Yet another question..blood test results

[GracieBee]

Hello all,
I got my blood test results back and my GP is mailing me a letter regarding it. The test shows positive for ANA screening, IFA with homogeneous pattern and a titer of 1.80. Does this relate to a positive MS diagnosis and if so how?
Thanks guys!
Linda

[Jepster]

Hi Mary,

Thanks for the suggestion r.e. buying Vit D3 online, my friend's just found me some on Amazon which are perfect. I've also just added my story on the 'journals' section of my site in the hope that this'll encourage me to keep track of my MS progress... I'll see how that progresses too as I'm not normally very good at such things!

Jep

[twopack]

Hi Jep and welcome to the forum here.  If your doctor was concerned about your low vitamin D level I'm wondering why he didn't give you some prescription strength vitamin D?  He can prescribe a weekly dosage that contains 50,000 units in a single tablet.  

Even with a megadose like this it will take a month or two to get you in a normal range.  Once you are, you can switch to an OTC vitamin D (look for D3).  I buy mine online.  They are capsules containing 2,000 units each.  I take one twice each day.

Anyone with a low level of vitamin D will benefit from supplementing.  It is necessary for healthy bones and plays an important role in calcium absorption.  Some people report a jump in energy with D supplements.

Is there a place you have shared more of your journey with us?  I don't remember meeting but my memory isn't what it used to be.

Mary

[Jepster]

Vit D:  Eek ok, 8,000? My neuro guy sent me to Holland and Barratt to buy some Vit D which i did, but each tablet is only 400 IU. He didn't really specify how much I should take though.

Do you buy regular tablets and take a number of them per day?

Thanks,

Jep

[Quixotic1]

Gracie Bee and Jepster - the ANA is one of the screening tests that is used to look for mimics of MS.  A titer of 1:80 is considered a low titer and is not usually associated with disease.  Anything labeled "high Titer" (usually 1:320 or higher) is more likely to be assicated with an autoimmune disease and is a pointer away from MS.

Vitamin D is rapidly gaining ground as ne of the underlying conditions that rasie one's suscptibility to MS.  We all should strive to have a Vitamin D level higher than 35.  Anyone with loe levels should be on at least 2,000 IU daily.  Personally, I take 8,000 IU daily.

GB - I agree with Lulu.  It is so easy to just go on with life and act as if nothing had happened when symptoms go away.  And as she said, that is the nature of the most common type of MS called Relapsing Remitting MS.  WE might as well call it On Again Off Again MS.

Quix

[Lulu54]

Gracie Bee,
Ahh, you are tempted to  be lulled into a sense of "nothing is wrong" because you feel better?  Good for you to keep this appt. anyway.

Remember that most people start out with relapsing and remitting MS - which means you have periods of good times and some times that aren't so hot.  You may be in the remitting (remission) part right now, and you want to keep it that way.

Let us know what the neuro says, ok?

be well, Lulu

[Jepster]

Hey Linda,

I've just been reading this site and there's so much information on here!! When I first saw my neurologist he sent me off for blood tests, which as far as I understood were to rule out the other 'ms mimics' as they seem to be called here.

When I was called back to see him again, it turned out that my vitamin D levels were really low (the figure was 12 and normal was supposedly 75) and I had a positive ANA (i forget the titer but it was classified as a 'high positive'). I was expecting him to be interested in the ANA, but he wasn't at all, and was more interested in the Vit D levels.

Apparently there is a 'cause and effect' discussion going on as to whether having low vit D levels could cause MS, or result as an effect from MS. I found this quite interesting to hear (though don't quote me on it, this is what he told me!). I'm not on vit D tablets so I'm guessing my levels will have improved.

I agree with you that it's all very interesting... I'm learning so much more about my body through all the tests that I'm having :)

Jep

[GracieBee]

Thank you for your input. This just keeps getting more and more interesting. Now that I am through my last episode or whatever it was I actually feel pretty good and my mind tells me to just cancel the appointment with the neurologist. Of course I will go, partly because I need to and partly because I'm extremely interested in all this stuff.
I'll be posting later on Tuesday with a report from my neuro visit.
Linda

[Lulu54]

Linda,

JJ is right - this is a test for Lupus.... there is no test for MS.

A GREAT site to check out lab results is

labtestonline.org.

Here is the link to their page on ANA -

http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ana/glance.html

be well, Lu

[supermum_ms]

Hi Linda,

There is no blood test associated with MS, so no your results do not relate to a positive MS dx. I think ANA is related to Lupus, but one positive ANA is still not positive from what I can remember. If your going through testing for MS the blood tests are to rule out the many MS mimics, MS is dx by a neurologist and 99.99% of the time with MRI confirmations, see health pages (top right of your screen, yellow icon) regarding diagnosing MS and it will explain it all better.

Cheers.....JJ