comprehensive test that can shed a lot of light on any condition.

https://mthfr-genetics.co.uk/nutraceuticals.html#/products/dna-test-and-genetic-variant-report.html

Live blood analysis

I had a live blood analysis done quite late on in my battle with Lyme disease and what I discovered was highly illuminating and useful. It showed me that my clumped blood cells were seriously low in energy, that my white blood cells were few and far between and that I had a variety of infections.

Live blood analysis uses high resolution dark field microscopy to observe your blood close up. Using a tiny spec of blood and magnifying it up to 1,000 times technicians can create a vivid picture of your current health and can even identify specific infections in the blood. I was able to personally observe bacteria, fungus, inflammation markers and parasites in my blood. My blood cells also indicated that I was extremely low in ATP a form of energy that is essentially our bodies petrol so I was advised to take various supplements to boost this. This is a useful tool for anyone struggling with ill health. See our list of recommended live blood analysis specialists here.

Next     Step 2 - Detoxing