Questions posted in the Neurology and Neurosurgery Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Question Title: positive ANA blood results with fibromyalgia???

Forum: Neurology Forum
Topic: Fibromyalgia

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia there years ago, but had been sufferring since 1990. I also have had several major depressions as far back as I can remember. I recently convinced a doctor to do some blood work as I am getting worse and worse all the time, and the ANA blood came back positive. He says this would be the fibromyalgia, but I thought with that that no tests would come back positive? I am afraid I have something else. What can I ask my doctor to make sure they are looking at all angles? I just consulted a neurologist who seemed surprised my bloods came back positive with FM, but he didn't take it any further.

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Dear Susan,
thank you for the question. Positive ANA can mean a lot of things, from nothing (false positive) to something really serioius. There are different types of positive ANA pattern and these are reported as a titer, e.g. 1:2 (low), all the way to 1:512 or 1:1024 (high) or even higher number. . Depending on the titer and the type, your postitive ANA may mean nothing or may indicate a rheumatologic condition.

I suggest that you ask your doctor for the actual titer result and the type,
and if appropriate a rheumatologist be consulted. You are right that with FM all tests usually come back negative or normal.
Good luck and if you live near Cleveland and would like to be evaluated here, we have a world class Rheumatology Dept here at the clinic.
I hope the above information helps.

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