Positive ANA: What might be the cause?

Thank you Colleen. I have read that post aswell. ☺️

My ANA is elevated. Not terribly high, but enough to be a little+- worrisome. Most of the sources I have found, including places around the world (U of Helsinki, etc.), use an increased ANA as the jump-off to look for things like the myeloma family of issues, such as Amyloidosis, Gelsolin, LECT2. Other targets are congenital limb girdle muscular dystrophy, etc. Not saying you have one of these, but it is worth looking at. Have you had Ambry Genetics have a look at your genome? They are very good, and part of it is free.

My MCTD has elevated ANA, as well as other diagnostic elements. You may not have a "full blown" issue that is enough for diagnosis, but you can do some things now. One is to go on a non-processed diet, avoid sugar and moderate inflammatory foods like potato, tomato, dairy, wheat. Lifestyle-wise, get in that daily walk, work on simplifying life so you are not as stressed, eliminate fragrance from household, etc. I liked Dr A Weil's book 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, as a beginning. Perhaps you will not progress to a disease that can be identified. Be careful about reading into the internet info: stick to webmd, mayo or cleveland clinic sites.

Thanks, Becky. This is helpful.

@marye2 Interesting. I read mayo only to see if they have come up to speed and accuracy yet with their diagnostic procedures, after spending several months and several thousand dollars for a diagnosis that produced nothing of value. WebMd focuses on making money for the major clinics while ignoring the needs of rural America. Cleveland clinic used to be pretty good. I was there for a short while in about 1988, I believe. But they seem to have forgotten how to follow through on the needs of their clientele. No, I depend on the efforts of the 1A genetic labs across the world, including Sequencing.com, Ambry, Dante, Johns Hopkins, EMORY/CDC, MD Anderson, Nebular, Boston, ARUP/Huntsman, Helsinki U. etc. Beyond that, NIH and nearly, all their partners save Stanford seem to be on the stick. No, I am realizing that if one has not done a whole dna data 100% analysis, the data is typically irrelevant for persons known to have a rare disease. If one has any indication of myeloma or such in the family, the only logical path is to run the full 100-cycle genetic analysis to achieve some measure of certainty. I have had five runs of the brief version of the genetics. With very little variation, they agree. Ambry, Sequencing.com (2x), AncestryDNA, LivingDNA(a relative of Sequencing.com. I have also done some work and conversation with Apollo, Nebular, others. Now, about your diet suggestions. That is the primary diet I have followed for about 25 years. Little red meat, mostly vegetable with chicken, turkey, or fish. No, the real problems are genetic with me. When Mayo, WebMD, and Cleveland Clinic, Stanford and OHSU refused to accept this, I went elsewhere to get some answers. I did not like what I got, but at least I got some answers. Selah.

#ThankYou and I apologize for not replying sooner.
Best,
--> Rick
USAF Veteran, MBA

Hello,
I apologize for not replying. My (now confirmed) mercury toxicity is from a mouthful of dental amalgam (Elemental Mercury) and from eating raw fish (Methylmercury). I have been tested for autoimmune conditions twice and the blood tests have returned negative. Mercury is known to suppress the immune system. Today, my former Pulmonologist called me and told me that I have #LatentTuberculosis. Such exists in immunocompromised persons. To me, this ALL circles back to Mercury. This is not good.

Ana test positive I m scared I m literally having panic attack

Hi @anacarel2018 I am so sorry you are under such stress. I wanted you to be able to connect with other people asking similar questions so I moved your post here:
- Positive ANA: What might be the cause?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/positive-ana/?pg=3#comment-727499
Just as a reference, a positive result doesn't necessarily mean you have a disease. Some healthy people have antinuclear antibodies in their blood. In addition, certain medicines can affect your results.

If your ANA test results are positive, your health care provider will likely order more tests, especially if you have symptoms of disease. If you have questions about your results, talk to your health care provider.
https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/ana-antinuclear-antibody-test/
When did you have the test and are you experiencing any symptoms?

Thank you in Jun 15 a month ago I started experiencing legs pain and hot and cold I feel tired fatigue most of the time dizzy sometimes lightheaded but I also suffer from anxiety so I didn’t know if this symptoms were related to anxiety or no I still went to the doctor I got a X-ray and duplex scan of the legs check for clots everything was fine neck X-ray was fine but my bloodwork show high white blood cells nurse said no infections grow so it could be because stress she also said I have low potassium and electrolyte and high calcium I went to a different doctor this doctor ordered me more bloodwork everything fine kidney working fine and all good but the ana test was positive and I m so scared I can’t even sleep my symptoms are legs pain sometimes really bad sometimes no bad a little bit of swollen feet hot and cold legs lower back pain warms arms sore arms sometimes neck pain sometimes tingling on hands numb hand and leg sometimes on and off I have this symptoms daily 🙁 I don’t know what to do