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I hear the question as why did you have one band present, and what does this mean.

There are several bands that can show on a western blot for lyme disease. Some are quite specific to the bacterium of Lyme disease and are not caused by other bacteria, some are less specific and caused by more than one bacteria.

The surveillance criteria created by the CDC were not intended to be diagnostic criteria, but are widely used as such. Hence a test with specific bands present which are rarely or never caused by bacteria other than Lyme disease may be negative if not enough specific bands are positive. I can't defend the CDC for having created these surveillance criteria, but the bigger problem is the misuse of the surveillance criteria instead of learning enough to interpret correctly.

The next problem is that Lyme bacterium has a phenomenal ability to hide from the immune system, and not generate any response. Different western blots are also more or less sensitive, especially dependent on the area of the country where the presumed source tick bite occurred, versus the area of the country from which specimens were taken to develop the test.

For your reference, I first suspected I had Lyme some 14 years ago, and had a western blot (the better test than the elisa) done. It showed only one band positive. Because I knew one infectious disease specialist, and he knew a little about Lyme disease, I was treated at that time, and started getting better. However I later was referred to another infectious disease doctor who knew nothing about Lyme disease and he told me to stop the antibiotics. In spite of the (slow ) improvement I had had on antibiotics, I stopped. I didn't connect my slow then more rapid worsening to the absence of antibiotics, but within two years of stopping, I was no longer able to work and have never been since then.

I looked at many other causes for my problems before returning heavily to the question of Lyme disease. I had a cooperative physician and doors I wanted to open, we opened, including repeating different types of Lyme tests. In all I had seven Lyme tests. Only the sixth was positive, and it was done at a lab famous for the most sensitive western blots especially in areas of the country other than New York/Connecticutt/Pennsylvania, where I had spent very little time.

On antibiotics, I very slowly improved. Off antibiotics (even for a day) I got very markedly worse. On IV antibiotics, I got very markedly better, and it was an amazing difference. I wasn't quite as bad as the worst case shown in Under Our Skin, but I was similar and could relate greatly. I am still on very high dose antibiotics, but I have gained enormously from the eight years of this treatment I have had. I am no longer bedridden and immeasurably stupid and in horrible pain every moment. Big gain! Not everyone has identical symptoms, lyme is extremely variable in presentation.

I urge you to see a Lyme literate doctor who is a member of ILADS. Find out your own body's truths from a reliable source.