I went to my doctor last summer for a regular check-up and blood tests. I told him I just had a general feeling of being unwell so he decided to do more indepth testing and checked for autoimmune disorders. The results came back positive antibodies for Sjogrens but negative for things like Lupus, etc. I didn't go and see a rhuemtologist as I had no issues or symptoms that matched it and the rest of my bloodwork was fine.
This year, I went back for my yearly check-up and he did the same blood tests. This time, the test just came up positive for ANA.
I have bad pains in my legs, arms, and sometimes my fingers. Like a growing pain type feeling.. but I'm 22! I shouldn't feel that way.. I sometimes have a dry mouth and it hurts when I cry.
I'm worried it could potentially be something else.. no one in my family has a history of this or autoimmune diseases. I'm worried about the future as I have read it can be dangerous to concieve and it can cause loads of other issues.
I know I need to see a rhumetologist but I just moved to the UK and have no clue where to start!
I know it can all be a little bit disconcerting when your body starts acting like it normally doesn't and with pain on top. Having a postive ANA result usually means that your body has some kind of auto immune thing going on (ie the body see's itself as the enemy and wants to attack itself for some reason) but no specific indicative factors which might point to either Sjogrens or Lupus or such.
I think it would be a good idea for you to go and see a rhumetologist so that they can assess the degree of movement that you have in your joints ie flexing your knee, moving your head from side to side and whether pain is associated with these movements.
I imgaine right now you are feeling rather stressed which is natural maegan but it's one of those vicious circles - the more you are stressed, the more the body beats itself up. I wonder if when you are not feeling so worried, whether you have noticed any of these symptons are a lot less. I know for myself that it works that way for me. When my own body is under stress, whether that be emotional or physical stress from pain, the rest of the body becomes tuned into this stress hormone and more flare ups occur ie my eyes get really sore, more headaches, my mouth becomes upset with ulcers etc but when things are ticking along okay, the body settles down a little bit more.
I would recommend visiting a rhuemetologist specialist and they should be able to conduct further tests to see if they can try and pinpoint down what particular disease it is. Let us know maegan how you get on and try not to worry about things :-). By taking that step of making an appointment maegan will empower you and make you feel in control :-).
I'm assuming that now you are in the UK that you've registered with a GP. If so, you need him/her to refer you to a GP. It does sound as though it might be Sjogren's but there are so many autoimmune diseases out there and most of them display similar symptoms, so you need a rheumatologist to check you out and perform certain tests. After you have been diagnosed 'properly', you will be given the correct medicine to make you life much easier. I have RA and Sjogren's, but no rheumatoid factor and my ANA is normal. But a rheumatology consultant (who your GP will refer you to) will determine exactly what is wrong.