ANA Questions - Immune Disorders Message Board

readingteacher · 05-28-2004, 09:28 AM

Can anyone answer a quesiton about ANA tests? I sure hope so!! I had a positive ANA in April 2004. Saw a rheumatologist in May, and while the titre is high 1:320, he doesn't think it is lupus. He ordered more tests, and I see him again in June. However, I had an ANA test done in 2000, and it was negative. How can this be? Is it abnormal to have one be negative and then a few years later, to have it be positive? HELP, please!

lovemythreeguys2002 · 05-29-2004, 01:52 PM

Hi...yes, ANA results can jump around, go from pos to neg...and they do not correlate with how you are feeling. You could hop over to the lupus board, it's quite a busy one.

Lupus can takes years to DX, sometimes it takes a while for things to show up. Did he say why he thought you had the ANA?

teachergirl64 · 05-29-2004, 05:49 PM

I have a wonderful book called The Autoimmune Connection. In the lupus section it states that ANA can be present in healthy people. My family doctor used to tell me that you could have a positive ANA and not have lupus and a negative one with lupus. If you aren't having symptoms of an autoimmune problem, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

patjam · 05-30-2004, 08:05 AM

Hi
Sorry to jump in on this but can someone tell me how the testfor ANA shows or is writen in lab reports when you get a copy of them.
My son James 3 1/2 years has CVID and just had a load of tests done for other things.
Thanks Pat

readingteacher · 05-30-2004, 09:12 AM

To answer your questions, Lovemythreeguys, I have been seeing an orthopedist for arthritis in my neck, and finger joints. They wondered if there was some infection in the joints in my right hand, and sent me for bloodwork. The bloodwork included the ANA, which came back positive, with a titre of 1:320, homogenous pattern. They then referred me to the rheumatologist. After his exam, he doesn't think that I have either lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.

However, I wonder just what is up with me. I was diagnosed with endometriosis, and had a hysterectomy in 1999. I have also been diagnosed with migraines, irritable bowel, chronic sinusitis, dry eyes, and depression. I still wonder just what is going on with me, and if these problems are connected. I see the rheumatologis again in June for results of some follow-up blood work, that he says with definitively confirm or rule out lupus. Any thoughts out there?