ANA Blood test & swollen glands & neck stiffness

[kittyIM]

Hey all!

I'm currently waiting on my ANA blood test results, they were done on Sept 23rd and they still aren't back. I ring the GP almost everyday, nothing. They keep promising to ring me up and say what's is happening, but they keep delaying & delaying. I was told they'd call today, needless to say I rang them up & no one there could help me. I got off the phone in tears of frustration!

How long does an ANA test take? I've waited almost a month now and no one knows anything

Also, my doctor suspects Lupus because of my flare ups & symptoms. I went to see her last week as my lymph nodes in my arm and neck were incredibly swollen (they often swell until they are red and protruding out of my arm! This is incredibly painful and limits my arm movement drastically.)

My GP just sat there and just said my case is "weird" and she doesn't know whats wrong, she didn't even check my lymph nodes. I went because I could tell I was going into a flare up, well a few days later my tonsils randomly swelled up within hours, the glands in my neck are so swollen they are sticking out my neck & my entire neck is swollen and too stiff to move. I also have a migraine. I have no other cold like symptoms and no fever (actually my temp keeps coming up as 35.4-36!)

Does anyone ever get this? I feel like 50% of my life has been dominated by incredibly swollen glands, lymph nodes & tonsils. I was always sick with this as a kid, but never had a fever & never had strep throat, just random & extremely painful episodes of swelling.

Any advice on pain killers/symptoms/ANA waiting times greatly appreciated! I can't get out of bed today & have so much to do

Thanks everyone, sorry for going on, today I am just feeling sorry for myself! xx

[Purpletop]

Sounds like your immune system is active at the moment, all that cell debris being ferried around your body to be discarded, with your lymph glands acting as traffic lights, hence your glands' inflammation.

I don't understand the delay - you've had these symptoms for so long now, there's obviously something going on, I'd expect your doctor to be a lot more responsive.

ANA should not take longer than 10 days, so what are they telling you as being the cause of delay?

[kittyIM in reply to Purpletop]

Hi Purpletop, thanks so much for your reply!

I agree, I have no other cold like symptoms and it just appeared and then went away a day later, just leaving behind extreme fatigue, weakness, slightly swollen glands and a weak voice.

No one has given me a reason other then saying ANA blood tests take a very long time, I've done research and after speaking you and misty14 I realise that isn't really the case!

Thank you for your advice, I will chase this up again on Monday and really push for an answer. My health is deteriorating constantly and my doctors just keep telling me I'm "weird" and that something is wrong but they don't know what, which isn't good enough anymore.

Thank you! x

[Purpletop in reply to kittyIM]

If they don't know what's wrong with you they should refer you to someone who can, not just send you home with a 'weird' label. And even if ANA comes back negative, you should be prepared to argue that you should still be referred on the basis of symptoms alone. Remind your gp that they are supposed to treat the patient not rely only on blood test. So as long as you aren't feeling well, the gp must do everything he can to get you better even if that means accepting he doesn't know what's wrong with you and refer you.

[misty14]

Hi Kalmiller

So sorry to read how poorly you are. Do you see a Rheumatologist?. Are you due an appointment?. Might be worth seeing if you could go via a cancellation if you ring the clinic. Your GP should chase those ANA results as Purpletop says they should be back by now! I hope you get help soon. X

[kittyIM in reply to misty14]

Hi Misty14, thanks for your advice!

My doctor said she has no reason to refer me to a Rheumatologist, (despite my long list of symptoms) I'm going to challenge this. Hopefully the ANA will show something useful.

Does it take longer to get ANA results if they are positive perhaps?

Thanks for your advice and time x

[misty14]

Hi Kalmiller

You can insist you want a referral to a Rheumatologist because of your symptoms. It's your right as a patient!. It would be easier if the ANA comes back positive , you wouldn't have to fight your GP. There is the possibility that your bloods might have got lost which is why your GP should chase them. Results shouldn't affect length of time for them to come back!. Good luckX

[sezzie]

Hi Kalmillar, I'm sorry to hear your so poorly at the moment and clearly being treated very badly by your gp. If you had your ana test in September then it should be back by now. I think mine came back in about a week and my gp phoned to say it was positive and was referring me to a rheumatologist. My symptoms apart from the sore throat were exactly the same as yours to start, in fact my family called me robot for weeks as I couldn't even turn my head. I went to see a rheumatologist privately on my Dr's recommendation as the nhs wait was about 9 months which I did and was diagnosed with lupus. My advice to you would be to book an appointment with your gp and voice your concerns, break down if you have to as their not the ones living with all this uncertainty and I'll health. Good luck to you and please keep us posted. X

[sezzie in reply to sezzie]

Ps I forgot to say, have they checked your esr and crp levels? These will show if their's inflammation or infection.

[kittyIM]

Hi all, thanks so much for your help & advice!

I rang up today to speak to a doctor and they came back today, negative! No explanation of why so late & no explanation of why my doctor didn't call me, as she said she would. The GP I spoke to was just someone on call, so she didn't know anything about my case.

I'm at a bit of a loss now as to what to do. I've got an endocrinologist appointment at the end of next week, I'm hoping they will be more helpful.

My ESR is actually abnormally low, its 2 mm/h and out of their reference range. And my CRP came back as <5 mg/L (ref 2-7) so I think thats ok?

Thank you all for your help! Back to the drawing board xx

[SVillavicencio]

hi. My daughter began with the stiff neck and the over inflamed thyroids (very painful as well). then that kinda' went away and her feet began swelling. I took her to the docs and they said it might be her flat foot, but then her joints started hurting in her hand. I took her to the docs this week and told them that it wasn't normal and that it wasn't fair for her (11yrs old) to be in so much pain. They finally did labs and x-rays. Yesterday I was in and was told that her ANA was positive (test took 3days) and that with the symptoms displayed she has lupus. I'm just down founded

[Winniesue]

I would suggest you ask to have them tested again. There should be no reason they are not back yet.

[Jessbeba]

Hey I have similar symptoms did you ever find out what it was cause the neck swelling and all ?