I got back the results of some of the blood tests today. I won’t be seeing the doctor until March 20th, so I won’t be able to get her take on it for a while yet. On the lab results so far I tested positive for three coinfections, and unfortunately it looks like the third will complicate my treatment. I won’t know for sure until I see the doctor.

I’m not going to go into any negative results, but for those who want the gritty details, these are the three positive results:

Human herpesvirus 6 (see the wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_herpesvirus_6 )
This is not the same as the herpes STD commonly worried about. There are lots of different kinds of herpes, including the culprit for Chicken Pox. If I understand the papers I’m reading, this type is commonly found in people with neuroinflammatory diseases. Lyme is just that.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaplasma_phagocytophilum
From my reading, it appears this coinfection aids the lyme bacteria by providing the perfect means for it to pass across the blood-brain barrier, facilitating neurological infection and increasing the severity of symptoms.
Additional information from online medical journals:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/518524
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2168173/
http://lymecommunity.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/2537/page/1
The last one is an abstract posted to a forum, with a link to the full article.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae
This one is frequently found in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Lyme patients, as well as a whole host of other chronic illnesses. Its symptom list alone is very similar to lyme. It appears this one may complicate treatment and lengthen my treatment time.
Additional information:
http://www.immed.org/infectious%20disease%20reports/InfectDiseaseReport06.11.09update/PHA_Nicolson_0709_v4.07.pdf – This one is very clearly written and understandable to a layperson.
http://integrativehealthconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Diagnosis-and-Treatment-of-Co-Infections-with-Lyme.pdf