Do you have a comment on blood tests for autoimmune disease (ANA, CCP, RA), that keep changing each year from normal to abnormal or visa versa? I am a female. Age 58. I have been passed around from doctor to doctor with no diagnosis, for several years.
In 2010 these were my blood test results:
ANA abnormal: 1:40
CCP abnormal: 46
RA normal
SSA normal
SSB abnormal: 1.4
CIC (Circulating Immune Complexes) abnormal: >78
But in 2011 my blood tests changed.
ANA by EIA abnormal: 2.9
CCP: normal
RA abnormal: 24.9
SSA abnormal: 136
SSB normal
CIC: doctor did not order follow up test
Other abnormal tests were: Creatine abnormal: 0.63
SPSP: (slightly increased beta-globulin and slightly decreased albumin)
I also had something called monoclonal gammopathy, (IgG Kappa type, in trace amounts), in my blood, that was abnormal in 2009, and normal in 2011. The doctor wrote me a letter saying my tests were “normal or within normal range.” So I ordered a copy of my blood test results, and there were lots of abnormal results listed. Are my tests normal? What does all this mean?
I feel tired and ill and have stiffness in the mornings and after sitting. My muscles hurt when I use them, in my legs and upper arms, and I can not stand or walk longer than about 30 minutes. (I have to sit down.) My knees are stiff and sore and weak, and I can not kneel down and get up, and it is hard to climb 5 steps. I also get rashes that come and go, bruises, and the hair has stopped growing on my legs. My x-rays showed Osteoarthritis in my whole spine, hands and knees and ankles. (My neck and sacroiliac are very stiff and sore.) I also have coughing and itching in my throat and stomach pain. (I had H. Pylori in 2009).
Is this indicative of a systemic or autoimmune disease, or infection? Why do my blood tests keep changing? The only diagnosis I have is osteoarthritis, and Sjogrens Syndrome. My doctor said there is no treatment for Sjogrens Syndrome, and referred me to physical therapy. But my muscles hurt when I do stretching or movement. My symptoms got worse and I feel exhausted. What is causing all my other symptoms and disability in my legs?
What other tests do I need?