2 Year old positive ANA, High Sed rate and more what could this mean?

[mclark51507]

My 2 year old son has been sick for over a year now with a number of things. He has had blood work done several times and his sed rate has been high everytime. It has been as high as 88 in March 2009 diagnosed as adnoid virus, Feb 2010 Sed rate was 38, March it has been done 2 times which was 74, 48. Both of these times he was not sick at the time it was done. His ANA was positive and had a speckled pattern, his rh was negative. They did more blood tests and urine test. His urine test was negative. His immunogobulins was a little low, electrolytes wer ok, complements were ok, IBM was 37. He has had vomiting and fever many times and usually gets sick every week going two weeks at the longest. He had strep that was recurring for almost 3 months. We had his tonsils removed and then he got adnoid virus which he has been diagnosed with many times. then pink eye the next day, then strep 2 days after that. He went a week without being sick and this week he had a cough. He went in and his xray showed a touch of pneumonia. He has not been running fever though and it has been before Christmas since he has had his high fever spells. Most of the time when he is sick he will run really high fevers for a week straight. They will go up to 105 and it takes doubling motrin and tylenol, luke warm baths, and rubbing with alchol to get it down. However, he has not had this inthe last couple of months. He has been hospitalized twice with high fever and high sed rate and wbc. His white blood count is only high when he is sick though. He has a lot of pain at night in which he will just scream and tremble every couple of hours. He has been doing good this week but I am not sure what to do while waiting for the DNA test for Lupus. Do you think this could be Lupus? It runs in my family as my sister and grandmother had it. Me and my other sister are both markers for it. I know it is extremely rare but what else could all this mean? Please help.

[Abhijeet Ghosh]

Dear Mother,
Well all the tests show a positive nature towards autoimmune disease.
Yes it can be lupus also.
Here we are dealing with multiple organ involvement.
I will not try to explain the manifestations much here as the disease can virtually involve any system of the body.
But if your treating doctor needs DNA test for lupus, then we will have to wait for the verdict.
However please go for a second opinion and start the medicines which will  help in controlling the flare up patter of the disease. Here the aim is not to prevent the disease but to stop the flaring up of the disease.
So lets wait and watch and take a second opinion.
If you need any help from my side, or any doubt clarification, please discuss.
Regards..

[MegaMunstr]

A related discussion, 2 year old daughter was started.

[mclark51507]

Well,
we went to the rheumatologist. He told us we needed to go to a pediatric rheumatologist and a immunologist. He says his blood work shows an immune defficiancy and something rheumatoid. He said he could still have lupus or JRA.However, we are military and are having a lot of issues getting our referrals to these pediatric specialist. He said it was a prety serious matter but our PCM on base is not very responsive to our needs. My son did have a positive ANA-SM I think its called smiths. His CMP was fine they said but Imnot sure what he was testing for with that. The rheumatologist asked if we had been to infectious disease and when we said yes he asked if they ruled out cancer. They never mentioned cancer but one time and we are not going back there. Im really worried and confused and dont really no what to do while we wait and wait.

[mclark51507]

Well, we have his appointment set up for the rheumatologist. He had his ana smith blood test come back positive. However, all the other tests were negative. So, they said they are leaning toward lupus but he needs to be diagnosed by a specialist so that he can take in his symptoms and everything. I am hoping to find out soon.

[Abhijeet Ghosh]

Please don't think it a a "Cancer".
DNA results are 99% sensitive so lets hope for the results.
However if it comes to be negative, still treatment for Lupus needs to be carried out.
Seeing a Rheumatologist is the best option presently.
Regards..

[mclark51507]

The waiting is getting extremely difficult. I asked the doctor what we would do if all these tests come back negative and she said I do not know. We are getting referrals to go to a rheumatologist but it will take time. Is there still a chance he could have Lupus even if these other tests come back negative? Will the DNA be a deffinite answer to see if he has lupus? I dont think he could have cancer. Wouldn't something else show up if it was cancer? I asked the doctor about treatment and she said she could not put him on anything before a diagnosis because it could do more harm then good. She has never diagnosed a child with these symptoms and I think now that we know his ANA is positive and sed rate is always high that we should be seeing a rheumatologist.