I've not been diagnosed with Lupus, but I do have many of its symptoms. I've had a few blood tests and the ANA keeps coming back as negative. Has anyone had several negative ANA results and after several years get a positive? They seem to use this as the main diagnostic to confirm if you have Lupus etc even though 30% don't have positive ANA...
Many Thanks
Hi. I’ve never had anything more than a weakly positive Ana which was back in 2011 but have been diagnosed since 2001. There are lots of other ways of diagnosing Lupus and new antibody tests being developed all the time.
I think I may have posted about this just a couple of weeks ago.
Ditto what Clare has said Chris, I have only had one positive ANA, an experienced and knowledgeable Rheumatologist would look at the whole of you, and not reply on blood tests.
My dermatologist had practically called me a hypochondriac, because my labs come back negative. He has told me to lose weight, get active and not to put ice in my water. He stresses me worse. I have all the classic symptoms and my mom had Lupus, but no one in the area wants to diagnose me. I can’t just keep getting steroid shots.
Did the rheumatologist tell you what he is leaning towards? He may think you are heading toward autoimmunity but cannot make a specific diagnosis yet.
Hi there - I am negative ANA but have low complement 3 and 4 and low white blood cells - and therefore I have "hypocomplementemia" as my consultant rhuemy says - so, along with all my very obvious symptoms as you'd expect (was having a flare when I saw my Rheumy last time and this has all been going on for years and years), have been diagnosed with SLE. Sadly the registrar obviously doesn't think I have SLE and this has led to obviously differing review letters to my GP and myself - not very helpful with Occupational Health - although they are looking at the Consultants letters. Many days of confusion and upset for me due to this however. Anyway, Paul at Lupus UK was very helpful with this and sent me a link to the guidelines for diagnostics for SLE and here is the link - you will be able to identify from this if you have lupus. academic.oup.com/rheumatolo... Bit wordy, but nearer the end of the article it gives the list of bloods and symptoms required for diagnosis. Hope it helps and hope you're feeling OK. All the best, D
I am ANA negative but have lupus as well as many other auto immune conditions. A negative ANA does not exclude lupus, just as a positive ANA does not confirm it.
A lupus specialist stated that it can still be lupus with a negative ANA result and a positive ANA does not always mean lupus - other health problems exhibit positive ANA results.
Hi ChrisCarter,
A 'positive' ANA test result is not sufficient enough to make a diagnosis of lupus, an ANA test determines whether or not a person has an autoimmune condition. Around 5% of people with lupus will have a 'negative' ANA result.
dsDNA antibodies are very specific for lupus (as they are not typically seen in any other condition or in healthy population) only approximately 60% of people with SLE will test ‘positive’. Therefore if someone is positive for these antibodies, it often means they have lupus, but if they are negative it does not necessarily mean they do not have lupus. For more information, you can read our blog article on ‘getting a diagnosis of lupus’ here: lupusuk.org.uk/getting-diag...
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