positive ANA

[Gingergrrl]

It was the quote above that made me wonder; although I have been tested for the antibodies he mentioned and my ANA is homogeneous not speckled.

OTH, Even though my ANA pattern was speckled, I am not sure that this factor played any role in my diagnosis or treatment decisions. It must mean something to someone but I still do not understand it to be honest!

There is a benefit that might accrue to me from a diagnosis, even without treatment: I plan to go back to the UK one day and with a 'legitimate' diagnosis I am less likely to be shuffled into the MUS wastebasket and medically neglected.

In that case, it might be worth it.

A positive ANA result can be found in other autoimmune conditions too other than what you have already been tested for so it would be worth ruling out some of the more commonly found things in these other conditions such as acetylcholine and smooth muscle Ab or voltage gated calcium or potassium channel antibodies. GAD65 Ab is another more nondescript one, something which is tested for here as a matter of course when doing an ANA panel.

This is so interesting to me b/c when I saw a rheumy here, he completely dismissed all of my autoantibodies (even though he was a nice man) and would not offer me any treatment. He ran a standard panel (and I was positive for the Hashimoto's antibodies which I already knew) but his panel did not include GAD65, the VGCC antibodies, the cholinergic autoantibodies, etc.

I had to either do these tests on my own through Cell Trend/Germany or through a Neuro and none are part of a standard rheumy panel here. Once they were all positive, then I started to be taken more seriously but if I had stopped with that Rheumy, it would have been over and I would have been left with the "CFS" diagnosis (which is meaningless in the U.S.).

But b/c I kept pushing for testing and treatment, I was then able to do a year of IVIG, with another six months of IVIG to go, and soon Rituximab. But that rheumy said my ANA meant nothing and was maybe even a "false positive" which I thought was nonsense b/c all my life I have a negative ANA and now with 11 autoantibodies, I have a positive ANA? The connection seems pretty obvious in my mind!

Hoping this helps @OverTheHills (and if not it's my random thoughts at midnight here LOL )

 

[sharks]

today i was in the hospital i have some weird symptoms ,, after a cut on my leg like burning and pain in the place after 8 days even though the cut is small , since two days i start having cold feeling , diarrhea , urine burning , muscle spasm in some places , pain in neck and jaw , chest pain and feeling that i lost breath for a second with shortness when i walk and main bronchitis weird pain !! i went to the ER my CBC , LFT , RFT are fine still my urine and stool culture and analysis are not done !!

i cant take tetanus booster, last time i was going to die and i lived in hell for 2 months between staying in hospital or home with daily vising ER from the booster reaction !! the symptoms are weird and doctor told me that vaccine work for 10 years as for 3 years and 8 months its should be still working for me and my symptoms are not specific so he want to wait before he start TIG and heavy antibiotics course

any thoughts ?

doctor asked me if have LUPUS and i answered no but he showed me that my ANA 2 weeks ago came back 1:640 positive !!! after 2nd year my ANA started to positive and now the titre is raising up ,, i think that why 9 days ago i felt fine 95% taking prednisone for CT scan as its immune suppression treatment and cortisone !!

did any one had a change in his ANA years after the illness ?

Mine was 1:160 speckled in March. After prednisone, 2 weeks of doxy and famvir it went down to 1:80 in May. Everything is normal but the Ana test.

 

[Gingergrrl]

Mine was 1:160 speckled in March. After prednisone, 2 weeks of doxy and famvir it went down to 1:80 in May. Everything is normal but the Ana test.

Does your doctor believe there is a direct correlation between the steroid, doxy and Famvir lowering your ANA or that sometimes the ANA titer can fluctuate on it's own? (I do not know the answer and am just curious what your doctor thinks or how he/she interprets it). Do you notice any change in symptoms with the ANA being lower?

 

[TrixieStix]

Now THAT is interesting. I thought it was specific to ME/CFS. Thank you both!

Yes I was thinking before that if my blood work my ME/CFS specialist ran showed low NK Cell function that it would make it certain that I have ME/CFS, but after researching low NK Cell function and realizing it's caused by all sorts of conditions I am no longer viewing it as any sort of "proof" that I have ME/CFS.

 

[sharks]

Does your doctor believe there is a direct correlation between the steroid, doxy and Famvir lowering your ANA or that sometimes the ANA titer can fluctuate on it's own? (I do not know the answer and am just curious what your doctor thinks or how he/she interprets it). Do you notice any change in symptoms with the ANA being lower?

He thinks it fluctuates on its own. I do notice a difference. I couldn't tell you what worked.