Hi,
There's lots of different antibodies Jenn; ANA is a test that detects antinuclear antibodies... and you're right ANA is often positive in alot of autoimmune diseases, but not all. In the case of potassium channel blockade there are antibodies that are specific to the potassium channels of the periperal nerve. This would not affect the nucleus of the cell and hence no antinuclear antibodies. Autoimmune simply means that you are producing antibodies to "you" or at least a portion of you. In this case against the potassium channels. This can be triggered by different things,... chemicals, infection, and probably alot of other things that we are not even aware of yet.
In regard to plasmaphoresis, I've read where neurologists out of Cleveland Clinic have been using that with some success. They were using it in severe cases where medications (anti-siezure drugs and tranquilizers such as neurontin and xanax) were not making a dent in the symptoms. This would be reserved for the most symptomatic patients with almost non-stop twitching. Luckily, I seem to fit into the mild end of the spectrum based on the number of twitches that some folks here on the board report.
Hey, if it turns out that the problem is simply antibodies (and medicine is rarely simple), we might can quantify the problem by "twitch load". Patients above a certain threshold of twitches per day would qualify for plasmaphoresis. Undoubtably though the insurance companies would demand that an unbiased third party actually count the number of twitches in a day before they would approve treatment...LOL.
! (yeah like I'd drink that stuff!)
!