Aa
Multiple thyroid diseases
I was treated with radioactive iodine for Graves' Disease in 1993. Over the years, my levels of thyroid replacement hormone have fluctuated. Since early this year, I have had problems with my throat...feeling constricted and uncomfortable. Now I have received the results of a test for RA(possibly triggered by a severe hand injury requiring surgery) which thankfully came back negative. However, an ANA test result came back positive. Is it possible that I could have Hashimoto's Disease? Or another endocrine disorder?
Thank you for your help.
Thank you for your help.
I will call my primary care doctor this morning...and see what I can work on next.
All good suggestions. Thanks again.
I'm not sure how reliable the test for RA is. I am rather uninformed about it. I know SOME tests (like lyme or celiac sprue) are not always acurate. Whether it would be of benefit to see a Rheumatologist or not I cannot say.
You know how that goes. It may be a wasted visit, or you may be diagnosed with RA. It depends on how smart your internist is.
A high ANA primarily indicates autoimmune inflamation. It is often used to confirm or rule out certain autoimmune diseases. It is sometimes used as a cancer marker.
Most of the time it just says "inflamation". Which is somewhere in your throat. Probably other places as well. Possibly your bowels, or your joints...
It could indicate RA, or several other autoimmune conditions.
Or it may be one of the antibodies still hanging around from your Grave's. Grave's can be treated, but not cured. You will always have a certain amount of antibodies in your system.
I'd ask for an ultrasound and if that does not reveal enough detail, move on to a CT scan of the throat and find out what is going on in there. Maybe the doctor will go directly to a CT scan.
Could be swollen lymph nodes, or new thyroid tissue growth, like a nodule or something. Hard to say without a look-see.
You know how that goes. It may be a wasted visit, or you may be diagnosed with RA. It depends on how smart your internist is.
A high ANA primarily indicates autoimmune inflamation. It is often used to confirm or rule out certain autoimmune diseases. It is sometimes used as a cancer marker.
Most of the time it just says "inflamation". Which is somewhere in your throat. Probably other places as well. Possibly your bowels, or your joints...
It could indicate RA, or several other autoimmune conditions.
Or it may be one of the antibodies still hanging around from your Grave's. Grave's can be treated, but not cured. You will always have a certain amount of antibodies in your system.
I'd ask for an ultrasound and if that does not reveal enough detail, move on to a CT scan of the throat and find out what is going on in there. Maybe the doctor will go directly to a CT scan.
Could be swollen lymph nodes, or new thyroid tissue growth, like a nodule or something. Hard to say without a look-see.
Thank you so much for this thoughtful response. I will call my dr's office on Monday and ask to be seen again. Sore throat that will not get better...and I do think the throat issue is significant. More than one health care provider has mentioned it to me.
Encouraging to realize that the ANA may well be high because of the Grave's Disease...that had never occurred to me that the disease condition was not ended with the radioactive iodine...I would really like to see the endocrinologist that I used to see b/c my internist has been addressing my thyroid issues for the last four or five years. I am wondering if going to see a rheumatologist would be as helpful at this point...My research online has seemed to indicate that the two specialists look at things differently...What would you recommend?
Encouraging to realize that the ANA may well be high because of the Grave's Disease...that had never occurred to me that the disease condition was not ended with the radioactive iodine...I would really like to see the endocrinologist that I used to see b/c my internist has been addressing my thyroid issues for the last four or five years. I am wondering if going to see a rheumatologist would be as helpful at this point...My research online has seemed to indicate that the two specialists look at things differently...What would you recommend?
Anything is possible. You still have Grave's even though your thyroid may or may not be completely dead. That may be why the ANA is positive.
The ANA may be positive because of your Grave's, or it is possible you may have developed another autoimmune condition.
The throat constriction should be looked into. An ultrasound of the area should tell you what is going on. It may be a nodule or growth from the thyroid-that-would-not-die, or it may be something else.
The ANA may be positive because of your Grave's, or it is possible you may have developed another autoimmune condition.
The throat constriction should be looked into. An ultrasound of the area should tell you what is going on. It may be a nodule or growth from the thyroid-that-would-not-die, or it may be something else.
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