Anyone here been told that they have fibromyalgia and their blood results show that they are ANA+? :eek:

Sherri

This is my situation. I have been told I have Fibro but also have a positive ANA. I have had further test for Lupus - antiSm, Sed rate, etc. and all have been negative.

This is not too rare, Sherri. The co-morbidities in fibro are quite high. And in diagnosed lupus, there is fibro co-morbidity.:dizzy: So it's not uncommon to find the 2 together ... but it is also not the rule. Anyway, what you want to do is first take a deep breath. You are not dying.

As Laura has experienced, it is very common to have one lab test positive for lupus, while the others are negative.

I have a strong positive ANA, numerous other weird labs, a number of crossover/indeterminate rheumy dxs, (for 30 yrs. running), autoimmune thyroid disease, and fibro (the latter for about 2.5 yrs.). I do best with self-care & alternative treatments.

FWIW, the research I've been following suggests that there is a common thread in fibro, CFS, the so-called auto-immune diseases, and many mystery diagnosis cases. The common thread is (treatable) infectious agents -- stealth viruses, parasites, amoebas, mycoplasma, mutated strep L-forms, etc, that the body fights in subtle ways causing symptoms we label as above.

Unfortunately it generally takes clinical medicine (i.e. your local GP) about 2 decades to integrate research into standard-of-care. There are many reasons for this, and they have much more to do with the profit motives of modern medicine, than with your wellbeing. So, in the meantime, we're offered antidepressants & pain killers. After all, there is more money in management than in cures. Any MBA student will tell you that repeat customers is where it's at in business.

Sorry, I've become more than a little cynical over the decades. But the cynicism has helped to turn me into a strong, smart, self-reliant woman who consults with healthcare providers, considers & researches their advice, feeling free to hire & fire the providers at will. I refuse to be a victim of side-effects. As a result, I have become healthier due to more effective at self-care. The upshot of which is, on more than one occasion a doctor has been a little stunned & requested file/info searches, believing the file / labs / x-rays in front of them don't match the client. I refuse to assume a "patient" mentality.

Best wishes on your journey.

Thanks, Laura. if you don't mind, I'd be interested in knowing what your symptoms are.

Elmhar,

It does pay to be informed and know whom/what you are dealing with. I am new at this and am exploring all kinds of information, wanting to be as pro-active as I can.

Thanks for your suggestions and sharing what you've learned!

I have a few autoimmune conditions - SLE (lupus), sjogrens syndrome, hashimotos thyroidits, rheumatoid arthritis. Fibromyalgia came about a year after being diagnosed (yeh I got diagnosed with the whole lot in one hit).

It's not uncommon to have fibro with autoimmune conditions. And although I test positive to all these conditions I'm really only symptomatic of sjogrens & thyroid & fibro (not too bad). Seems when there's a cross over like in my case, you don't tend to get them all full-blown. Eg if I just had rheumatoid arthritis (my rheumatoid factor is sky high) it would be quite bad. But I'm not symptomatic at all.

Sooooo... in short - please don't panic about your test results - it might not make a lot of difference to how you live your life (especially once you learn what you can & can't do and what maintenance stuff works for you). :)

My teen daughter and I both have FM but my daughter has had +ana every time for the last 1.5 years. The Dr. seems to think it means nothing at all. She said lots of people have + ana with no other symptoms. I feel like I am concerned but she is not at all. My daughter has alot of unexplained symptoms, But Dr says they are not related at all

I have also had positive ana counts which went to normal when treated for my joint pain and thyroid problems. Even with the joint pain increasing these last few months the ana has stayed normal and nothing else has gone positive either. I suspect if my thyroid went out of whack again I would test positive again and it would say I test positive to lupus and a host of other autoimmune problems that never totally surface in a bad way.

I have been diagnosed with fibro. Had a positive ANA but doc didn't think it was a big deal.:confused: