What is the ANA test?

Hello doctor,

I have had extreme pain in my lower back, and it suddenly went away. I had severe pain in my neck and shoulder, and those too suddenly went away. My knuckles on one hand are red and swollen. Both hands are always dry, and they hurt extremely in the cold weather. My hands ache a lot, and sometimes my ankles hurt. I had bloodwork from my regular doctor, and ANA (antinuclear antibody) and RF (rheumatoid factor) were negative. I have had mild to severe rashes and hives on my chest, neck, and back on and off for nine months. I am tired all the time. I am waiting for the rheumatologist to call and set up an appointment. I had allergy testing done at an allergist today, and it showed reactions to almost everything, including many foods. Oddly enough, the only allergies I suffer from are seasonal allergies to trees, weeds, grass, and pollen. I have not had an allergic reaction to anything other than the items listed above.

My allergist is ordering blood work for the food items that I reacted to and is also ordering an ANA plus panel for bloodwork. Is the ANA plus panel more extensive than the previous ANA and RF test I had that was negative? Is it possible to have a negative ANA and RF but then be positive on an ANA Plus Profile? Is it possible that an autoimmune disease causes all of those reactions on the allergy test?

Kindly suggest.

Hello doctor,

Thank you for your message. I also forgot to say that I have vertical lines or ridges on my thumbnails. Last time, when my regular doctor did the ANA and RF, I thought it was going to be positive. But hopefully, the ANA plus profile will be more specific and will catch anything the basic ANA did not and, therefore, was negative. I got the bloodwork done today after work, so I will be checking my patient portal daily for the results. If this ANA pus profile is negative, does that rule out any autoimmune diseases?

Kindly help.