I did for 12 years prior to Lyme diagnosis. Was told I had lupus. Now my ANA is negative and I can't have lupus. Two years of Lyme treatment did the trick.
My son at his sickest had a positive ANA. He is now negative also.
How high is your titer? Mine went to 1:640.
Posted by ladybugcoffeemocha (Member # 36895) on :
My titer was low last winter, but high enough to be positive. They just checked me again and it's 1:640. I went to two rheumis last winter and they both ruled out lupus, but my new primary care provider said that I do have an autoimmune disease. I had a positive lyme test twice last Spring and they gave me amoxicillin for 2 weeks. When I was on the amoxicillin, my low-grade fever went away, but as soon as I got off it, the fever came back. I started feeling better throughout summer, but am now having a lot of heart palpitations and shortness of breath and the doctors keep telling me it's fine. I just had a baby and have a 3 and 4 year old and am taking courses online full-time, but feeling the way I am right now... I'm having such a hard time taking care of everything. What did you both have to go through to get treatment? All the doctors keep pointing at lupus as well.
Posted by lax mom (Member # 38743) on :
Mine was very high last March 1:1280, now negative. I don't know what to make of it. I have Lyme and many co-infections, with auto-immune tendencies.
I hear ya about trying to care for young children while sick. I have a 3 yr old and 15 yr old. Even though I can't afford it, my 3 yr old has to go to daycare. I had to accept that I can't do everything and expect to heal.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Yep. Me, too. Often.
This is very common, even to be expected, with lyme & co.
If offered steroids by otherwise well-meaning doctors who think elevated ANA requires steroids:
DO NOT TAKE STEROIDS (Prednisone, etc). They can make lyme blossom and cause harm for a long time to follow. -
Posted by ladybugcoffeemocha (Member # 36895) on :
I was doing research on PCR for my human genetics class and I found this article...
If you take Dr. Allen Steere's New England Journal of Medicine article from August, 1989, called Lyme Disease: Medical Progress, on page 589,vol 321 #9, I quote as I have many times: "Within days or weeks after innoculation {editor's note: "innoculation?????", the Lyme spirochete may spread in the patient's blood or lymph to many sites ....". "The spirochete has been recovered several times from blood during this stage, and it has also been seen in small numbers in specimens of myocardium, retina, muscle, bone, synovium, spleen, liver, meninges, and brain. In the rat model of the disease, B. burgdoferi can be cultured from all organs five days after inoculation, but positivity disappears from most sites. It seems likely that this also occurs in patients."..."Excruciating headache and mild stiffness of the neck are common, but they typically occur in short attacks lasting only hours. Cerebrospinal fluid is usually normal..." "The musculoskeletal pain of Lyme disease is generally migratory in joints, bursae, tendons, muscle, and bone, lasting only hours or days in a given location. At this stage, the patients appear quite ill and they frequently have debilitating malaise and fatigue, which may be the predominant symptoms. Except for fatigue, the symptoms are typically intermittent and changing". The paragraph goes on to say that the rheumatoid titer, the ANA of lupus and the anticardiolipin blood test of lupus can be falsly elevated and there can be a malar (butterfly rash). ..........." Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and Lyme disease.
Posted by ladybugcoffeemocha (Member # 36895) on :
Thank you everyone for your comment. Any information is helpful. In a year I will have the degree to research and work in a lab on this. Posted by lax mom (Member # 38743) on :
Crazy article ladybug. It proves they know Lyme is behind many rheumatic issues...and they give those patients steroids...pure evil.
Posted by burnsjw (Member # 11819) on :
I have a high pos. now.
Posted by faithful777 (Member # 22872) on :
Same here. I am positive and have been for at least 5 years. We will see if treatment reverses this over time.
I am told many with Lyme end up with a postive ANA.
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