Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) - Introduce yourself and meet others

@ethanmcconkey Good morning to you Ethan I have O.A. not R A. But the Dr I'm seeing wasn't sure so am in the process of doing testing I'm sorry if I mislead you. Right now I don't have a rheumatologist the one quit and went out of state so am going to see the n.p. soon .

HELP!!! 32 year old female diagnosed with RA at 14.In the last 6 months have noticed severe increase in fatigue can barely function through out the day . Positive ANA 1:2560 homogeneous pattern as well as 1:1280 nucleolar pattern. Went to rheumatologist for additional antibody testing urinalysis was normal anti phospholipids normal but my antibody tests kept coming back as unable to report due to interfering substance.The third time they came back only one was slightly positive Anti Ssb (my doctor forgot to retest for Ssa) My rheumatologist says it’s probably just my RA but it feels very different.Has anyone else had problems with interference In their blood work.

Hello @margarita514, welcome to Connect. I'm tagging our moderator @ethanmcconkey to see if we should move your post to the following discussion where it will receive more visibility and you can meet others who share your symptoms.

> Groups > Autoimmune Diseases > Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) - Introduce yourself and meet others
-- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/rheumatoid-arthritis-ra-introduce-yourself-and-meet-others/

I did find an article that discusses your question on interference in immunoassay that you might be interested in.

How to Detect and Solve Immunoassay Interference
-- https://www.aacc.org/publications/cln/articles/2015/october/how-to-detect-and-solve-immunoassay-interference

Ok Thank you yes I have read every article I could find online about the certain interferences I’m hoping to find more people who have experienced this or anyone with RA and such high ANA titers . Unfortunately my new rheumy is of little to no help and only concerned with starting me on a new biologic.

32 year old female diagnosed with RA at 14.In the last 6 months have noticed severe increase in fatigue can barely function through out the day . Positive ANA 1:2560 homogeneous pattern as well as 1:1280 nucleolar pattern. Went to rheumatologist for additional antibody testing urinalysis was normal anti phospholipids normal but my antibody tests kept coming back as unable to report due to interfering substance.The third time they came back only one was slightly positive Anti Ssb (my doctor forgot to retest for Ssa) My rheumatologist says it’s probably just my RA but it feels very different.Has anyone else had problems with interference In their blood work.

Hi @margarita514 I wanted to join @johnbishop in welcoming you to Connect. You may have noticed I moved your post to the discussion @johnbishop mentioned so that you can connect with others who have similar experiences.

I also wanted to introduce you to fellow Connect members @kozlo52 @annapocono and @boomerexpert as they all have Rheumatoid Arthritis and may be able to offer you support.

Back to you @margarita514 did your doctor suggest anything you can do to help with the fatigue?

i have never had any bloodwork problems with my RA (30 years). I would suggest you have your B12 level checked as well as a copmplete vitamin level check. when i had acid reflux my B12 levels were under 100 (range= 200-1200) . I assume you are taking a multivitamin. you didn't say if there is any acid reflux. have your calcium levels checked also. RA will make you feel tired, just by it's nature. what is your sed rate (0-20) is normal? what does your rheumatoid factor indicate?... good luck and keep us informed....kozlo52

Given that you've had RA for 18 years, now, it's bound to worsen. That said, recommend 3 things: get another Rheumie's opinion on both the reason for significant change (whether it's something other than your natural disease progression) and change of meds; look into biologics, see if you qualify; and get more rest - you can't "fight through" RA fatigue.

I haven’t had my B12 checked yet but I take B12 supplements twice a day my calcium is 9.8 sed rate 42 wich is typical for me when I’m not on steroids or methotrexate my RF goes from negative to positive but most recently was negative c reactive protein is 17.62 my ccp antibodies are 29 wich is only weakly positive I don’t normally have any acid reflux unless I’m on prednisone but I guess the B12 is a good place to start. None of my lab work is any different than what it typically is my vitamin d is actually up to 52 when it’s usually around 30-34. Do any of you have a positive Ana ?

No she has not suggested anything for the fatigue unfortunately