Thomas Nathan Hoffman

Hello, Unfortunately, you LIKELY DO HAVE DISEASE and NEED to see a Rheumatologist for evaluation. The ANA is common and many people with an ANA do not have disease. Most people with ds DNA do have disease. ds DNA goes with kidney disease and you have a high creatinine showing kidney problems. This means you NEED to find out what is going on in your kidney - the two specialists who can help are the Rheumatologist for what is autoimmune, and the Nephrologist for what is going on in your kidney. Please get checked out as soon as you can. v/r Dr Thomas Hoffmann

Hello, Here is my answer for your question of can years of hydroxychloroquine treatment lower ANA levels: The ANA is an antibody test. The ANA does not mean you have a disease, it means you have the type of immune system that can get a disease. The levels vary in 2 ways. One is the margin of error of the test itself. No test is perfect and ANA levels vary a little bit from one test to another. This is from all the factors that affect the result, including the test chemicals, how the sample was stored, temperature of the sample during testing, etc. The other way is more likely the answer to your question. From year to year, the mix of antibodies that your body makes changes. This is part of your body's adjustments as your health changes from year to year. When people are getting healthier, their body and immune system adjusts and makes less antibodies like the ANA that indicate risk of disease. Treatment with good medication like hydroxychloroquine is one thing that helps this happen. The other major factor is the overall quality of general health - the overall "healthy" level of your diet, sleep and exercise. The overall answer to your question is: Yes, treatment with hydroxychloroquine CAN result in lower ANA levels but this is also affected by other factors so we CAN'T prove that it was the treatment that caused the effect. I hope this answers your question. v/r Dr Thomas Hoffmann Rheumatology