Positive ANA blood test?

[LoniD]

I'm a 23 year old female.
I recently went to a new family doctor with symptoms of fatigue, hip pain and leg pain (joint hip pain), weight loss, memory loss and confusion.
My doctor did so many test and he got one back today which was the ANA which came back Positive.

What exactly does this mean?
He's sending me to a Internal Medicine doctor, I go next Tuesday.
He also said he was really surprised it came back positive because of my age.

[LoniD]

Thank you both so much. Very helpfull information! :)

[TheLightSeeker]

Hey LoniD.
Welcome to the forum.
The advice form Phtartist is Golden!! She speaks from personal experience
and experience from being an active member in this forum.
One thing to note, as you are having an appointment with an internal medicine doctor, which is great! but...
when and if dealing with underlying pathogenic infections such as Lyme disease and pathogenic mycoplasma, there's a huge controversy with the appoach.
Most doctors WILL NOT dx and consequently treat those underlying conditions properly, as they stand to risk their medical careers.
The (questionable) protocol for diagnosis and treatment is dictated by the IDSA- which is a clear disservice to the suffering patients. Any doctor breaking protocol,could be severely reprimanded.
The only doctors willing to stick out their necks and truly take care of their patients, are LLMDs. And they are becoming a rare breed.
The last LLMD in Ontario and perhaps the only one left in Canada, was probably reprimanded by the college of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for treating Lyme Disease patients, as his office has not been returning any calls since October, I believe.

I don't mean to alarm you, but should this be applicable to you, then at least you have an idea of what's going on, so you can avoid the awful medical merry-go-round! It could keep you in Limbo forever.
You are young , you can get better and resume a healthy normal life!
Please research all this on your own, follow Phtartist's advice
and should you have any questions do not hesitate to post, anytime!
Keep us updated.
Wishing you well.
Niko

[Phtartist]

Hi Loni, i don't understand why he was surprised with a positive ANA in relation to your age.
Positive ANA often means an autoimmune condition. Lupus, Sjogren's. ( which I have, and my daughter has)  are examples of autoimmune cond.
My concern is it is also often triggered by illness taxing your system. In mine and my daughter's case, Lymes disease untreated for years is the culprit.
If you have not been tested for Lymes and associated tick illness, get that done.
It is important to have your labs sent to MDL or IGENIX labs. Basic labs do not use the proper criteria to detect correctly. For myself, I tested at basic labs for nine years for Lymes with negative results when I had the symptoms like yours with no answer.
ILADS OR Dr. Garth Nicholson have sites you can Google which may help. There are Dr. Searches on the sites.
Fibromyalgia does not just develope, there is a trigger for that too.
One dr. Told me that autoimmune symptoms subside when the underlying immune system stress is cleared.
I had very bad memory problems, like where I was driving as I was on my way somewhere, flower names etc. immense fatigue, headaches, pain as you describe that rotated its location.
I hope this is of help to you. Google ANA, there is plenty out there on it. Often it is not a problem if we don't neglect ourselves.
Please test for underlying factors.