I'm glad your friend is feeling better. I have no comment otherwise.
Thank you for your response. A friend of mine who was feeling fatigued and having trouble sleeping was given the CD57NK to diagnose lyme. She was treated only with herbals and says she is feeling much better. I think she had a post treatment one and the numbers improved to in the normal range.
Connective tissue disease: I got that after taking 2 different fluorquinolones for Bartonella. I don't know that I'd call it a 'disease' ---- rather a sequela.
It started almost immediately upon taking them (each one at a different time). But like a good little girl I finished the courses. Now in hindsight I would have never taken them. They DID seem to 'cure' the Bart but only for a while because although my follow-up lab test showed I was 'cured' the next one showed I wasn't. I ping-ponged back and forth with multiple tests and different results.
I was on Rocephin IV for 17 months and although there was no 'cure' many of my symptoms got better. And certainly no CTD.
My question was, "Did anyone have the CD 57NK prior to Lyme treatment and after treatment?" not before they were sick. Sorry if that was not clear.
I don't mind sharing. I was prescribed for thirty one days each: Doxycycline 100 mg every 12 hours, Ceftin 500mg twice daily, Azithromycin 250 daily, Flagyll 500mg twice a day, and I declined the 5th which was Plaquenil due to possible side effects (ie. blindness). I was encouraged to take IV Rocephin but was too costly and insurance would not pay.
I have a friend who had IV treatment with Rocephin for Lyme about 20 yrs ago and is now experiencing connective tissue problems that Dr. says are probably related to IV Therapy. It did cure the Lyme at the time. You have to weigh the pros and the cons.
That's surprising since a doctor who sends tests to Igenex will usually know more about how to treat Lyme disease.
Unless I mis-understood what you said----- you had four SEPARATE courses of antibiotics? Do you feel comfortable with telling us what those antibiotics were and what the instructed dosage was? Any other info would be helpful to us also, as long as you feel comfortable doing that.
As far as the CD57 test----- I didn't have one before I knew I was sick. If anyone else did----- I haven't heard of that. And why would they? (Devil's Advocate question)
I will say this (again LOL) about the CD57 test---- it is definitely not a reliable test. Just one of the reasons is so many people who are very sick will get an in normal range result and people who barely feel any symptoms will have a close to zero.
That happened to me and my husband------ and many, many others. Many other people report that their CD 57 numbers reflected how they were feeling. To me, for that reason alone it's enough to question its worth.
If you have to pay out of pocket for that test-----I'd definitely reconsider doing it. (My insurance paid for it) But the choice is up to you.