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A Big Hello to all! Positive ANA screen.
My First Post, What Has Helped Me and a Positive ANA Screen
13 minutes ago - 0 comments
For my first post I thought I would repeat some answers I have found for me, abbreviated from my "About Me", because my hope is that perhaps this will help one of you. Prayer, exercise, eating wisely, giving to others, and managing all those emotions and stress with good habits: these are my philosophies for healing and having a happier life while I'm on the very bumpy road to health. Does this mean I can do all these perfectly all at once? Nope. I know I can't, however, I can keep track either mentally, or much more effective, keep track by journalling goals, where I am in these areas. I fail often in one or two areas and that's okay. It lets me know where to focus, while keeping the other principles in the back of my mind and I don't worry too much about slippage. So, don't you either.
I am so hopeful and excited to read your posts and learn from you! I can trace symptoms of Fibro back to my 20's, was diagnosed mid 30's and am struggling a bit more now that I turned 40. Ouch. I'm old and it hurts. Today I got results of an ANA screen. This is a test for autoimmunedisease. I was positive. That means I might be on the road to Lupus or Sjogrens, but I read once that Fibro can give you a positive ANA. Is anyone out there well versed in this chapter? I had a hard time finding what my test results meant on the web, and the Rhuematologist's nurse was too busy to answer my questions. "That's all I can tell you," she kept repeating. My Sm RNP Auto antibody was the highest at 3.8, normal is <1.0. I don't know yet if that's terrible, but the doc told the nurse she was worried about me having the beginnings of lupus. I have all the symptoms of Sjogrens, but she didn't read the tests as me having that. Weird. Tests should always be repeated, I guess, and in March I'll do it again.
Anywho, if anyone wants to post me I would LOVE it! If you are familiar with autoimmune, post me. From what I understand about Fibromyalgia, there is some controversy whether it is an autoimmune disease. Last I read, it was not considered a true autoimmune disease, but could give a positive ANA screen. Seems contradictory, so I am still researching.
13 minutes ago - 0 comments
For my first post I thought I would repeat some answers I have found for me, abbreviated from my "About Me", because my hope is that perhaps this will help one of you. Prayer, exercise, eating wisely, giving to others, and managing all those emotions and stress with good habits: these are my philosophies for healing and having a happier life while I'm on the very bumpy road to health. Does this mean I can do all these perfectly all at once? Nope. I know I can't, however, I can keep track either mentally, or much more effective, keep track by journalling goals, where I am in these areas. I fail often in one or two areas and that's okay. It lets me know where to focus, while keeping the other principles in the back of my mind and I don't worry too much about slippage. So, don't you either.
I am so hopeful and excited to read your posts and learn from you! I can trace symptoms of Fibro back to my 20's, was diagnosed mid 30's and am struggling a bit more now that I turned 40. Ouch. I'm old and it hurts. Today I got results of an ANA screen. This is a test for autoimmunedisease. I was positive. That means I might be on the road to Lupus or Sjogrens, but I read once that Fibro can give you a positive ANA. Is anyone out there well versed in this chapter? I had a hard time finding what my test results meant on the web, and the Rhuematologist's nurse was too busy to answer my questions. "That's all I can tell you," she kept repeating. My Sm RNP Auto antibody was the highest at 3.8, normal is <1.0. I don't know yet if that's terrible, but the doc told the nurse she was worried about me having the beginnings of lupus. I have all the symptoms of Sjogrens, but she didn't read the tests as me having that. Weird. Tests should always be repeated, I guess, and in March I'll do it again.
Anywho, if anyone wants to post me I would LOVE it! If you are familiar with autoimmune, post me. From what I understand about Fibromyalgia, there is some controversy whether it is an autoimmune disease. Last I read, it was not considered a true autoimmune disease, but could give a positive ANA screen. Seems contradictory, so I am still researching.
3/29/10
I am 25. Been suffering with many problems for about 8 months. I have a positive ANA. Speckled pattern. first ANA was 1:1280 speckled. Talked the doctor into repeating it hoping it was a lab error and the second came back 1:10240 speckled. My nephrologist ordered it and then referred me to a rheumatologist. I see the nephrologist for the proteinuria. ANCA, C3, C4 came back normal. Rheumatologist ordered CBC, CMP, ESR, U/A, ANTI-SMITH,ANTI-RNP, SSA, and SSB. Everything came back normal. I had a splenectomy in 2001, I had an autoimmune disease, ITP. Rheumatologist thinks Lupus but right now I only have 2 symptoms. He said he could lightly see the malar rash but wants me to expose myself to sulight to see if it pops out. He said if it does that will be my other 2 symptoms and confirm lupus as my diagnosis. I am kind of wondering, since all the labs came back normal, if it might be fibromyalgia. I have pain all over, but the pain seems to be more nerve then joint. But I do have joint pain. Mainly my shoulders, elbows, and wrists. I see the rheumatologist the end of April so hopefully I'll get some answers then but I am at my whits end.
Some of my symptoms:
Jaw pain when chewing
Headaches
Joint pain
Tired
Achy
Back pain
Back pain in rib area
Sporadic shooting pain
Forgetfulness
Diarrhea - occasional blood
Abdominal pain/cramping after eating
Occasional trouble sleeping
Frequent uti
Proteinuria
Occasional nausea
Painful periods
Worsening acne
Occasional chest discomfort when inhaling/exhaling
I am 25. Been suffering with many problems for about 8 months. I have a positive ANA. Speckled pattern. first ANA was 1:1280 speckled. Talked the doctor into repeating it hoping it was a lab error and the second came back 1:10240 speckled. My nephrologist ordered it and then referred me to a rheumatologist. I see the nephrologist for the proteinuria. ANCA, C3, C4 came back normal. Rheumatologist ordered CBC, CMP, ESR, U/A, ANTI-SMITH,ANTI-RNP, SSA, and SSB. Everything came back normal. I had a splenectomy in 2001, I had an autoimmune disease, ITP. Rheumatologist thinks Lupus but right now I only have 2 symptoms. He said he could lightly see the malar rash but wants me to expose myself to sulight to see if it pops out. He said if it does that will be my other 2 symptoms and confirm lupus as my diagnosis. I am kind of wondering, since all the labs came back normal, if it might be fibromyalgia. I have pain all over, but the pain seems to be more nerve then joint. But I do have joint pain. Mainly my shoulders, elbows, and wrists. I see the rheumatologist the end of April so hopefully I'll get some answers then but I am at my whits end.
Some of my symptoms:
Jaw pain when chewing
Headaches
Joint pain
Tired
Achy
Back pain
Back pain in rib area
Sporadic shooting pain
Forgetfulness
Diarrhea - occasional blood
Abdominal pain/cramping after eating
Occasional trouble sleeping
Frequent uti
Proteinuria
Occasional nausea
Painful periods
Worsening acne
Occasional chest discomfort when inhaling/exhaling
I'm thrilled to hear that doesn't mean lupus, necessarily. I have no symptoms of lupus, but Grandma H. had it. Hope you don't sfbaygirl. You have plenty on your plate already. Hope you are doing better. How are you PlateletGal? Sfbaygirl, have you seen her site? It's wonderful.
Girls, I'm feeling weird the last 3 days. For about 6 weeks my right side has been giving me moderate pain now and then, and I have been watching it, thinking ovary or PMS. Last few days it has been more often and it's where my appendectomy was-- an ugly rupture. The Doc went in Nov '06 couldn't find the thing it was so messy. So I had drains and he went back in after a month of antibiotics and said it was just as inflamed and took out what he "thought" was appendix. Sent it to the lab to find it was appendix tissue! Just bizarre. Now this. Perhaps intra ab. abcess.
My problem is insurance. Jan would go toward Blue Shield deductable, then we switch to a new Health Savings Account in Feb. and start THAT deductible from nada. Jan is a dead month. My question is the gamble. I don't have a fever yet, so I want to put off being seen till Feb. A CT scan to find out I have gas would be embarrassing. and draining an abcess would be Xpensive.
I'm felling a little frustrated and discouraged. Though I know you can't condone what I am choosing, I would like to know what you would do if you were me. And you had 4 kids, and no more room in the budget to put more on the credit cards. We are replacing an engine in our van. I feel dizzy every now and then, but no fever.
Rediculous the situations we find ourselves in.
Girls, I'm feeling weird the last 3 days. For about 6 weeks my right side has been giving me moderate pain now and then, and I have been watching it, thinking ovary or PMS. Last few days it has been more often and it's where my appendectomy was-- an ugly rupture. The Doc went in Nov '06 couldn't find the thing it was so messy. So I had drains and he went back in after a month of antibiotics and said it was just as inflamed and took out what he "thought" was appendix. Sent it to the lab to find it was appendix tissue! Just bizarre. Now this. Perhaps intra ab. abcess.
My problem is insurance. Jan would go toward Blue Shield deductable, then we switch to a new Health Savings Account in Feb. and start THAT deductible from nada. Jan is a dead month. My question is the gamble. I don't have a fever yet, so I want to put off being seen till Feb. A CT scan to find out I have gas would be embarrassing. and draining an abcess would be Xpensive.
I'm felling a little frustrated and discouraged. Though I know you can't condone what I am choosing, I would like to know what you would do if you were me. And you had 4 kids, and no more room in the budget to put more on the credit cards. We are replacing an engine in our van. I feel dizzy every now and then, but no fever.
Rediculous the situations we find ourselves in.
I'm sorry to hear that you are having a bad day. Remember that it will pass. I know how rough it is.
Is your ANA 40 or 1:140 ? Either way, it is positive. Positive ANA's usually mean you have an autoimmune condition. It is interesting how 29% of fibro and up to 25% of CFS patients have a positive ANA result. Dr. David Bell, a CFS expert, says that many CFS patients have some autoimmunity issues.
A speckled pattern usually goes along with lupus, but for some reason the pattern is seen in many CFS and fibro patients. It doesn't mean at all that we have lupus. ANA results are tricky.... they can't diagnose you or give you really give physicians any specific information. They are ordered to help physicians try to diagnose an autoimmune condition.
My ANA is pos too. My titer says 40? What does that mean, if you know. Also it says my ANA is speckled. Any comments would be great. Having an awful day ;(
Trust me... you are not alone. And all of us here understand how disabling these conditions really are.
btw, I saw that you joined my MSN group. Welcome aboard ! I update the info usually on the daily basis and I hope that you will find some good information in there and support.
Thanks for the info. I think it all goes hand in hand, too. Doc didn't mention biopsy or Schirmer's, but I'd read of them. I sure would like to know so I can "Name That Misery!" and treat the symptoms!! I am on Evoxac, for chronic sinus infections. For the first time in seven years I am off antibiotics! yah-hoo! I guess Evoxac is good for dry eyes dry mouth as well. So.
You are my first comment ever. I'm so excited not to feel so alone in this mess. Thanks so much.
You are my first comment ever. I'm so excited not to feel so alone in this mess. Thanks so much.
Hi Searching,
Welcome aboard ! I also have a positive ANA titer (1:640), but I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I can tell you that 29% of fibro patients have a positive ANA titer and most of them have a low titer... usually around 1:180.
I know that I have dry eyes and a dry mouth, but I haven't tested positive for Sjogren's, although my mother has Sjogren's Syndrome. I believe my symptoms are due to CFS because I've heard other CFS patients complain of the same symptoms. Thank goodness the treatment that I'm doing covers both Sjogrens and CFS (just in case... LOL!) It seems like people with autoimmune conditions and fibro or CFS are like magnets... many of us often get secondary autoimmune conditions.
Good luck with your next doctor's appointment. Two other tests your physician can do to help rule out Sjogren's is a salivary gland biopsy and the Schirmer's testing.
Welcome aboard ! I also have a positive ANA titer (1:640), but I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I can tell you that 29% of fibro patients have a positive ANA titer and most of them have a low titer... usually around 1:180.
I know that I have dry eyes and a dry mouth, but I haven't tested positive for Sjogren's, although my mother has Sjogren's Syndrome. I believe my symptoms are due to CFS because I've heard other CFS patients complain of the same symptoms. Thank goodness the treatment that I'm doing covers both Sjogrens and CFS (just in case... LOL!) It seems like people with autoimmune conditions and fibro or CFS are like magnets... many of us often get secondary autoimmune conditions.
Good luck with your next doctor's appointment. Two other tests your physician can do to help rule out Sjogren's is a salivary gland biopsy and the Schirmer's testing.
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