Question
Hi There ~

I had a positive ANA with centromere antibodies which got me a ticket to Rheumatology who immediately diagnosed Limited Scleroderma and Crest.....

My ANA was always positive, Centromere antibodies always positive and would go up and down, Complement C3 positive, elevated CK and Sed Rate for two years....

Then in 2011 I had my MD run my ANA and Centromere again and it was negative!!

My question is - Can an ANA retroconvert back to negative and does that mean I no longer have autoimmune disease?????

I moved to Louisiana and don't have an MD here but I am dying to know how and why it went to Negative after always being positive and better yet, what it means!!

I am on no medication at this time except PPI for GERD.
2Thanks!!

Answer
According to this article at the Scleroderma Foundation website, ANAs only support the doctor's diagnosis and they are variable:

http://www.scleroderma.org/medical/other_articles/Silver_2002_ANA.shtm

Scleroderma is diagnosed based on symptoms, history, and "clinical observation", or what the doc can see. You must have had other symptoms and complaints that made him come to the conclusion of scleroderma. So, if your ANA changes, it doesn't mean much.  It's about what's affecting you right now.

GERD is a common symptom for scleroderma, but the most distinctive one is Raynaud's Phenomenon, where fingers become numb and change colors in response to cold or stress. Between 95 and 98% of us have Raynaud's.