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What Are The Symptoms Of Autoimmune Disease?
Question: Do I have or am I developing an autoimmune disease?
I just received a third ANA blood test which resulted in 1:640 homogeneous pattern after receiving a low positive 1:80 homogeneous pattern a few months ago and a 1:640 a month after the first test (3 different doctors). All other test as listed below had a negative result:
Anti dsDNA
Anti XXXXXXX
EC4d
BC4d
Anti-U1RNP
Anti-RNP70
Anti-SS-A
Anti-SS-B
Anti-Scl-70
Anti-CENP
Anti-Jo-1
Rheumatoid Fator IgM and IgA
Anti-Cyclic Citrulinated Peptide
Anti--Mutated Citrulinated Vimentin
Anti-Cardiolpin IgM and IgG
Anti-B2-Glycoprotein 1
Anti-Thryglobulin
Anti-Thyroid Peroxidase
I do not have any skin related symptoms. My symptoms are 1. migratory pain throughout my body that comes and goes- not joint pain but more like muscle pain that lasts a few seconds and 2. My arms and legs fall asleep easily sometimes. I am otherwise a healthy 32 year female, 130 pounds, eat extremely healthy, exercise 5 times a week. No caffeine, very little alcohol. No family history of autoimmune diseases. Do I have an autoimmune disease or could I be developing one? Trying to have a baby. I had two miscarriages and my OBGYN ordered the test to see if I had an autoimmune disease. I have seen two rheumatologist who basically said lets wait and see. Please give me some insight. Thank you.
I just received a third ANA blood test which resulted in 1:640 homogeneous pattern after receiving a low positive 1:80 homogeneous pattern a few months ago and a 1:640 a month after the first test (3 different doctors). All other test as listed below had a negative result:
Anti dsDNA
Anti XXXXXXX
EC4d
BC4d
Anti-U1RNP
Anti-RNP70
Anti-SS-A
Anti-SS-B
Anti-Scl-70
Anti-CENP
Anti-Jo-1
Rheumatoid Fator IgM and IgA
Anti-Cyclic Citrulinated Peptide
Anti--Mutated Citrulinated Vimentin
Anti-Cardiolpin IgM and IgG
Anti-B2-Glycoprotein 1
Anti-Thryglobulin
Anti-Thyroid Peroxidase
I do not have any skin related symptoms. My symptoms are 1. migratory pain throughout my body that comes and goes- not joint pain but more like muscle pain that lasts a few seconds and 2. My arms and legs fall asleep easily sometimes. I am otherwise a healthy 32 year female, 130 pounds, eat extremely healthy, exercise 5 times a week. No caffeine, very little alcohol. No family history of autoimmune diseases. Do I have an autoimmune disease or could I be developing one? Trying to have a baby. I had two miscarriages and my OBGYN ordered the test to see if I had an autoimmune disease. I have seen two rheumatologist who basically said lets wait and see. Please give me some insight. Thank you.
Brief Answer:
? Is it autoimmune disorder
Detailed Answer:
Good evening
Thank you for writing on health care magic
I see you have consulted before as well for the same problem. Well my take on it is a bit different.
Considering ANA Positivity, 1: 640 Homogenous, it is a very high titre and cannot be ignored. If it was somewhere around 1: 80 or so, i wont be too worried but considering 2 miscarriages you have had, we should definitely look into it.
Since you dont have any other symptoms fitting into connective tissue disease, but have a strong ANA along with miscarriages we normally label it as Undifferentiated Connective tissue Disease( UCTD). It is more of a benign condition and we dont know which spectrum it is heading. It can remain this way for years or it can progress to some form of connective tissue disease. That prediction is quite hard to say.
Firstly i would like to know which trimester the miscarriages happened? There are a lot of causes for it, but we just need to be sure it is not due to autoimmune disease. What s your obstetricians view on the miscarriages cause if not a connective tissue disease.?
Secondly, i am sure your thyroid levels were checked. Thyroid disease is another cause for strong ANA positivity. But just look into it once if it has been done.
Thirdly, i could not find the Lupus Anticoagulant test which is the most important test for miscarriages. Could you check once in the tests done. It may have be done, but it is not mentioned in the list above. So just want to be sure about it.
Finally, Strong ANA titres with Miscarriages(that is if we have ruled out other causes for miscarriages), i would label it as UCTD. We normally start the patients on Hydroxychloroquine. It is a safe drug and the only medicine known to slow the progression of conversion of UCTD to any other connective tissue disease. It can even be continued in your pregnancy. But then again, it is our school of thought and we normally incorporate it into our practice. I am not sure if your rheumatologist thinks the same way. But yes, if you were my patient i would have started you on it.
Do let me know the brief queries i have.
Hope the information has been useful
REgards
Dr Naval
? Is it autoimmune disorder
Detailed Answer:
Good evening
Thank you for writing on health care magic
I see you have consulted before as well for the same problem. Well my take on it is a bit different.
Considering ANA Positivity, 1: 640 Homogenous, it is a very high titre and cannot be ignored. If it was somewhere around 1: 80 or so, i wont be too worried but considering 2 miscarriages you have had, we should definitely look into it.
Since you dont have any other symptoms fitting into connective tissue disease, but have a strong ANA along with miscarriages we normally label it as Undifferentiated Connective tissue Disease( UCTD). It is more of a benign condition and we dont know which spectrum it is heading. It can remain this way for years or it can progress to some form of connective tissue disease. That prediction is quite hard to say.
Firstly i would like to know which trimester the miscarriages happened? There are a lot of causes for it, but we just need to be sure it is not due to autoimmune disease. What s your obstetricians view on the miscarriages cause if not a connective tissue disease.?
Secondly, i am sure your thyroid levels were checked. Thyroid disease is another cause for strong ANA positivity. But just look into it once if it has been done.
Thirdly, i could not find the Lupus Anticoagulant test which is the most important test for miscarriages. Could you check once in the tests done. It may have be done, but it is not mentioned in the list above. So just want to be sure about it.
Finally, Strong ANA titres with Miscarriages(that is if we have ruled out other causes for miscarriages), i would label it as UCTD. We normally start the patients on Hydroxychloroquine. It is a safe drug and the only medicine known to slow the progression of conversion of UCTD to any other connective tissue disease. It can even be continued in your pregnancy. But then again, it is our school of thought and we normally incorporate it into our practice. I am not sure if your rheumatologist thinks the same way. But yes, if you were my patient i would have started you on it.
Do let me know the brief queries i have.
Hope the information has been useful
REgards
Dr Naval
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
Hello,
Thank you for the reply. Yes I have asked this question before but it was before the 3rd Ana test which confirmed the 1:640 result.
To give you a little background: I had one baby with no problems in Oct 2012. Then, I had a miscarriage January 2014 at 5 weeks. No heartbeat was heard. I started bleeding a few days after realizing I was pregnant/ultrasound. The doctor that it was a chromosomal defect.
My second miscarriage was an ectopic pregnancy in April 2014 in my right tube - so the doctor did not think it was due to an autoimmune disease. After a few months, I had not gotten pregnant again so my OBGYN did the ANA test along with a few others. All were negative except for the ANA which at the time resulted in 1:80 homogeneous. He did not think my miscarriages were due to an autoimmune disease but I insisted on the blood tests to rule them out.
I am know seeing a fertility doctor who says my right tube is blocked.
I will check my records to see if my thyroid was checked.
The Lupus Anticoagulant test came back negative.
Thank you,
XXXX
Thank you for the reply. Yes I have asked this question before but it was before the 3rd Ana test which confirmed the 1:640 result.
To give you a little background: I had one baby with no problems in Oct 2012. Then, I had a miscarriage January 2014 at 5 weeks. No heartbeat was heard. I started bleeding a few days after realizing I was pregnant/ultrasound. The doctor that it was a chromosomal defect.
My second miscarriage was an ectopic pregnancy in April 2014 in my right tube - so the doctor did not think it was due to an autoimmune disease. After a few months, I had not gotten pregnant again so my OBGYN did the ANA test along with a few others. All were negative except for the ANA which at the time resulted in 1:80 homogeneous. He did not think my miscarriages were due to an autoimmune disease but I insisted on the blood tests to rule them out.
I am know seeing a fertility doctor who says my right tube is blocked.
I will check my records to see if my thyroid was checked.
The Lupus Anticoagulant test came back negative.
Thank you,
XXXX
Brief Answer:
? Is it autoimmune disease
Detailed Answer:
Good evening
Sorry for the late reply. Was night time here.
Well, it's a bit tough to say regarding the miscarriages as you have been able to conceive once, second time was due to an unknown cause and 3rd time was ectopic. It is less likely to fit with autoimmune disease. The most common autoimmune disease causing miscarriages are Antiphospholipid Syndrome , 2nd is SLE .
So i have my doubts it is due to autoimmune disease.
But yes, i wouldnt want to ignore the strong ANA titres. But if ANA is becoming strongly positive over time, i would suggest you hold pregnancy for a while. Pregnancy can trigger lot of autoimmune reactions which one is unaware of.
What i would suggest is, repeat the ANA after 4-6 months again. If it still remains positive with such high titres, i would suggest to start on Hydroxychloroquine tablet as it can prevent the conversion of UCTD (Undifferentiated connective tissue disease) to CTD.
Hope the information has been useful
Do let me know for more queries
Would be happy to sort it out
Regards
Dr Naval
? Is it autoimmune disease
Detailed Answer:
Good evening
Sorry for the late reply. Was night time here.
Well, it's a bit tough to say regarding the miscarriages as you have been able to conceive once, second time was due to an unknown cause and 3rd time was ectopic. It is less likely to fit with autoimmune disease. The most common autoimmune disease causing miscarriages are Antiphospholipid Syndrome , 2nd is SLE .
So i have my doubts it is due to autoimmune disease.
But yes, i wouldnt want to ignore the strong ANA titres. But if ANA is becoming strongly positive over time, i would suggest you hold pregnancy for a while. Pregnancy can trigger lot of autoimmune reactions which one is unaware of.
What i would suggest is, repeat the ANA after 4-6 months again. If it still remains positive with such high titres, i would suggest to start on Hydroxychloroquine tablet as it can prevent the conversion of UCTD (Undifferentiated connective tissue disease) to CTD.
Hope the information has been useful
Do let me know for more queries
Would be happy to sort it out
Regards
Dr Naval
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Shanthi.E
Answered by
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