Yes, I do. That is why I think I may be headed for scleroderma, although right now everything is stable.

Yes my blood work is the same and they are suspecting Shlerdoma but no symptons. Was diagnosed with lupus 10 years ago but now rhemy doesn't think so. marilyn

Yes and my numbers seem to increase every time I have a blood test. My symptoms are more severe now than before.

Well, I've never heard it called nucleolar pattern ana - but if by 'ana' you mean 'anti-nuclear antibodies', yes my levels are on the higher side.

It's what finally convinced my doctor that my symptoms were linked! He just kept giving me drugs and creams to treat the individual symptoms. Now that I think about it he still does! haha! Sheesh! took him 5 years to put it all together!

I have CREST syndrome and have some Sjorgrens symptoms as well.

I have a very high ANA count >1280......& my rheumy said that I have many crossover symptoms with SLE being in the lead....then MCTD....then Raynauds....then Sjorgrens...then RA....then Rhinitis...
I am not sure what you mean with nucleolar pattern ana?? can you ask your rheumy???

There are different patterns for different connective tissue disorders. Right now I am having more symptons of scleredoma in my hands.

The ANA test uses fluorescent chemicals to "tag" the various types of antinuclear antibodies. The different ones attach to different parts of the cell nuclei. Then they look at the cells under the microscope under UV light to identify which part of the cell nuclei are being attacked (which parts glowing fluorescent green). That's the pattern. They also do serial dilutions to tell when the fluorescence fades from sight. That gives the "titre". Generally they start out diluting it 10 X, then double the dilution each time. So the numbers are usually: 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560. The titre number tells the strength of the antibody reaction. Mine has been as high as 2560. I have multiple autoimmune diseases, so have had all of these: speckled, homogeneous, nucleolar, and centromere. So whenever the ANA test is positive the lab report will also tell the type of staining pattern. Check your lab report and I'm sure you'll find it.

I'm just a mess, I guess. Strangely I use to work at NIH in what was then called the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, and also later on in the National Eye Institute doing Goldman perimetry on one lupus patient after another. Those jobs were back during the summers when I was in optometry school. Makes me wonder if I picked up something at either or both places. Really weird!

I think scleroderma is the worst of my autoimmune diseases though. I also have Hashimoto's but that's treatable. I have probable Sjogren's, but that's mild. And I have intense spine inflammation and some fusion of vertebrae, so probably some ankylosing spondylitis.

Tks Gardener you are well informed I have centromere patern with 1:1600 strong ana positivity with positive anti Ro and La I think the other parts of the blood work are ok with complements normal andanti cardiolipin megatvie . Diagnosis becomes well confusing when one minute they saw mct and primary sjogrens then crest and the other kind of connective tissue opposite to mixed anyhows. There are so many symptoms but me for it is the reduced lung function ,joint pain and brain fog that bothers me most and trying to keep positive but I also want to know the truth not be told one thing then another with the many mendial staff you see

Dawn & all, Has anyone ever run the anticentromere B antibody test on you? It is not one of the usual ENA antibody tests. It is over 98% specific for CREST, so if it is positive and you have as few as 2 of the CREST acronym items, then you have CREST. The test could definitely clear up your diagnosis. So if you haven't had it, you should insist on it, especially if you have 2 of these: calcinosis, Raynaud's, esophageal dysfunction, sclerodactyly or finger swelling, and telangiectasias.

I have not had the anticentromere B test done .However I do have the calcinosis ,raynauds,esophageal dysmobility
and telangiectasias. As well as lung function capacity reduction bronchietasis carpal tunnel syndrome fatigue and sjogrens crikey the list has got pretty long now as of the end of 1 year though I had a few of these over afew years just it never came to a point til one day I just could not bare any weight on my leg to walk .I find it strange how the diagnosis seems to change between the rheumatologist and gastroenterologist being mctd the unclassified .There is mention of sicca and primary sjogrens .I had the thirst problems for years sickness fatigue and pain in my joints ,ulcers and was told to take b6 and rest that I was suffering from depression .Crikey I think I just gave up going to the doctor as I felt like he thought I was deppressive or /hypochondriac

Mine has become worse over last year but had symptons longer. lupus sclerederma crest sjogrens Ra and raynauds. I have a lot of symptons now thanks for explaining the tests so well. hugs marilyn Also have scarring on lungs now with shortness of breath and stomach problems

Dawn, autoimmune disease is certainly know to cause depression. That doesn't mean you don't have autoimmune disease though! With all the things you have going on, I'd say if the doc implies it's all in your head, the fire the idiot!

I had an ANA of 1280, then I requested my doctor run the anticentromer, it came back +4, but my doctor said it didn't prove I have scleroderma. I suspect I do, because of SOB, mild cardiomegaly, digestive problems, including GERD, pain in muscles, neck, headaches in back of head, tingling in hands and feet with burning, swelling in joints of hand, and brown patches and very dry looking skin on right arm and left foot, small amount of protein in urine. I see him again next month, is there a specific test I should ask him to run to get a more definitive diagnosis than MCT? It doesn't appear that there are any scleroderma specialists in Florida. I hesitate to go to a dermatologist for a skin biopsy, my skin already looks bad with a lot of permanent white scars from routine burns and other injuries. I'm just overall sick and so tired. I don't feel sorry for myself at all because I feel very lucky to have made it this far in life. I just want to know for my family's sake, the genetics and all and what they may have to face. My daughter was just diagnosed with lupus, and her daughter was diagnosed with Stage IV lupus at 7. She is doing very well, she was treated at Gainesville and though she is not cured, you would never know she had it unless she told you. One odd symptom she had was that she lost all of her toe nails, probably from the cellcept.. I am so glad that I found this site, as I was suspecting that I have lupus and scleroderma, and from what I have read from others on this site, I see that is a possibility.

Dawn mentioned "brain fog" as a symptom she has back in one of her entries. Does anyone have any info on that? I have been diagnosed with CREST (anticentromere very high, raynauds, GERD, telangiestasia in the form of spider/varicose veins, joint inflamation, cardiomyopathy/heart failure).

The symptoms that I have that I don't see on any websites are the ones that I'm wondering about. I feel like I am losing a mental edge at times--brain fog definitely seems to sum it up. Is that related? I also seem to be a magnet for any germ out there--I'm constantly getting colds! Is that common? I guess I really don't have a full understanding of this syndrome and I spend my days worrying and wondering...

--Jessy

I had a positive ANA titer of 1:1280, speckled pattern and Anti Centromere B Antibodies >8.0, . I have been tested three times and it always comes back the same. I am developing more symptoms of Scleroderma now though.