Gingergrrl
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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 )