Sjorgren's antibodies

[cbaby56]

My ANA was 1:640 so my doctor ordered Sjogren's antibodies tests. The SSA was .8.0 and SSB was 7.9. He wants to see a rheumatologist for suspected Sjogren's. I don't have any of the dry eye or dry mouth symptoms. Could I still have that?

[slarnerd]

I have very high titers for ssa/ssb but insufficient symptoms for a Sjogren's diagnosis.  The only way they knew to test me for the antibodies is that my baby developed complete heart block in utero (usually a dead giveaway). So you can total test positive for the antibodies but not yet (or ever) develop the actual diseases associated.  I was told I have a 15-20% chance of developing Sjogren's in my lifetime, given these results.

Supposedly 1 in 200 women are positive for ssa/ssb antibodies.  Of those 0.05%, 2% will have a baby afflicted by neonatal lupus (lupus rash or heart block).  However, once you have one child with neonatal lupus, your risk with subsequent pregnancies is 20% or higher.  

So, if you have the antibodies and are thinking of getting pregnant, you should talk to your rheumatologist about this.

[dene1966]

okay.... I am positive for ana and ssb but my lip biopcy was neg. Is that the only way you can tell for sure that you have sjogrens??

[siron]

I have Sjogrens and I have gone through many symptoms.  One day is one thing, Next week is something else. There is inflamation. It's a chronic disease.  There are periods of remision and periods of flare ups.  It is manageable.
There are two types of Sjogren's.  Primary and Secondary.  There are wide number of symptoms and organs that may be involved: Joint pain, muscle pain, nerve pain, GERD, rash in the legs, dry cough, fatigue, and so on.  Not everybody has the same symptoms. You can have a few or several, depending on where your inmune system attacks your body.

A reumathologist is the right specialist to treat it.
Hope this helps.