The granular, cytoplasmic staining pattern of c-ANCA

Yippee good news! Yesterday I met with my rheumatologist to get the results of my latest blood tests, specifically the C-ANCA test. Although the C-ANCA was positive again my consultant believes this is a result of the sarcoid and not Wegners.

The C-ANCA test is a lot less prone to false positives than the P-ANCA test, but it’s still not 100%. However as I understand the testing they look for a specific antibody which can be present after sarcoid. They then do a further two tests which check for other specific characteristics, which in my case came back negative, leading the consultant to believe that the positive is as a result of sarcoid.

Now my immune system is still rather week, and as such there is a chance that I will catch every cough, cold, and sniffle going, so I am going to have to be a little bit careful, however this should improve with time. The fatigue and swelling (I look like a chipmunk) I am suffering could also be down to the steroids I am on but once again this should improve given time.

The real test will be once I am completely off the steroids, as while these can hold off Wegners, long term they are ineffective. If I do have Wegners then my blood work should show this up once I am clear of the steroids, but for now I can start planning a return to work and getting back into life.