Hello I just have a few questions. I been having ups and downs the past 7 years. 2 years ago I found out I had parathyroid so they did surgery and took 2 out I assumedi was having issues pain cause of that. I felt somewhat better after then bam. Well the past 2 years just going about life in pain everyday. Some worse then others. Joints neck which a different issue tired just not myself. Just up and down all the time. Well about a few months ago I started getting a new pain in my knee. Stabbing specially at night laying down so about a month later went to an orthopedic. He said it is a neurological problem. So he sent me over that way. The neuro did a bunch of different things and sent me for a lot of blood work. So here is my question. Got blood work back ESR is 34 MCH 32 ANA screen 1:40
ANA titter 1:640 ANA titter 2 1:640 ANA pattern homogeneous ANA pattern 2 speckled. Vitamin B12 very low 282 so he gave me 3 set of shots last week alpha 2 globulins 1.2. Gamma globulin 1.7. So my question is what do some of these things mean and why I need to get retested in a month? He told me sometimes you can get a false positive but with all these symptoms that I have I don’t know. I just want to feel better. Ugh thanks so much for helping me out.
Actually a very low B12 can cause a LOT of symptoms including neuropathy-
Hi there. Welcome. If you checkout labtestsonline, you can get information about what the different tests and the outcomes mean. I would request a referral to a rheumatologist due to the Ana being abnormal. I hope they find out what’s wrong and can do something to help you feel better. Hang in there!
Thanks. He said he’s probably going to send me to one next month after he redoes the test. He’s pretty sure it is lupus but he said sometimes it can be a false positive. He said the dr will most likely send me for one again anyway so he will just beat him there. So if I do test positive and I get sent to a rheum dr what’s the steps after that?
They will run more tests to better determine what specific type of autoimmune disease you have. If you google Lupus criteria, you will find a list of the symptoms and tests that indicate lupus as a diagnosis. There are many autoimmune diseases. The rheumatologist will want to try to pin down exactly which you have. Sometimes this can be a very lengthy process and sometimes not. In addition, he or she will probably prescribe some medications to help with making you feel better. In my case, which is considered mild, but definitely doesn’t feel that way, he prescribed Plaquenil and prednisone. Plaquenil takes a very long time to kick in, up to 6 months or more. In my case it was more. But when it finally kicked in I felt quite a bit better. Less joint pain less fatigue, less of everything really.
Welcome Ohyeah. I am sorry to hear you are having problems getting a definitive diagnosis is difficult to be sure. That being said start keeping a diary of symptoms and test results. I ask for a print out from my rheumatologist for my family doctor so everyone is on the same page. Often seeing the results from the rheumatologist the family doctor doesn't need to run the same tests and can concentrate on other factors I hope that helps if you have any questions or just need to vent we are here.
Hi Ohyeah,
The lab results are sort of fractured - seems like some are missing. The MCH of 32 is part of a CBC - where are the rest of the results? The ESR is slightly elevated with is a general marker indicating inflammation somewhere in your body. The positive ANA is indicative of some kind of autoimmune process and the different patterns can help pin down the specific condition (like Lupus, Sjogrens, etc). Frankly, reporting the patterns is not used that often any more (while it is still valuable) - instead of that a panel of reflex tests is done to help pin down the diagnosis.
While your B-12 is low, its not outside of the normal range (unless the lab has a unique normal range) so it should not be causing your problems.
Anyway, I'd try to get to a rheumy sooner than later not only to get more thorough lupus testing done, but to possibly get on plaquenil and prednisone to help calm down the pain. Plaquenil can take months to kick in, so you don't want to delay. Prednisone will stop any inflammation (and associated pain) almost immediately. Sometimes specialists are so specialized they can't see past their own specialty. Getting retested in a month won't change your ANA being positive - that needs to be followed up with an additional panel of tests to help get to a diagnosis.
Meanwhile - have you tried taking plain old aspirin? That's been very effective for me in calming the pain from inflammation.
Good luck!