Hi Wedgyjackson,

You are correct about the difficulty of getting an autoimmune diagnosis. You may be in for a long ride...Take a deep breath and try to focus on what body parts still work well for you.

Two things in your post seemed odd to me. (I am a patient, not a doctor.)

1. It seems a little strange that your ANA should go down and also change patterns. I am not a doctor, though.

2. Your PCP and your rheumatologist NOT in agreement on your medication.
This doesn't seem like a good situation to me. Ideally, all of your doctors should agree on your treatment.

You may want to either change your PCP or change your rheumatologist. I always ask my PCP to give me the name of specialists that the he knows and recommends. He recommended my rheumatologist-- who is fantastic. He never disagrees with her.
When my PCP's office was in turmoil due to corporate changes, I asked my rheumatologist for names of PCPs. But I never did have to change my PCP.
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The doctors' office staff can be really important to your care, depending on the rules of your health insurance. My previous insurance had all kinds of rules, and my PCP's staff knew how to navigate those rules. Some of my specialists' offices did not know, and it caused delays and stress and all kinds of stupid irritations.

It's good that you have found this website. I recommend reading the information in this patient site AND also-- more importantly-- the Mayo Clinic site. The Clinic site has information from doctors. This site has anecdotal information from patients, which can be helpful but not always the clearest or most objective.

Best of luck to you! Keep us posted on your progress.