Positive ANA?? what now?

[Amywoodx]

Hi i'm really quite annoyed tbh my GP told me my blood test was only "slightly high" whilst the recepionist told me they were normal. both were clearly not true as i requested my results and it says in red "positive speckled ANA Antinuclear antibody" in red with exclamation marks . it also says titre: 1:160

does anyone know what this means? i have a priv rheumatology appointment tomorrow, not sure what he's going to do with this information?

my symptoms are joint pain which comes and goes but my main issue is my back and shoulder and neck pain which bothers me every minute of the day and is worse in the morning. my lower back has become very bad too.

[helixhelix]

when docs (and receptionists!) say your blood tests are normall they are looking at the functional tests (liver, kidney, inflammations etc)

ANA is an antibody test as a diagnostic. A positive suggests that you do have an auto-immune issue.

[Amywoodx in reply to helixhelix]

oh that's interesting to know, i saw the rheumatologist on friday and he said he was pretty confident that there isn't an autoimmune disease but bc of the sudden onset and how long it has lasted he feels it may be a muscoskeltal problem. he advised that i try physiotherapy and if that doesnt help then get referred for an Mri. was slightly disappointed as this means months of waiting again

[nomoreheels]

Hiya Amy. As I understand it the titre is low, ‘normal' people may have a borderline weak positive test of 1:160 but, add in other positive tests for RD (ESR/CRP, RF, anti-CCP) plus examination determining & imaging showing inflammation then you're leaning toward a potential diagnosis. Even then only around half will have the same ANA result. So, the higher the titre the more likely it will result in a rheumatic disease, your result is less conclusive, I'm afraid that's not so helpful. Speckled, that could relate to any of a number of other autoimmune condition as well… Sjögren’s, Lupus, Scleroderma & others.

Hopefully the private Rheumy you see tomorrow will be thorough & you'll find out one way or the other just what is going on. It's not that unusual to have a new raft of tests, he/she may not wish to rely on any tests already done & do his/her own, so don't think he she is starting afresh to bump up any additional fees. One I saw for another condition wouldn't look at any of my results I took with me & to be honest I was pleased! You have checked if you are diagnosed he takes NHS patients & you can be transferred promptly to his clinic? 

Let us know how you get on.

[nomoreheels in reply to nomoreheels]

I meant to add, take heart in when my ANA was tested it was listed as negative, never changed even though it was done every 3 months or thereabouts, & I’m seropositive. My other blood results, as given (including RF), changed according to how well controlled I was at the time, if I happens to be in flare my values (inflammatory & such) were higher.

[Amywoodx in reply to nomoreheels]

hi it says my CRP ESR etc was within normal limits. I’ll show him the results and see what he says and i should have checked if he does nhs too actually, I don’t think he does !

[nomoreheels in reply to Amywoodx]

Ah well, fingers crossed he does & it's an easy transition.

[medway-lady]

I'm pANCA and as far as I know its sort of similar and means a genetic auto immune issue but that doesn't mean you actually have anything wrong. Just means you might and it may be progressive and in my case it started with thyroid then RA. But its not automatic that you'll get anything at all just you have a genetic disposition towards something but what what kicks off the gene into actively in attacking the body is not known. In my case once my thyroid was destroyed the antibodies started with my joints. The worst thing as far as I know is that its an unstoppable process nothing can manipulate the genes yet but is treatable and I think it may actually be easier to treat as the cause is clear. I'm not medically qualified so this is just my opinion but I'd say don't worry about it as clearly I was born with this gene but nothing happened until I was 30 and RA around 40 but its been treated and I have no real issues at all. It was the Nephrologist which tested my ANCA looking for a cause for a AKI and the ANCA was not responsible in any way so he explained why they'd tested me. In the UK I don't think its a common test.

[Amywoodx in reply to medway-lady]

Really happy to hear that it's been treated and you haven't got any current issues now! Definitely gives me some hope

[nomoreheels]

How did the appointment go Amy?

[Amywoodx in reply to nomoreheels]

So the rheumatologist said he was pretty confident that there isn't an autoimmune disease at present he said the ANA test is a pretty weak test and doesn't really mean anything but it's better to check still. He said bc my inflammatory markers and blood cells etc were all normal he wasn't concerned that it was anything serious and didn't want to do any further blood tests. He ruled out other things like lupus and asked if I'd ever had an inflammatory disease of the eye and kidneys etc. but bc of the sudden onset and how long it has lasted he feels it may be a muscoskeletal problem which still isn't great to hear imo but glad it's not been totally dismissed. he advised that i go and try physiotherapy and if that doesn't help then get referred for an Mri from physio. I was slightly disappointed as this means weeks of waiting again.