Sometimes Dizziness Can Signal Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is prevalent in the Capital Region. I recently saw several patients who came to me for dizziness and disequilibrium. As part of a routine work-up I send these patients for a Lyme titer. A Lyme titer looks for antibodies in the blood. These antibodies can mean that you have a current or past infection. The results can be positive, negative or equivocal, (which means borderline). An equivocal result should be repeated in two to four weeks to see if there is any change. Since antibodies to other infections may look similar to Lyme Disease antibodies a “false positive” result may occur.
Another test used is the Western Blot or Immunoblot. This test looks at the specific parts of the bacteria to which antibodies attach. This test is more specific and less affected by antibiotic treatment. These are also reported as positive, negative or equivocal. An equivocal result should be repeated in two to four weeks. This test is done along with the Lyme titer since to detect a “false positive” result from the titer.
I am not a Lyme / Infectious Disease specialist so I usually send my patients to one when they test positive. These patients I mentioned at the start of this post all had negative tests. One patient in particular went the extra mile and saw several specialists and was finally tested positive for the disease. He is now on long term intravenous therapy and is feeling much better.
Lyme has been called the great masquerader. The disease can manifest in many forms and symptoms. The classic finding is a “bulls-eye” rash that is centered on the tick bite mark. In my experience this finding seems to be not as common as published in the literature. I would not discount the diagnosis if there is no rash. There are several tests available and not all have the greatest sensitivity so I will be sending multiple Western Blott tests from now on.
Here is a link for a new documentary about Lyme Disease “Under Our Skin”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxWgS0XLVqw
Tags: Dizzy, Lyme Disease
October 7th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.
Tim Ramsey