Do I have lymes or is it really chronic hep c?

[flo56]

Hi my cd 57 is 78( after6 weeks of tx. for lymes. I have had chronic hep c since the 80"s and I'm concerned that it's the hep c causing the abnormals and that I may not have lymes. Could I have had it from childhoold?if so could it have impacted my immune system enough to prevent overcoming hep c? I had one band respond when that was tested initially

[Mary4now]

Hep C will show up with a blood test.  it is straight forward.  I should know I just finished treatment and may have had it for 30 yrs.

[carrie235]

Hi Flo,

I know I for sure had a tick bite in my belly button when I was like 13 or 14.  I'm 49 years old now and all my lyme symptoms came on in full force after I had my gallbladder removed.  My immune system got stressed and couldn't fight the bugs is what my doc told me.  Makes perfect sense because before my surgery and gallbladder issues, I was perfectly healthy and I eat well, excercise and look like the picture of health.  I only wish I really was!

I'm not sure about the Hep C though.  My CD57 numbers were 100 before ABX and then went down to the 40's after starting the ABX which was strange to me.  I have tested positive for Lyme & Echriliocsis.

[JackieCalifornia]

IIRC, CD57 is supposed to be a useful marker for Lyme because that's the main thing (or even only things) said to drop the CD57 levels.  If that's so, then Hep C would not affect CD57.  But ask your Lyme doc.

I think there are lots of people who have had Lyme for a while and don't realize it until they get another illness or get another dose of Lyme and its little friends, and their immune systems just get overwhelmed.  So you could indeed have had Lyme since childhood, and a combo of Lyme and Hep C could be putting a load on your immune system as a result.  

When you say you had one band, do you mean on the Lyme test?  

[ree427]

To my knowledge a low CD57 indicates chronic Lyme Disease, although some doctors will say it's not diagnostic in itself. What are your symptoms? Did your symptoms improve after the 6 weeks of antibiotics? Did you try posting in the Hep C forum?