to recheck my blood chemistry again in three months? I had it done last week and again my ANA was positive, my ANA titer is 1:160, low wbc under 3000, low rbc. Last year the ANA was positive with titer 1:160, low wbc and low rbc. I do not have the butterfly rash but do have a rash on the upper cheek only on one side but it has been there for ayear and spreading. I have mild arthritis in the hands and feet. Unusaual cyst like nodules that were discovered in '98 on the lung, liver, kidney and now a huge one in the knee joint, all being benign in nature and also throughout my spine a lace like hemangioma benign. I also have spots on my palm and elbow where there are raised itchy blotche areas that come and go. The achey all over feeling etc. I also have pernicious anemia and been giving myself injections every 2 weeks for 8 yrs and a myriad of other annoying medical conditions. He says we should watch the blood work before accusing Lupus and was wondering if this is normal to do? A wait and see approach!
[This message has been edited by NancyH (edited 07-12-2003).]
I was diagnosed with lupus 4 years ago at age 48 by an internist with the empathy of a rock. My ANA was 1:40 (normal is 1:39 or less), so he announced I had lupus.
The rheumatologist I saw next was wonderful and I'd still be his patient if I hadn't moved across the country. He said it would be a gradual process to find out which auto-immune disease I had. That it was probably lupus, but we'd see what symptoms I had and what changes there were in my lab tests over time and those observations would give us an answer. He did repeat my ANA 6 weeks later and it had risen to 1:600 - a step closer to a lupus diagnosis. The doctor said I should take precautions as if I had lupus: avoid being in the sun and be aware I could develop allergies without warning, as lupus patients can do.
Is it plausable if Doc wants 
