help please,expert advice desperately needed

I am a thrirty-seven year old mom of three who is at the end of her ropes. I know I am sick but now I'm as confused as ever. My lab tests came back like this...

I am ANA positive with homogenous pattern.

I am Lyme positive (by ELISA)

I am EBV positive- convalescent stage

I have an elevated SED RATE.

I don't know if I should be refered to a rheumatologist of an infectious disease doctor?

I have been really sick for a while. Diagnosed as FIBROMYALGIA by my primary care doctor and put on Pristique to help increase my seritonin. My symptoms include (but are not limited to) extreme fatigue, weight loss (>25 lbs less than my normal weight), numbness in toes, carpal-tunnel like syndrome in hands, raynaulds syndrome, intolerance to extreme heat and cold, anxiety, constant headache, fever of unknown origin (3months now at range of 99.6 to 102), hand tremors, did I mention extreme fatigue_worth mentioning again because all I want to do is sleep, intolerance to loud sounds, strong smells- do I sound like a hypocondriac(sp?). I'm really not. Please help. Am I going insaine? Am I really sick? What do you all think. Who should I go to to get help?

Is it LYME or LUPUS or what?

Any advice is much appreciated. I don't trust my G.P. doctor.

Cass

labrat,

I am basically in the same position as you right now. My LLMD thinks I have Lyme and my primary thinks it's auto immune. I did have an abnormal ANA test years ago but I do have Hashimotos which is an auto immune disease. Anyway, I am in the process of checking everything again.

In my opinion, and from what I've read, Lyme can mimic Lupus, MS and fibro symptoms. I'm sure there are others. I do think though, that if you do have auto immune symptoms, that they need to be treated as well. If I were you, I would make an appointment with an LLMD first and go from there. You will probably need to see a rheumatologist too though especially if the pain and fatigue are serious.

Lyme can cause an elevated ANA w/ a pattern. Did they check the splits - the antibodies specific to the different autoimmune diseases (such as RF, anti-Ro, anti-La, SSA, SSB, etc.)? I had an elevated ANA w/ duel pattern speckled & homogenous, but none of the splits were positive so they wouldn't diagnose me w/ Lupus - they told me instead that I had Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disorder, or a "Secondary Lupus-Like Syndrome" - but when I asked what the heck it was secondary to, they told me to see a shrink!! But then I was diagnosed w/ Lyme by a very savvy Naturopathic physician and learned that Lyme can elevate the ANA, the ESR (Sed Rate), and throw all kinds of other tests out of whack too. Best idea is to go to a Lyme-Literate Physician (LLMD) or Naturopath (LLND) and get tested for Lyme and associated co-infections.

Good luck,

Hi Cass,

I am sorry you are not feeling well. You said, "I am sick..." and I agree with you! You are not going insane or making this up. You even have tests to prove that you are sick---lucky you! You deserve good medical care. Find yourself a good lyme literate medical doctor and a great lyme literate natuorpath and start healing. Never give up and you will get better!! Read the topic at the top of the first page of this lyme forum entitled "New to lyme, start here". It is possible to have more than one condition at a time, so treatment can be varied and long. Just hang in there and keep focused on the prize---good health!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, bablymers mom

ANA means Anti Nuclear Antibody

Here is an explanation of it:

An ANA test detects proteins called antinuclear antibodies in your blood. Your immune system normally makes antibodies to help you fight infection. The antibodies detected in an ANA test are different. They may attack your body's own tissues.

A positive ANA test indicates that your immune system has launched a misdirected attack on your own healthy tissue — in other words, an autoimmune reaction. Because connective tissue is often the target of autoimmune reactions, the resulting diseases are known as connective tissue diseases. Examples include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma.

The result of an ANA test doesn't prove that you do or do not have a connective tissue disease. Along with other tests, an ANA test helps narrow the range of possible diagnoses if other factors suggest that your illness is the result of an autoimmune reaction.

www.mayoclinic.com/health/ana-test/MY00787