false positives?

[brnhoff]

i had an mri of brain and came back abnormal dr said my brain wasnt getting enough o2 to meet metabolic demand and said its acute brain ishcma and said i have vessells of a 60 year old and said i tested positive for ANCA and referred me to a ruemtologist so i went and seen her she said that all her patients are in bed with tubes down there throats keeping them alive and not someone who just strolls in her office so she said she thought it was a false positve and was gonna have me tessted again now mind you the first results reference range i beleive were like 0-7 and 0-9 and the first test showed still within ref range but the second time both were in the 20s and she still said its obviously a false positve and asked if i have a cough i said no and she said ok well im gonna send you to an ENT specialist so I dont know what to think of this stuff especially with the second results being through the roof and also the referring dr has me on half babby aspirin a day so all this and i just turned 43

[jane1964]

Hello I have ANCA Mpo positive in the 20s I have had a nightmare for the last couple of years trying to get help and I was able to walk in to see my rheumatologist.But I was infact very unwell felt terrible with very deranged blood tests enlarged lymph nodes.To get a rheumatologist to help had by this point taken years and this was the fifth rheumatologist ! My condition is still not totally named but immunosuppressants have changed my life I have read vasculitis is very hard to get a diagnosis for.I think that mybe because doctors think everyone is critical ill and many especially at the start aren't.I felt really ill by the time I got help. And only in retrospect due I realize just how bad I felt.I suggest you call the vasculitis uk help line or email them ask for advice they were very helpful to me.

[John_Mills Volunteer]

If I was you I would ask for a referral for a second opinion. Where abouts in the UK are you?

[brnhoff in reply to John_Mills]

I'm in the us in Cali

[John_Mills Volunteer in reply to brnhoff]

Would your medical team seek advice from other medical professionals who have experience and knowledge of vasculitis?

[brnhoff in reply to John_Mills]

Yea all I gotta do is bring it up

[Christophene47 in reply to brnhoff]

What you were told sounds strange. Blood oxygen levels can easily be tested by blood gas analysis, and the simple gadget put over the finger you can buy in drugstore called a pulse oximeter. Blood oxygen levels would be a clue as to adequate oxygen is in the body and brain.

Wondering if the scan you had was an angiogram (MRA) or an MRI?

The others are right. Find another doctor who is a specialist in vasculitis. Best of luck.

[Christophene47]

What that Dr.said was simply untrue; many people with vasculitis are out and about, and not bedridden with tubes.They may feel awful, but not bedridden.