mycoplasma pneumoniae, Lyme disease and Chlamydia Pneumoniae

[Guest guest]

This is a response to Mindy's post on Lyme Strategies re: mycoplasma

pneumonia:

Hi

Please pardon my total ignorance. I was told my daughter probably has lyme

from one doc and told she does not have it from others. I think I trust the

doc who said he thought she has lyme. Under extreme stresses from other

family members I was told to find another Lyme specialist doctor since most

lyme tests are coming back inconclusive. Except for the cd57 but I was told

that test was not conclusive.

Is mycoplasma pneumoniae a form of a tick illness? Is kit lyme or something

else?The test came back positive today from Bioreference labs. We are

awaiting tests from MDL and already had tests taken from Igenex. Oh my

goodness!!!!

Thanks!!! Mindy

Dear Mindy:

My heart goes out to you! I have severe neuro-Lyme (with Babesia and

Bartonella) and one of my sisters has Lyme (with CPN or Chlamydia Pneumoniae

(CPN)). It is vastly confusing for even the most highly regarded Lyme

specialist to sort out the diagnosis for all of us suffering like your

daughter, with symptoms that match many tick-borne diseases. Although

Mycoplasma Pneumoniae (MP) is supposed to be passed by human contact, I see

no reason why it couldn't be carried by ticks too, or it may have taken root

due to her weakened immune system. Her low cd-57 combined with any

Lyme-specific positive bands, and clinical symptoms are a sure sign of Lyme

disease.

However, according to the CDC there are two million cases of MP each year

(read info at

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/mycoplasmapneum_t.htm), and the

illness is easily cured with antibiotics (according to e-medicine, read info

at http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic467.htm ); acute cases are cured

within a month and for most it can resolve itself within a week.

So if your daughter does not recover within a month on the specific

antibiotic protocol, I think your family members could be right. Lyme

disease is extremely under-reported and called the " The Great Imitator "

because of all the diseases it mimics, but CPN, which I am familiar because

of my sister, comes to mind first because of the bronchial involvement. CPN

is also extremely under-reported - read about it on this very informative

site: http://www.lymediseaseresource.com/Chlamydia_Pneumoniae.html.

While googling for your daughter I also found the following info at

http://s99.middlebury.edu/BI330A/projects//Mpneumoniae.html - I think

that you will find the information very informative. But this statement

(from that site) points to your concern about the possibility of Lyme and/or

co-infections:

" Mycoplasma pneumoniae is also thought to be involved in mediating other

diseases and infections in its monopolization of the immune response. Some

patients have developed severe bacterial and viral infections just after or

during a M. pneumoniae infection. This is thought to occur by the creation

of an environment that is anatomically, physiologically, and/or

immunologically conducive to other organisms for invasion as well as for

cellular damage. "

I really hope your daughter recovers quickly and that she does not have Lyme

disease (I have also had it from very early childhood and only received a

diagnosis 18 months ago - I'm 47!) I wouldn't wish it on anyone. However,

if your daughter was diagnosed with Lyme (even if it was one doctor against

even 20 infectious disease specialists), if it were me, I would ask for a

copy of her western blot and check any positive bands with the guidelines

written by Dr. Burrascano, one of the team of docs who discovered Lyme and

the most experienced Lyme doctor in the US). You can find his guidelines

here: http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/BurrGuide200509.pdf.

If you indeed trust the doctor who diagnosed her with Lyme disease, I

recommend you read all that you can about it (my website at

www.LymeDiseaseResource.com is a good place to start), and follow his/her

treatment.

Good luck and God bless -

Jenna

www.LymeDiseaseResource.com

jennasmith1@...