elevated ANA levels

[jules9991]

At my yearly physical (basically for the purpose of obtaining a refill of my thyroid medication), my blood pressure was skyhigh (160/100).  My gynecologist was concerned and ordered an EKG.  The EKG had an abnormal reading (is this common???).  Since my gynecologist is not a heart specialist, he referred me to my family doctor or an internist.  I went to my family doctor.  He did a blood draw and my ANA levels were very elevated (he said they were the highest he has ever seen without there also being elevated inflammatory levels).  He asked me if I was having a lot of pain and I told him I was, but I certainly don't go to the doctor for pain (I just deal with it).   He put me on methotrexate for 6 weeks and I went back to the doctor yesterday.  I haven't noticed a difference with the methotrexate and, in fact, the pain has worsened.  He repeated the labs yesterday, but I don't have the results.  

I am now taking blood pressure medication and thyroid medication and both are now within the normal range.

What could be my problem?  MS, RA, Lupus???  

[Pitbulldude]

I've been seeing doctors for nearly three years. Rumatolegest , neurobiological docks, Stanford twice. The blood work from Stanford came back with a high Ana level 1:340 so I went to the rumatolegest and I was tested for "thc or something like that with levels of 1, 2, 3 and so on and they came back negative. But he said I have some thyroid auto emiun syndrome. I have bad upper feet and around the ankles pain and abdominal pain. What do I do next. Signed broke.

[cat33]

My initial visit was with a rumatologist. She told me my ANA level was not high and I had no arthritis what so ever. Not true I've been suffering in silence for years I have 4 ruptured disks which are now arthritic degenerative arthritis in my lower back plus no cartlage on my knee caps. And the list goes on .Anyway I recently had a ton of tests done for various reasons and thats where the question of ANA2 comes up. I am now scheduled to see an endocrinologist on Wednesday. Hopefully she will have some solutions for me.

[sktmom]

ANA is often used is diagnosing autoimmune diseases as is ANA2. You can find most blood tests on www.labtestsonline.org. There are some autoimmune diseases that will go along with your high blood pressure, but it would require other blood tests. Have they run an Sed Rate (ESR) or an Rh test?  What about a baseline echo or pft? I also think that your primary isn't the best person to be seeing for this. A rheumatologist is actually the expert in diagnosing and treating autoimmune problems. I would ask for a referral to see one.... then you will probably get more definite answers. Remember that autoimmune problems begin to appear over time, so your results to tests will also change over time, so sometimes it will take several different times of bloodwork before your actual illness can be diagnosed. That is why it is even more important to see a rheumatologist because they will recognize those changes. Good Luck!

[cat33]

Still trying to find out what a high reading of ANA2 means. I've gone through the net and the only thing I can find is ANA.  Which  I believe is an autoimmune desiese, but which one??

[Enoch Choi, MD]

Jenny2008 is right, there are many conditions that cause an elevated ANA, you should ask your doctor what you have.

[jenny2008]

Hi,

Raised ie elevated ANA is associated with a lot of disorders like Systemic lupus erythematosis ( SLE) , Rheumatoid arthritis (RA),  Myasthenia gravis .

It is also associated with Autoimmune thyroid disease .

Thyroid overdose can cause high Blood pressure and EKG changes.

Methotrexate is used for the treatment of both SLE and RA. So could be either of that.

Take care and be regular with the treatment.

For hypertension remember to do salt restriction and some mild exercise like walking