# ANA question



## researching (Jun 21, 2012)

I've been seeing a neurologist for numbness and pain in hands, fingers and arms. Now I'm getting pins and needles feeling in my legs and feet. Before that it was months of daily headaches that just seem to go away when the neuropathy started. Now I only get them a few times a week. He did a bunch of blood work and I got copies of them today but he is not open on Mondays to answer my questions. All the bloodwork falls within normal range except the ANA , it shows homogeneous patten 1:160 H . I looked it up on Dr. Google (I know I shouldn't, but...) those results seems to be linked with SLE and MTCD. Does anyone have issues with this or know anything about it. Could it just be related to my hashimoto's?


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

researching said:


> I've been seeing a neurologist for numbness and pain in hands, fingers and arms. Now I'm getting pins and needles feeling in my legs and feet. Before that it was months of daily headaches that just seem to go away when the neuropathy started. Now I only get them a few times a week. He did a bunch of blood work and I got copies of them today but he is not open on Mondays to answer my questions. All the bloodwork falls within normal range except the ANA , it shows homogeneous patten 1:160 H . I looked it up on Dr. Google (I know I shouldn't, but...) those results seems to be linked with SLE and MTCD. Does anyone have issues with this or know anything about it. Could it just be related to my hashimoto's?


Antinuclear Antibodies are "suggestive" of a myriad of things so further testing should be ordered .

But, it sounds like SLE. The test for that would be Anti-dsDNA.

Here is a good site.
http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ana/tab/test

A lot of us here have more than one autoimmune disease going on. It seems to be part and parcel. Sad, but true.


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## researching (Jun 21, 2012)

Thank you so much Andros, you are always so helpful!!! I'll check out those links.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

Good luck, and don't get discouraged. I am currently going through similar. It seems to take sometime to get a diagnosis.


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## researching (Jun 21, 2012)

Thanks for the support and encouragement Webster2! It's so nice to have someone who understands! When I tried to talk to my oncologist about feeling lousy and the neuropothy getting worse, etc...she said "your blood work looks good and I don't feel any swollen lymph nodes, Maybe you're depressed". Aghhhh....

That was what my doctors said to me for years before I finally asked to be seen by a nurse practioner who said "has anyone ever checked your thyroid levels?" Thank God for that nurse practioner, my tsh was sky high which explained all the different things that were going on. That was years ago, but I feel like here we go again.


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

LOL

Oh yeah? LOL Well I'm here to tell you that I am "seronegative RA," which means that NOT ONE BLOOD TEST FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS IS ABNORMAL over the last 20+ years and yet I have the disease [diagnosed on the basis of physical symptoms, how I present to the rheumatologist, and x-rays].

Just because it doesn't show up in the blood doesn't mean you don't have the disease. Though it's always nice to have confirmation by way of bloodwork.

But Andros is right: the ANA positive result can mean a number of different things, which means more testing is necessary to rule out.....


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

This autoimmune stuff is sure murky. I have the patterns for Secleroderma, Sjogrens and Lupus but no definitive diagnosis, yet. I wouldn't really care if I don't ever have another flare. I am trying to do everything I can think of to prevent one!

I had a tough time getting a diagnosis for the thyroid stuff...2 years and I kept hearing menopause, ugh. I am glad that stuff is in hand now that this other business is having a go 'round!

Hang in there! It is comforting to know others are in the same boat.


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## Keba (Aug 11, 2012)

http://www.webmd.com/brain/tingling-in-hands-and-feet

Look at that link under systemic diseases and Hypothyroidism is one of the causes for your sypmtoms.
As far as ANA- Like Andros stated that is a flag for your Doctor to look a little further. It's present in auto-immune disorders such as Hashimoto's as well as others.


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## Heidi68 (Jan 2, 2013)

I have had positive ANA tests at 1:160 and 1:320. Was referred to a rheumatologist who did a bunch of other blood work to try and find out what was going on. I had a lot of weird symptoms- muscle weakness, headaches, tingles, etc. at the time.

One thing she did tell me was that my ANA could be positive due to the fact that I have Graves' and Hashimotos. I ended up being positive for Sjogren's, too. None of the doctors are sure whether it was Sjogren's or the wild thyroid swings from hyper/hypo and back that caused me to be so ill. But I did find it interesting that "just" a thyroid autoimmune disease could cause a positive ANA. Hopefully that is all yours will turn out to be!


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

According to the Mayo Clinic:

"Many people *with no disease *have positive ANA tests - particularly women older than 65. "


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

My entire existence is sero-negative.


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## researching (Jun 21, 2012)

Thank you all for your replies. The doc the ana was fine but the b12 was on the low side so he wants me to start taking b12 ???

Today I had pain like cramps on the tops of my thighs, I've had it before but it never lasted all day. I've also been getting pain under each side of my ribs, not always each side at the same time, in the front .I feel like some new pain pops up every day, but the worst problem is the numbness & pain in my hands and fingers. Especiallly one area that seems to be going dead numb. Do any of you have any of these symptoms?

The neurologist did all the nerve conduction tests which showed no problems and tested for lyme, negative, and a bunch of other things negative. I guess I join the club of getting answers some day. He gave me a referal to a Neurologist in the city in a month but I wonder what one neurologist could find that another couldn't.

I guess I'll just have to deal with waiting for answers like a bunch of you have been doing 
 I'm at the point that I feel like maybe I shouldn't even tell any of the docs about each of these different things that just keep popping up, sick of feeling that hypocondriac feeling. The whole thing is just so agravating, thanks for your replies and support, I hope some of you who have been waiting for answers get them soon...
sorry to whine for so long, thanks for listening!


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

researching said:


> Thank you so much Andros, you are always so helpful!!! I'll check out those links.


Let us know what you find out. I hope you don't have Lupus but if you do, managed properly it becomes only a very minor inconvenience. Most of the time I am not even aware of the fact that I have Lupus.


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## researching (Jun 21, 2012)

I saw the Neurologist in the city and he diagnosed me with carpel tunnel in both hands. He gave me a cortisone shot in each and told me to wear a brace on both hands at night. The shot had a numbness agent in it so it made my hands numb all night and when I woke up today they were feeling so much better. He said the pins and needles feeling in my legs that I've been getting is not related and he doesn't think it's neurological. I'm just glad to get rid of the pain in my hands and fingers for now. Things are looking up. I hope the rest of you get answers pretty soon too. 
:hugs:
Edit: It's back, looks like the shot's only worked for one day...


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