confusing symptoms and labs

[bballfanatic]

Hi All!

Hope everyone is well. Wanted to share something w you all and was hoping for some advice/feedback. II’ve been having some discoloration in my hands for the past several years. I’ve seen a few rheumys who didn’t make much of it. Tried nitroglycerin etc. I believe they thought it was Raynauds because my hands were cold. This went on for maybe 10 years. I no longer experience the color changes but I do have a darker pigmentation on the tops of my hands now. They look almost stained.

I went to a new rheumy a few months ago and had labs drawn. Mostly were negative except the following:

ANA: positive/speckled 1:80 titre

PTT (lupus anti coag): positive

SSA RO 52 : positive/elevated

ESR/CRP: elevated

I’m not having any autoimmune symptoms per say. Just maybe the occasional aches/pains associated w aging but nothing out of the ordinary.

Has anyone experienced a similar lab work up.? I have another appt coming up. Anything I should be aware about or ask?

Thanks in advance

[AimeeA]

Are you taking Hydroxychloriquine (Plaquinil) for lupus? That can lead to darkened pigments in your skin.

Also, you might be getting the dreaded age spots as my mother used to call them. Everyone gets them eventually on skin exposed to sun (sun damage related to aging).

You also could have circulatory problems not related to lupus per se. People with heart/circulatory issues can get pooling of blood in hands/feet related to that that can darken the skin.

Not everything is lupus if you have lupus. I was blaming my lupus for some symptoms of tiredness and exhaustion and other issues, only to discover the problem was a thyroid and vitamin D deficiency.

So if your rheumatologist thinks it's not lupus related, you might want to go to a regular GP for a work up for other potential causes or to discover it is harmless normal issues related to aging.

[bballfanatic in reply to AimeeA]

Hi Aimee

Thanks so much for your reply. That’s the issue tho...I haven’t actually been diagnosed with anything. My only real abnormal lab was the RO 52 and ANA ( which is a 1:80 titre)...so I guess it’s possible to have an AI issue just at a loss for what’s going on. The abnormal labs do worry me a bit as well