Inflammation markers

[sbeach78]

I see my blood results all the time, I have labs drawn monthly. This last time the doctor sent me my labs and said my inflammation markers were high I think it said normal range was 0-15 and mine was 53. I have an appointment next week, but was hoping someone could tell me what this may mean..

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[Pete]

There are two inflammation markers, sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein. They assess the presence of inflammation in your body, but don't identify the source. You may or may not feel well with elevated markers, but if you start to feel unwell (or worse), a call to your doc is in order.

[sbeach78]

It was the sed. rate...

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[Debbie C]

You may just have a bug or something ..a couple months ago when I had a cough for a few days mine went up to 35 and the next month is was at 12. You never know though,do you think you are having a flare..are you ill ?

[drz]

It was the sed. rate...

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The sed rate is apparently harder to do correctly than the tests where the results are completely automated on a computer so you might want to get those doubled checked at another clinic.

My local clinic has never been able to figure out how to do the sed rate accurately. Their results are always high in the abnormal range even when i have had results done at Mayo or the Univer of MN hospital within a few days that are in normal range. The CRP is more of a short term measure and the sed rate a longer term measure so if all your CRP rates are normal so should your sed rate.

I have asked the local clinic about this several times and they now get closer to actual correct rates but still run about 50% too high. Before it was about double my actual rate.

[sbeach78]

I am not sure, I do not feel ill, I do have a fever blister on my lips. Getting them a lot lately, also breaking out like a teenager. Always feel fatigued but that's normal..I did just go down to 5mg pred. in the last two weeks

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[Pete]

I am not sure, I do not feel ill, I do have a fever blister on my lips. Getting them a lot lately, also breaking out like a teenager. Always feel fatigued but that's normal..I did just go down to 5mg pred. in the last two weeks

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What was your previous pred dosage? You may have dropped too much too fast. You may want to go back to your previous dosage and see if the symptoms go away. If they do, you may want to try a slower taper.

Good luck!!

[sbeach78]

Yeah I dropped from 7.5mg I will give that a try ...thanks

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[annekat]

You could try alternating 7.5mg with 5mg., every other day. I've heard of some people having success with an alternating method and actually getting off pred that way. I can't explain for sure why it would work better than just taking an intermediate amount, the same dose every day. I just know that people have reported using various alternating schedules and have gotten good results. The theory may be that the lower dose helps the adrenals to "kick in" but then the higher dose the next day helps to avoid the shock of it. I am about ready to try this, as I think I've been on pred too long and have relied on it too much. I've been taking 20mg. for awhile because of some recent episodes where some symptoms increased, but am feeling much better and just today I've started alternating 20mg. with 15mg. Previous attempts to go from 20mg. to say 17mg. have not been so successful. So it's obviously too early to tell if there will be anything to this for me, but I'll report back.

[vdub]

The fever blisters are herpes simplex 1. 90% of the world population carries the virus, including me. Mine usually pops out when under stress and/or a weather change going into summer or, vice versa, going into winter. The virus doesn't like weather changes.

I did some quick googling and I can't find anything that says hsv-1 would cause an increased sed. Can you post back what the doctor thinks is going on?

[sbeach78]

Yes I will let you know after my appointment. I did some looking back on my own blood test over the last six months and noticed my sed rate has been high for the whole time. Just alittle higher then normal, after reading up alittle it could be just the wegs flaring up, a lot of people seem to think I need to up my pred.

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[Ruotsi1]

My SED rate has been consistently up from dx (as high as 148 at dx, now runs mid-50's). Yes SED rate is a non specific marker of inflammation but has been shown in my case to show when I'm starting to flare up. While I have never been in remission (dx'd July 2013), my SED rate jumped from mid-50s to mid 80's when I had a new nodule growing in my lung. I have heard SED rate is not typically used to determine tx options it has helped both my Cleveland doc and local doc determine when to start a round of Rituxan again. I am currently taking 150 of aza, 5 mg of pred daily. I just finished 4 weekly doses of Rituxan.