VeeJ

Hi, Dove.

Does your labwork show "reference ranges" for each of these, so you can see that the actual values are within the OK range?

Maybe the more important question, though: are these the *only* tests your dr. ran? ANA in & of itself can be tricky & not as foolproof as one might think. Look at Blessed4Life's recent thread on ANA negative lupus for a whole lot more info on tests, results, misconceptions, etc.

FYI, some drs. run ANA but also run additional, thorough & comprehensive tests, all at once/ e.g., they include right off the bat such things as anti-DNA, anti-Sm, anti-Ro, anti-La, serum complement levels, anti-RNP, etc. Ordering a wide array vs. a narrow array is also covered in the Blessed4Life post mentioned above.

Also, what are your symptoms? If you've said before, esp. recently, I apologize for losing track.

There's another hitch with ANA. We all read that ANA is positive in "most" cases of SLE (= *systemic* lupus). But there is a thing called "Ro-lupus". There are also "subsets" of lupus: SCLE (subacute cutaneous LE), DLE (discoid lupus LE), etc. In these subsets, ANA can be positive OR negative.

On a personal note, I was always ANA-negative but finally turned Ro-positive---and BINGO, that sealed the Dx of the SCLE "subset" of lupus. So I know how much stock some drs. put in ANA---too much, for some of us...

Bye for now, Vee