opinions please ? ana elevated rheumie says fibro

I have started with chronic pain and a butt load of health problems for 2 years now. Used to be a competitive swimmer and super athlete. This all started with chronic sinus infections from swimming, a shoulder injury and upper back pain. then it progressed to scar tissue formation in my shoulder blades, elbow pain, hip pain, jaw pain, wrist and ankle pain hand and feet pain and just pain everywhere and super dry eyes. I was referred to a rheumatologist and waited 3 months to get in.

my labs came back like this.

HLA B 27 gene which is connected to arthritis of the spine

ANA 1:160 nucleolar pattern detected
RA factor 15 (normal 1-14)
sed rate 41

everything else was normal i had no antibodies to any auto immune disease .. so i was told i probably had ankylosing spondylitis and maybe lupus. lupus test came negative and xray couldnt prove ankylosing spondylitis either.

so back to square 1 i do my research and am HORRIFIED to find out the nucleolar pattern is indicating diffuse scleroderma and the disease is FATAL. and that in ankylosing spondylitis the pain starts in low back and for the past 1 month i have had no hip or low back pain only upper back pain. the titer 1 160 is prevalaent in only 5 percent of healthy ppl and well im at the doctor so am i really the 5 percent here ?!

i return for my second appt and we had started sulfasalazine for supposive spondylitis and my lab now says sed rate is 11 which is normal but im still in horrible pain. now the rheumatologist says he thinks i have fibromyalgia and started me on cymbalta. said he didnt know why my ana was elevated.

my fear and concern is this. i have abnormalities in my blood and my ana is positive. my ra factor was borderline and i have a gene that causes an arthritis reaction. could this really be fibromyalgia? i mean should i find a new rheumatologist? i dont know what to do.

please advice anyone im super terrified about the ana in this pattern. also i want to know if its possible to have all this in my blood and have just fibromyalgia. i dont know what is wrong with me

You can have a positive ana test and be perfectly healthy...according to the Mayp Clinic. I have heard these tests can fluctuate, too, so I wouldn't be alarmed. I have a friend whose ana was elevated and she was told she had lupus. It it turned out she didn't. She gook glucosamine sulfate for her joint pain and has absolutely no problems now.

You can't believe a lot that you read on the Internet. That's why I stick to sites like the Mayo Clinic and the National institutes of Health and a few others. Here is a link from the Mayo Clinic about ana tests.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/ana-test/basics/definition/PRC-20014566

I have ankylosing spondylitis and fibro and my back pain is centered in my upper back. I use ibuprofen with food and a muscle relaxer caller Robaxin (generic name is methocarbomol) and this has made a significant difference in my pain. I also have sacroiliitis and all of these things are helped with these two medications.

I'm assuming that your doctor ruled out other illnesses that share many of the same symptoms as fibro. You did mention lupus but there also is Lyme disease and a few others that should be ruled out.

I have a ton of inflammation in my body from various illnesses that I have but yet I'm out enjoying my life. I used to get anxiety attacks just reading about things I thought I might have. I have since stopped that practice. I do understand your concern though. It's frightening when you don't know what is causing your health problems.

For a little levity, I love what Mark Twain had to say about reading about illnesses. He said you could die from a misprint. LOL

Be sure to read Fibro 101...the first thread on the forum. There are links to good information and you can learn a lot there. Good starting links for you would be Symptoms, What Else Could It Be, and A. Thorough Explanation of Fibromyalgia. All of Fibro 101 is good so do read it.

I hope this has helped you and don't hesitate to ask questions. We are here to help you.

Sherrine