Advanced Lyme Disease Testing
Advanced Lyme Disease Testing: Identifying Chronic Stealth Infections
You've been sick for years. Crushing fatigue, migrating joint pain, neurological symptoms, brain fog that makes you feel like you're losing your mind. Every doctor says your bloodwork is normal. One even suggested it's anxiety.
At AgeRejuvenation in Tampa, we use advanced Lyme disease testing including Western blot analysis, PCR testing, and co-infection panels that identify the stealth infections destroying your health. This isn't the basic two-tier CDC testing that fails most chronic Lyme patients. We test for multiple Borrelia strains, tick-borne co-infections, and immune markers that reveal active infection even when standard tests come back negative.
Most physicians stop at a negative ELISA test and tell you it's not Lyme. We keep searching until we find answers. Ready to discover if Lyme disease is behind your unexplained symptoms? Schedule your comprehensive tick-borne illness evaluation with AgeRejuvenation today.
What is Lyme Disease Testing?
Lyme disease testing uses specialized laboratory methods to detect Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, tick-borne co-infections, and immune responses that indicate current or past infection. The challenge is that Borrelia spirochetes hide in tissues, form protective biofilms, and suppress immune responses, making detection incredibly difficult with conventional testing methods.
Standard medical practice uses a two-tier approach starting with an ELISA screening test, followed by Western blot confirmation if positive. This CDC protocol was designed for surveillance purposes, not clinical diagnosis, and misses the majority of chronic Lyme cases. The ELISA test only detects antibodies after your immune system mounts a full response, which may never happen in chronic infections where Borrelia suppresses immune function.
We use comprehensive testing panels that include IgM and IgG antibodies to multiple Borrelia strains, direct DNA detection through PCR methods, CD57 natural killer cell counts indicating immune suppression, and complete co-infection screening for Babesia, Bartonella, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, and Rickettsia species. Florida physicians rarely consider Lyme disease, assuming it only exists in northern states. This geographical bias leaves thousands of Florida patients undiagnosed. Contact AgeRejuvenation to access testing conventional providers won't even consider.
Conditions We Treat with Lyme Disease Testing in Tampa
Chronic Lyme disease and co-infections create multi-system illness patterns that baffle conventional specialists. We identify the infectious triggers behind conditions other doctors can't explain.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia
Your exhaustion isn't psychological and your pain isn't imaginary. Studies show up to 50 percent of patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia actually have undiagnosed Lyme disease or tick-borne co-infections. Borrelia bacteria produce neurotoxins that disrupt mitochondrial function and trigger widespread pain through inflammatory cytokine release. We test for the infections causing symptoms doctors dismiss as psychosomatic.
Neurological Symptoms and Brain Fog
Lyme disease crosses the blood-brain barrier, causing neuroborreliosis with symptoms including severe brain fog, memory problems, difficulty finding words, processing speed decline, and peripheral neuropathy. Babesia co-infection adds air hunger and night sweats. These neurological manifestations often get misdiagnosed as early dementia or multiple sclerosis.
Migratory Joint Pain and Arthritis
Classic Lyme arthritis causes pain that moves between joints rather than staying localized. Your knee hurts one week, your shoulder the next, then your ankle.
Cardiac and Autonomic Dysfunction
Lyme carditis causes heart palpitations, chest pain, and electrical conduction problems. Bartonella affects blood vessels and autonomic function, creating POTS-like symptoms.
Psychiatric and Mood Disorders
Borrelia produces quinolinic acid, a neurotoxin that disrupts neurotransmitter function and causes depression, anxiety, rage episodes, and obsessive thoughts that appear psychiatric but stem from infection.
Unexplained Autoimmune Conditions
Tick-borne infections trigger molecular mimicry where your immune system attacks your own tissues. Many autoimmune diagnoses actually represent undiagnosed chronic infections.
Advantages of Lyme Disease Testing with AgeRejuvenation
We provide diagnostic capabilities and clinical expertise that most Florida physicians lack entirely.
Comprehensive Co‒Infection Screening
Tick bites rarely transmit just Borrelia. Most patients carry multiple co-infections including Babesia causing malaria-like symptoms, Bartonella creating vascular and neurological problems, and Ehrlichia or Anaplasma affecting white blood cells. Standard doctors test only for Lyme and miss the co-infections that often cause worse symptoms. We screen for the complete spectrum of tick-borne pathogens in a single comprehensive panel rather than testing one organism at a time.
Advanced Laboratory Methods
We use specialty laboratories that employ more sensitive detection methods than standard commercial labs. This includes extended Western blot interpretation beyond CDC criteria and PCR methods that detect bacterial DNA directly.
Clinical Lyme Disease Recognition
Most Florida physicians have never diagnosed a Lyme case and don't recognize the clinical presentation. We understand that Lyme is a clinical diagnosis supported by testing, not ruled out by negative tests.
Treatment Protocol Development
Identifying infection is just the beginning. We create comprehensive treatment protocols addressing active infection, biofilm disruption, immune system support, and detoxification pathways.
Why Choose AgeRejuvenation for Lyme Disease Testing?
AgeRejuvenation is dedicated to diagnosing the complex tick-borne infections that conventional Florida medicine completely overlooks. We combine advanced laboratory testing with clinical expertise in recognizing and treating chronic Lyme disease and co-infections.
Our approach emphasizes thorough evaluation and patient advocacy. You'll understand why standard testing failed you, which specific infections we've identified, and how each component of your treatment protocol targets the organisms destroying your health. We don't dismiss your symptoms or suggest psychiatric evaluation when tests come back negative.
Ready to finally get answers about the infection behind your chronic illness? Contact AgeRejuvenation today to schedule your comprehensive Lyme disease and co-infection evaluation. You're not crazy, and you're not alone.
Local Access & Neighborhoods Served
We proudly serve patients throughout Tampa and the surrounding Tampa Bay communities, including:
- Hyde Park: Convenient access from South Howard Avenue near Bayshore Boulevard
- Davis Islands: Quick route across the Davis Islands Bridge via South Magnolia Avenue
- Seminole Heights: Direct route south on Florida Avenue to downtown Tampa
- Channelside: Walking distance from the cruise terminal and Sparkman Wharf
- Westshore: Easy access via Kennedy Boulevard and the Selmon Expressway
Located at 220 North Howard Ave, Tampa, FL 33606 in downtown Tampa near the Tampa Riverwalk and Glazer Children's Museum, our facility offers straightforward access from I-275, the Selmon Expressway, and all major Tampa thoroughfares. Whether you're commuting from Lutz, Brandon, or Temple Terrace, you'll find our central location easily accessible. Ready to identify the tick-borne infections sabotaging your health? Contact AgeRejuvenation to schedule your personalized Lyme disease evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do standard Lyme tests have a high rate of false negatives?
Standard ELISA and Western blot tests only detect antibodies your immune system produces in response to Borrelia infection, but chronic Lyme suppresses immune function so antibody levels may be too low to detect. Additionally, Borrelia spirochetes hide inside cells, form protective biofilms, and exist in cyst forms that evade immune detection, meaning you can have active infection without producing measurable antibodies. The CDC's two-tier testing criteria were designed for surveillance and epidemiology purposes, not clinical diagnosis, so they intentionally use strict cutoffs that maximize specificity while sacrificing sensitivity.
What are the co-infections often associated with Lyme disease?
Co-infections are other pathogens transmitted simultaneously through tick bites including Babesia, Bartonella, Ehrlichia and Anaplasma, and various Rickettsia species. Most patients with chronic Lyme disease carry at least one co-infection, and these organisms often cause more severe symptoms than Borrelia itself. Co-infections complicate treatment because each organism requires different antimicrobial approaches, and they can reactivate each other during treatment phases.
What is the difference between acute and chronic Lyme disease?
Acute Lyme disease occurs within days to weeks after a tick bite, typically presenting with the classic bullseye rash, flu-like symptoms, and detectable antibodies that respond well to 3 to 4 weeks of antibiotics. Chronic Lyme disease (also called Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome or persistent Lyme) develops when infection goes undiagnosed or inadequately treated, allowing bacteria to disseminate throughout the body, form biofilms, and create multi-system illness affecting joints, nervous system, heart, and cognitive function.
Can Lyme disease be the root cause of my chronic joint pain?
Absolutely. Lyme arthritis is one of the most common manifestations of Borrelia infection and typically causes migratory joint pain that moves between different joints rather than staying localized to one area. The bacteria trigger inflammatory cytokines and immune complexes that deposit in joint tissues, causing pain and swelling that conventional rheumatologists often misdiagnose as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or fibromyalgia.
Does your clinic offer supportive therapies for Lyme recovery?
Yes. Comprehensive Lyme disease treatment requires more than just antimicrobials and includes nutritional support to repair cellular damage, detoxification protocols to eliminate bacterial toxins and treatment die-off reactions, immune system modulation to restore proper function, and targeted supplementation addressing specific deficiencies. We also provide biofilm disruption protocols that break down the protective matrices Borrelia creates to evade treatment, mitochondrial support to restore cellular energy production, and anti-inflammatory therapies to reduce tissue damage.
Our Medical Network: AgeRejuvenation is proud to partner with our sister clinic, Reboot Vitality, to help you overcome burnout and reclaim your edge.
Together, we provide a premier ecosystem to Restore, Recharge, and Reboot your health through precision medicine.