I've had a fever for a week and a positive ANA since 2000

[AlienGirl]

The two aren't necessarily related, but I've been running a low fever (100-or-so) since last week! :wtf:

My ANA, which turned up positive in 2000 is still positive at a 1:160 ratio.

Tuckr

[MuseRider]

1. ???

Lupus? Scleroderma? Rheumatoid arthritis? Pretty straight forward positive ANA.

[AlienGirl]

2. No rheumatoid factor, so that rules that out

[MuseRider]

4. Not quite

I have no Rheumatoid factor but I do have RA. I had to go to Mayo to confirm what my doc thought (NOT fun), it is not uncommon to have RA without RA factor. Any other symptoms that you might care to share?

[AlienGirl]

5. Not right now...

But I have fatigue (though who doesn't?) and intermittant mouth sores, one of which turned into squamous cell carcinoma a couple years back. I get aches and pains but I'm never sure whether they're just the normal pain of life and I'm just being a baby about it.

Tucker

[MuseRider]

10. My suggestion,

for what it is worth, is to keep a journal. It seems odd to focus that much on something vague but auto immune diseases are often difficult to diagnose until they become full blown. It took about 5 years for mine to show itself enough to get a diagnosis. Feel free to PM me if you have any RA questions and good luck. I am hoping we all begin to feel much better after November. These jackasses are killing us and everything feels so much worse than it probably is!

Edit for spelling but spell check is not working for me right now so if anything is mispelled, screw it!

[OpSomBlood]

3. I had the same thing.

My ANA titer was 320:1. The doctor sent me to a rheumatologist who told me it definitely wasn't lupus.

That was more than a year ago. The symptoms lasted about three months (high fever, extreme fatigue that knocked me out by 5 PM, swollen lymph nodes), then went away. Never had them since.

No one could ever explain what it was.

[AlienGirl]

6. Is your ANA still positive?

Could this be the lingering aftereffect of some virus I had years ago?

Tucker

[OpSomBlood]

12. I had a recent blood test that indicated nothing abnormal...

...but slightly high cholesterol.

I was working at a power plant at the time of my illness and my only guess is that exposure to some kind of chemical may have caused it. That was the doctor's best guess.

[flamingyouth]

7. Just a thought

But I had very similar symptoms to you for about 2 yrs. I was run down all the time, throwing up, etc., running a low fever. Finally, after seeing about a million specialists, I was diagnosed with a very low-grade chronic kidney infection. Unfortunately, I had to have a very expensive CT scan for them to catch it for sure (there was also a partial blockage where I had had a kidney stone a few years before). Are you having a lot of body aches as well?

[Bog Frog]

8. Sorry to hear it. Forgive my ignorance:

What's ANA?

[AlienGirl]

9. Anti-nuclear antibodies

They mean your white blood cells are eating your other cells.

Tucker

[Bog Frog]

11. Well, shit.

Now I'm really sorry to hear it. Best of luck, AlienGirl.