Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

If Your Ana Was Positive, What Were The Results


jenvan

Recommended Posts

jenvan Collaborator

Hey friends...just got back some blood work and my ANA was positive. I had this tested a year ago and it was negative at this time. Results are: 1.80 with a speckled pattern detected. I know these tests are indicators and don't often tell you one way or another on disease. If you had a positive ANA what were your results and/or what did it mean? Have you been diagnosed with lupus, scleorsis etc? Thanks friends...any extra input would be great <ahttps://www.celiac.com/uploads/emoticons/default_wink.png' alt=';)'> I had this test done b/c of feeling very poor again. (My post on this if you want the context: Open Original Shared Link So, I don't want to make something of these tests, b/c getting a positive ANA doesn't necessarily mean you have a disease per se, but b/c of how I've been feeling I don't want to automatically discount or ignore the results either.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



marciab Enthusiast

Hi there ... I deleted the first one. So much for rushing ... :P

My daugher's ANA was 1:80 at age 10. All tests came back negative. And 1:640 at age 18. All tests came back negative again.

So, we were told that there is nothing to treat her for. Just to keep an eye on her and if she gets very sick to bring her back.

Hope this helps. Marcia

Nancym Enthusiast

I also had a positive ANA (Slightly speckled). But the follow up test (anti-DS? forget the name) was negative. They diagnosed me with ankylosing spondylitis, an autoimmune arthritis that causes tendons to fuse together. :( I have it very mildly though.

jenvan Collaborator

Thanks Marcia for the input. I wonder how much these numbers can change for individuals...ie. if mine could go back or up down again in the near future. Hmph. I'm glad she is doing alright...but sort-of doesn't sound quite good enough yet... :unsure:

Nancym- So you did have a follow-up... I haven't had that yet. I think I am going to take this to my internist. I remember you getting diagnosed with AS now. Glad it's only mild...

Thanks ! Hope there are some others out there...

marciab Enthusiast

Jen,

We must have been on at the same time. I changed my first post to read a little easier. :) Marcia

Nancym Enthusiast
I remember you getting diagnosed with AS now. Glad it's only mild...

Mild is bad enough! Basically all my joints hurt at times, tendonitis, TMJ, random muscle spasms. I think sticking to a low-starch, paleo-type of diet is helping. I hope you test out ok! I think finding a good rheumy is very important.

jenvan Collaborator
Mild is bad enough! Basically all my joints hurt at times, tendonitis, TMJ, random muscle spasms. I think sticking to a low-starch, paleo-type of diet is helping. I hope you test out ok! I think finding a good rheumy is very important.

Yikes...sorry to hear... :(

Hi there ... I deleted the first one. So much for rushing ... :P

My daugher's ANA was 1:80 at age 10. All tests came back negative. And 1:640 at age 18. All tests came back negative again.

So, we were told that there is nothing to treat her for. Just to keep an eye on her and if she gets very sick to bring her back.

Hope this helps. Marcia

Yeah, that is probably the situation I'm in too...


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



jcc Rookie
Hey friends...just got back some blood work and my ANA was positive. I had this tested a year ago and it was negative at this time. Results are: 1.80 with a speckled pattern detected. I know these tests are indicators and don't often tell you one way or another on disease. If you had a positive ANA what were your results and/or what did it mean? Have you been diagnosed with lupus, scleorsis etc? Thanks friends...any extra input would be great <ahttps://www.celiac.com/uploads/emoticons/default_wink.png' alt=';)'> I had this test done b/c of feeling very poor again. (My post on this if you want the context: Open Original Shared Link So, I don't want to make something of these tests, b/c getting a positive ANA doesn't necessarily mean you have a disease per se, but b/c of how I've been feeling I don't want to automatically discount or ignore the results either.

I had a low positive of 160 homogeneous, and 80 peckled (less 40 negative). My only known autoimmune disease is Hashimoto's thyroiditis (anti-TPO > 900). They did look for some other antibodies, but none turned up for me. Celiac Disease and Hashimoto's can cause an elevated ANA from what I've read. as well as many others.

This lists some of the other possibilities~

Open Original Shared Link

Cara

P.S. Can they go away? YES! I know somebody who was diagnosed with Sjogrens and had a high anti-ANA. She totally reversed her symptoms and her antibodies by dietary changes, removing gluten, casein, soy, corn, and possibly a few other things I can't remember.

jenvan Collaborator
I had a low positive of 160 homogeneous, and 80 peckled (less 40 negative). My only known autoimmune disease is Hashimoto's thyroiditis (anti-TPO > 900). They did look for some other antibodies, but none turned up for me. Celiac Disease and Hashimoto's can cause an elevated ANA from what I've read. as well as many others.

This lists some of the other possibilities~

Open Original Shared Link

Cara

P.S. Can they go away? YES! I know somebody who was diagnosed with Sjogrens and had a high anti-ANA. She totally reversed her symptoms and her antibodies by dietary changes, removing gluten, casein, soy, corn, and possibly a few other things I can't remember.

Thanks for the thoughts... I met with my internist yesterday and at this point we're just going to retest later to see if it increases. I just wondered as it was negative previously and has gone up....post gluten-free. Oh well ! Hopefully it will stay or go back down again.

happy4dolphins Enthusiast

HI, I 've had a high ana for a longggggg time too. It's been as high as 640 with a speckled pattern as well, but all tests have come back negative. SO I don't know either. I"ve been going to rheumatologists for years and they don't know either.

Nicole

jenvan Collaborator
HI, I 've had a high ana for a longggggg time too. It's been as high as 640 with a speckled pattern as well, but all tests have come back negative. SO I don't know either. I"ve been going to rheumatologists for years and they don't know either.

Nicole

Wow...that is quite high. My doc was saying around 360ish is usually lupus. Are you feeling poorly too? Or just the high numbers?

Judyin Philly Enthusiast

HI Jen

Why don't you run these numbers by Dr O on Daily Strength?

I bet she could give you some insight.

Good luck :)

Judy

  • 3 weeks later...
celiac sucks Newbie
Hey friends...just got back some blood work and my ANA was positive. I had this tested a year ago and it was negative at this time. Results are: 1.80 with a speckled pattern detected. I know these tests are indicators and don't often tell you one way or another on disease. If you had a positive ANA what were your results and/or what did it mean? Have you been diagnosed with lupus, scleorsis etc? Thanks friends...any extra input would be great <ahttps://www.celiac.com/uploads/emoticons/default_wink.png' alt=';)'> I had this test done b/c of feeling very poor again. (My post on this if you want the context: Open Original Shared Link So, I don't want to make something of these tests, b/c getting a positive ANA doesn't necessarily mean you have a disease per se, but b/c of how I've been feeling I don't want to automatically discount or ignore the results either.

Hi, I had an ANA of 400 (<40 is normal) that was in July 2005. I went to a rheumotolgist he reassured me that 1 out of 100 people have a postive ANA for no reason. He did alot of tests for lupus, which i was having every symptom in the book at the time and currently I still am. The test he ran came back saying that I had a slighlty elevated DNA and another test was postive for lupus, but he told me that I did not have lupus becuase you must have 4 out of the 11 tests come back postive. So, my doctor labeled me with "Lupus like symptoms" ,all he said to do was to reduce my school schedule by half and when I needed to sleep then sleep. He also told me that I should be better by October. Well I wasnt doing any better, acutally I was alot worse so he repeated the tests and everything came back normal expect for the ANA which came back this time at 100 (<40 is normal). He told me again to give it until December and I did and I was not doing any better so he repeated the test once again and this time EVERYTHING came back normal inculding the ANA.

My doctor does not know why I had all the test come back postive at one time and come back negative another, but in the end I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia becuase I had the lupus symptoms. Hope this helps!

2kids4me Contributor

I am always amazed that we can find out answers, when a rheumatologist says " I dont know why its positive". The answers I find are on medical sites!

Here are answers to most of the questions that arose on the thread - I hope:

Patients with the following disorders or characteristics may have positive ANA tests:

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Scleroderma

Mixed connective tissue disease

Polymyositis/dermatomyositis

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid vasculitis

Sjogren's syndrome

Drug-induced lupus

Discoid lupus

Pauciarticular juvenile chronic arthritis

In addition, some patients with autoimmune diseases that affect the thyroid gland, liver, or lung (including Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, primary autoimmune cholangitis, and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension) may have positive ANA tests. Certain chronic infectious diseases, such as mononucleosis, hepatitis C infection, subacute bacterial endocarditis, tuberculosis, lymphoproliferative diseases, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), may also produce a positive ANA test.

ANA TESTING AND SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

When physicians suspect a patient has systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the ANA test plays an important role in the diagnosis. SLE is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect many parts of the body, including the skin, joints, kidneys, lungs, nervous system, blood vessels, and immune system. Because the severity and symptoms of SLE differ from patient to patient, laboratory tests including testing for antinuclear antibodies provide information that can be valuable in helping physicians make an SLE diagnosis. The ANA test is considered the best diagnostic test for SLE, and it is typically performed whenever a doctor suspects a patient has SLE.

In patients with suspected or diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus, additional testing may be performed to determine the presence of three specific types of antinuclear antibodies, including anti-DNA, anti-Smith (anti-Sm), and anti-ribonucleoprotein (anti-RNP) antibodies. These tests are very sensitive and considered highly predictive of SLE. Testing for anti-DNA antibodies may also alert clinicians to the possibility of disease activity in the kidneys. Some doctors monitor anti-DNA antibody levels.

Although a positive test for anti-Sm and anti-RNP antibodies supports the diagnosis of SLE, the levels of these autoantibodies are not necessarily useful to help physicians determine the progression of disease in a patient.

SIGNIFICANCE OF A POSITIVE ANA TEST

A positive ANA test is not synonymous with a diagnosis of lupus or other connective tissue disorders; it is simply a diagnostic tool used to help physicians establish or rule out an autoimmune or connective tissue disorder [2]. As noted earlier, many healthy people may have a positive ANA test.

However, 93 percent of people with systemic lupus erythematosus and 85 percent of people with scleroderma have a positive ANA test. In addition, more than a third of people with rheumatoid arthritis and nearly half of people with Sjogren's syndrome (an autoimmune disease that causes dry eyes and dry mouth) test positive for ANA. The ANA can be a useful screening test for many connective tissue diseases.

In addition to confirming a suspected diagnosis, the ANA may be used in conjunction with other laboratory tests to predict the progression of a disease. For example, if a patient has a strongly positive rheumatoid factor (rheumatoid factor is an autoantibody that causes inflammation and is elevated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis) and a strongly positive ANA, researchers have found that the patient will probably develop other symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, instead of lupus or another connective tissue disorder [3].

Physicians may recommend that patients who have pain and inflammation in multiple joints of the body, who have a strongly positive ANA, and who have a negative or low titer for rheumatoid factor undergo further ANA testing for specific autoantibodies ().

If a patient has an ANA titer that is weakly positive (a titer less than or equal to 1:80) and no other evidence of disease, a physician may recommend some additional blood, urine, and antibody testing. If these tests are normal, additional testing for autoantibodies may only be recommended if a patient develops symptoms of connective tissue disease, like a rash, tight skin or the Raynaud phenomenon (cold-induced color changes in fingers or toes).

Open Original Shared Link

  • 3 months later...
Cottage-Soul Apprentice

I'm new to this site and was seeing if there were any posts on positive ANA tests and I see there are! I had this test about 4 months ago after I went to my primary doctor asking for some bloodwork to find out why I was having chronic headaches, was so fatigued and not loosing weight (thought I was Hypothyroid). The ANA came back positive 160 speckled pattern, everything else was okay. The rheumatologist I saw made me feel like an idiot, actually asked me why I was even there. He said I didn't have Lupus, didn't have Fibro... and after looking at the blood tests told me it was a false positive. He didn't run any other tests.

After reading several posts here it seems the speckled pattern is quite prevalent among those with a gluten allergy. I wonder if there is a connection?

I'm not presently on a gluten free diet, but I'll be starting my gluten/wheat/dairy free diet soon. Learning what I can first. ;)

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,549
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Blough
    Newest Member
    Blough
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Your post demonstrates the profound frustration and isolation that so many in the Celiac community feel, and I want to thank you for channeling that experience into advocacy. The medical gaslighting you endured for decades is an unacceptable and, sadly, a common story, and the fact that you now have to "school" your own GI specialist speaks volumes about the critical lack of consistent and updated education. Your idea to make Celiac Disease a reportable condition to public health authorities is a compelling and strategic one. This single action would force the system to formally acknowledge the prevalence and seriousness of the disease, creating a concrete dataset that could drive better research funding, shape medical school curricula, and validate the patient experience in a way that individual stories alone often cannot. It is an uphill battle, but contacting representatives, as you have done with Adam Gray, is exactly how change begins. By framing it as a public health necessity—a matter of patient safety and protection from misdiagnosis and neglect—you are building a powerful case. Your voice and your perseverance, forged through thirty years of struggle, are exactly what this community needs to ensure that no one else has to fight so hard just to be believed and properly cared for.
    • Scott Adams
      I had no idea there is a "Louisville" in Colorado!😉 I thought it was a typo because I always think of the Kentucky city--but good luck!
    • Scott Adams
      Navigating medication safety with Celiac disease can be incredibly stressful, especially when dealing with asthma and severe allergies on top of it. While I don't have personal experience with the HealthA2Z brand of cetirizine, your caution is absolutely warranted. The inactive ingredients in pills, known as excipients, are often where gluten can be hidden, and since the FDA does not require gluten-free labeling for prescription or over-the-counter drugs, the manufacturer's word is essential. The fact that you cannot get a clear answer from Allegiant Health is a significant red flag; a company that is confident its product is gluten-free will typically have a customer service protocol to answer that exact question. In situations like this, the safest course of action is to consider this product "guilty until proven innocent" and avoid it. A better alternative would be to ask your pharmacist or doctor to help you identify a major national brand of cetirizine (like Zyrtec) whose manufacturer has a verified, publicly stated gluten-free policy for that specific medication. It's not worth the risk to your health when reliable, verifiable options are almost certainly available to you. You can search this site for USA prescriptions medications, but will need to know the manufacturer/maker if there is more than one, especially if you use a generic version of the medication: To see the ingredients you will need to click on the correct version of the medication and maker in the results, then scroll down to "Ingredients and Appearance" and click it, and then look at "Inactive Ingredients," as any gluten ingredients would likely appear there, rather than in the Active Ingredients area. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/   
    • Scott Adams
      What you're describing is indeed familiar to many in the Celiac community, especially in the early stages of healing. When the intestinal villi are damaged from Celiac disease, they struggle to properly digest and absorb fats, a condition known as bile acid malabsorption. This can cause exactly the kind of cramping and spasms you're seeing, as undigested fats can irritate the sensitive gut lining. It is highly plausible that her reactions to dairy and eggs are linked to their higher fat content rather than the proteins, especially since she tolerates lean chicken breast. The great news is that for many, this does improve with time. As her gut continues to heal on a strict gluten-free diet, her ability to produce the necessary enzymes and bile to break down fats should gradually return, allowing her to slowly tolerate a wider variety of foods. It's a slow process of healing, but your careful approach of focusing on low-fat, nutrient-dense foods like seeds and avocado is providing her system the best possible environment to recover. Many people with celiac disease, especially those who are in the 0-2 year range of their recovery, have additional food intolerance issues which could be temporary. To figure this out you may need to keep a food diary and do an elimination diet over a few months. Some common food intolerance issues are dairy/casein, eggs, corn, oats, and soy. The good news is that after your gut heals (for most people who are 100% gluten-free this will take several months to two years) you may be able to slowly add some these items back into your diet after the damaged villi heal. This article may be helpful: Thank you for sharing your story—it's a valuable insight for other parents navigating similar challenges.
    • Beverage
      I had a very rough month after diagnosis. No exaggeration, lost so much inflammatory weight, I looked like a bag of bones, underneath i had been literally starving to death. I did start feeling noticeably better after a month of very strict control of my kitchen and home. What are you eating for breakfast and lunch? I ignored my doc and ate oats, yes they were gluten free, but some brands are at the higher end of gluten free. Lots of celics can eat Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats, but not me. I can now eat them, but they have to be grown and processed according to the "purity protocol" methods. I mail order them, Montana Gluten-Free brand. A food and symptoms and activities log can be helpful in tracking down issues. You might be totally aware, but I have to mention about the risk of airborne gluten. As the doc that diagnosed me warned . . Remember eyes, ears, nose, and mouth all lead to your stomach and intestines.  Are you getting any cross contamination? Airborne gluten? Any pets eating gluten (they eat it, lick themselves, you pet them...)? Any house remodeling? We live in an older home, always fixing something. I've gotten glutened from the dust from cutting into plaster walls, possibly also plywood (glues). The suggestions by many here on vitamin supplements also really helped me. I had some lingering allergies and asthma, which are now 99% gone. I was taking Albuterol inhaler every hour just to breathe, but thiamine in form of benfotiamine kicked that down to 1-2 times a day within a few days of starting it. Also, since cutting out inflammatory seed oils (canola, sunflower, grapeseed, etc) and cooking with real olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, and coconut oil, I have noticed even greater improvement overall and haven't used the inhaler in months! It takes time to weed out everything in your life that contains gluten, and it takes awhile to heal and rebuild your health. At first it's mentally exhausting, overwhelming, even obsessive, but it gets better and second nature.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.