Do AntiNuclear Antibody lab tests usually give a titer reading?

Post date: 2019-11-18 20:42:48

I was dx'd with SLE (Lupus) in 1989; in the years since I was also dx'd with conditions that are often Lupus-related, such as Raynaud's Syndrome, Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome, Vasculitis, and Sjogren's Syndrome. Due to many complications, I am now on Medicaid and unable to see my regular rheumatologist. After almost a year of being without my Plaquenil (primary treatment for Lupus, which I've been taking since 1989) I was finally approved for Medicaid and got an appointment with a Primary Care Physician. She included an Anti-Nuclear Antibody blood test only at my request, and then a few days later phoned me to say that it was "negative". In my experience, the lab reports for an ANA test always detail a titer ratio and a "speckled" or "homogenous" pattern. She told me that there were no numbers on the report, just a "negative". She repeated to me "Negative means negative." Don't ANA blood tests traditionally print out the various numbers so that a physician can interpret whether or not it's "negative"?

Dr. PCP did authorize a refill of my Plaquenil (thank goodness), and also recommended that I consult with a rheumatologist. But if I was without Plaquenil for almost a year, and had had a continuous "butterfly rash" across my face during that time, how in the world could my ANA blood test be "negative"? Doesn't any accredited laboratory provide detailed results , number-wise, on blood tests?

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