red/hot/puffy knees, positive ANA, everything else negative

[blbriley]

Hello,

I have had issues with red, puffy, warm to touch knees off and on for a few years. At first I really didn't think much of it because it happened so sporadically and I wasn't having any pain. However, over the last year it has happened much more frequently and has become much more irritating and even painful at times. It also has began happening to my feet/ankles as well. When I finally went to the doctor for this specific issue they did ESR, CRP, RF, and ANA lab work. From what I understand my ESR, CRP, and RF came back normal. However, my ANA resulted at 1:320 speckled pattern. Because of my symptoms and the positive ANA I am now being sent to a rheumatologist for further evaluation. I am wondering if anyone else has had similar symptoms and lab results that could give me some insight on their particular issue?


**Also, other symptoms I talked to my PCP about include extreme fatigue, random numbness and tingling in various parts of my body, chest pain, and burning skin sensations. She told me these things may or may not be related to an autoimmune disorder and would be smart to mention them to the rheumatologist when I finally see her.**


Thanks,
Brit'nee

[Nodocneeded]

I would say get checked for Lyme disease from Igenx or go to a Lyme literate medical dr. For clinical diagnoses. Just because you don't remember pulling a tick off your body means nothing!!! And this crap that you can only get Lyme from black legged deer ticks is the biggest lie and I can show you 100% proof that what I am saying is true. Lone star ticks carry Lyme disease or borrelia B. Bacteria infection, along with many other coinfections and I can email you the proof because I have the proof.  I don't care what the CDC says. The CDC is corrupt to the core!!! And please don't take my word, YouTube Lyme CRYME and learn about our great CDC!!! Also  Labs like quest and labcor only look for antibodies to the Lyme bacteria and not for the actual bacteria, it is well known that the Lyme bacteria will actually suppress ones  immune system, hence, your test  could come back negative because your immune system might not be making the antibodies to fight the actual infection. You can also Google MSIDS check list, if you do, look at all the symptoms. Every ones immune system is different so the stronger immune system the less symptoms one might have and the ones that have more disfunctional immune systems the more symptoms they will probably have. Also YouTube Dr. Steven phillips Lyme disease and watch every video you can because you won't get all the knowledge from watching one video. Even cancer is from immune disfunction. I am not diagnosing you With anything so please do not think I am. What I am trying to do is help you see that you are your best advocate and you can learn more then Any doctor knows by asking yourself questions and research.  I will say I had all your same symptoms and more,  believe me and I will say this with conviction... Do not let any doctor tell you your symptoms are all in your head and all you need is a anti depressant because they will try to make you believe your making things  up or your just stressed.  If you have the Lyme test done from  labcorp or quest  make sure they also check your CD57 count because infections like Lyme affect the CD57 count. I would Have a entire vitamin, nutrient deficiency test. You can even send a sample of your hair off to a few labs and you can find these labs online that will check EVERYTHING for like $150 -$200.00. if your deficient in one vitamin or nutrient there is a very great chance that your deficient in other things also and that's why all of them should be checked in my opinion. Don't leave a stone unturned and do not take immune suppressants without knowing what's going on. You need your immune system but it needs to be balanced and Instead of finding out why the body is attacking itself (autoimmune issues), they will just give you immune suppressants which fixes nothing!! If something is wrong fix the problem, don't treat the symptoms because again, what does that do for the root cause???  Symptoms come about to warn us that something is wrong that needs to be addressed. I hope this makes some sense. Please research low dose neltraxone (LDN). Google LDNresearch, LDNscience because most autoimmune diseases again are immune disfunction causes by something, including cancer. Also YouTube  "LDN the game changer" . Again The Main stream medical Drs only treat symptoms And that's what BIg pharma wants. They  know nothing about curing "disease"!!  They don't make money from healthy people. Don't let your doctors guess, make them prove there guesses!!! Go to a functional dr if you can't get answers. Do you have any digestive
  issues? Have you had any vaccines? The body just don't attack itself. The only time your body should attack itself is if you get a transplant from someone. If you have any questions just ask and I'll try my best to help. I am not a doctor but I do ALOT of research every single day. Good luck and I hope you find out what's going on.

[TheLightSeeker]

Before you consider pursuing Lyme's
disease diagnosis a suggested by Nodocneeded, which is notoriously
complicated and lengthy, try to rule out the easier and more obvious.
Have the follow-up A/I testing, but also get the thyroid test I suggested and TPO & TG antibodies tests as well, to rule out Hashimoto's.
Do not go only by TSH results, which could be misleading and not necessarily representative of thyroid function!!!
The LDN suggestion is worth looking into.
Cheers,
Niko

[TheLightSeeker]

Hi Brti'nee.
Your Rheumatologist might order ENA tests :
Sm, RNP, SSA, SSB or Scl-70, following your 1:360
titre with speckled pattern.
This investigation  focuses on ruling in or out the following
A/I conditions: SLE (Lupus), Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Sjogren's Syndrome and Scleroderma.

The one particular condition, which should have been
already checked, is Hypothyroidism type 1 and type 2.
Free T3, Free T4 and Reverse T3 are the tests for low thyroid function.
And the reason I'm suggesting this is based on my own
observations:
When I had been studying Dr.Barnes work, one particular finding stayed with me :
From ALL the thousands of patients he treated for hypothyroidism (using natural desiccated thyroid ) NONE of these patients developed Lupus!
And NONE of the ones who had been already diagnosed with Lupus, developed any new signs of  of organ involvement, while being treated by Dr. Barnes for hypothyroid!
And the same can be said for many other serious conditions.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Best wishes,
Niko

[blbriley]

Hello! Thanks for your response. This is very helpful information,

My current PCP has not ran any labs on my thyroid. My prior PCP (had to change due to getting married & changing insurance) checked my TSH levels, which came back at 3.680. I was told this was normal. This was the only thyroid level I had checked. This was September of last year - I was having the same symptoms then, but had not yet brought them up to the doctor because I did not think much of it at the time.

The reason for testing my thyroid levels with my last PCP was due to anxiety issues. She told me sometimes thyroid problems caused anxiety, which I have and seemed to develop seemingly out of nowhere.

Do you agree that a 3.680 TSH is normal? I do not yet have an appointment with the rheumatologist (waiting on referral process) but am wondering if I can ask her about testing these levels at my visit or if I should contact my current PCP to see about ordering the lab.

Thanks again,
B