Yes - unfortunately it’s not uncommon to get a positive ANA and everything else looks fine. It can sometimes take a few years for antibodies to show up. It took 25 years for me to finally arrive at a rheumatologist after years and years of terrible low back pain that turned out to be inflammatory. Orthopedists, sports medicine doctors, physiatrists, etc., often ran a CRP or ESR test (inflammatory markers) which looked fine, but it wasn’t until someone ran a RF test in 2019 that we finally figured out it was autoimmune in nature. Autoimmune disease is infuriating as it can take time to show up, but meanwhile you may be symptomatic. Even more annoying, the results can change over time as well. For years I was negative for ANA. Then two years ago I was positive. Now I’m negative again but with a positive antibody for MCTD, which left me confused and unsure of what that meant long term. My rheumatologist essentially said, “don’t worry - long term it doesn’t mean much as I focus on treating your symptoms as they are now - not your diagnosis or your labs.” That sounds like what your rheumatologist is doing. She’s not focusing on your labs and your lack of antibodies - she’s trying a dose of steroids to see how you feel. If you feel better, she’ll have a good indication that your immune system might be the problem regardless of what the labs say. There are patients who are considered “seronegative” who don’t have, for example, RA antibodies, or who ultimately wind up falling into an “undefined connective tissue disease” diagnosis. Sounds like you have a receptive rheumatologist as she didn’t just send you off with a “nothing I can do for you.” Hopefully you’ll get more answers. 😊