I’ve received a copy of a letter from my neurologist to my GP which says I had a weak positive on the lupus anticoagulant screening and need to be retested. Does this mean I may actually have Lupus? Or is it just a test for an autoimmune disorder in general? Does it have any relation to M.S or make that a less possible diagnosis? (I’ve been told it’s most likely M.S by my neurologist before bloods were done.) Last time I had a full set of bloods done by the neurologist they were clear. I’ve got my MRI in less than 3 weeks.
Hi,
If I remember rightly (and I haven’t Googled to check), lupus anticoagulant isn’t specific for lupus, so the name’s misleading. However, it’s also got nothing to do with MS.
I’ve heard conflicting information about whether MS can ever show in the blood. I’ve had one or two tests that showed non-specific indicators of inflammation. But MS inflammation is confined to the CNS, and therefore wouldn’t usually show in the blood. So it looks like my isolated abnormal blood results were just coincidence, and not related to MS.
Some blood tests are very sensitive, and a passing infection, or even accidental contamination at the lab can give anomalous results.
That’s why they usually wait and test again, in case it was just a one-off.
But if you consistently have an abnormal blood reading, I’d say it points to it NOT being MS.
Tina