Sed. Rate

[Kathie28]

I haven't posted in a while but one thing that always bothers me about my course with Wegners is that I have stayed at a high Sed. rate. After a long treatment with predisone I seemed to reach the best I would ever be which ranged in the 50's and 60's. After blowing up on predisone we made the decision to get me off of it and I no longer take it at all. I think I reached a point of it doing more harm than good. I haven't taken it for close to 2 years. My Sed. rates did not increase when I went off of it and at times have fell a bit more but I continue to typically run in the 40's and 50's. My labs run normal now in every other way but the continued battle with the Sed. rate and slight anemia. Mostly I do really well sometimes the joint difficulties are more difficult than others and I may take some Advil. Most mornings I wake up in good condition and tend to have joint pain later in the day. I wonder if there is anything that would get the inflammation level under control. I take Imuran daily and Methotrexate weekly.

Anyone else face the same battle with the Sed rate? I'm going on 5 years now with this diagnosis or never a normal sed rate.

Maybe as long as I'm doing okay it doesn't matter? Maybe that is just life now.

[Pete]

Maybe as long as I'm doing okay it doesn't matter? Maybe that is just life now.

You're right. Sed rate alone is not an indicator of disease activity. Many of us have a lab that is consistently (and stable) outside normal. My creatinine is always just a little high, but I'm able to lead a normal life. Hope you can too!

[drz]

My local lab reported high sed rates for me for years even when my monthly CRP was within normal limits. Then I noticed my ESR (sed rate) was always normal at Mayo and a large University lab when I had my lab work done there. The sed rates require a manual procedure and are not automated like most other tests. My treating doctor and i concluded the local lab did not do the sed rate correctly. When the clinic got a new building and new lab then they some times got it right but often their readings were still abnormally high while CRP still stays in normal limits. It might depend upon who is doing the test since it needs to be manually timed. The CRP is a more accurate short term measure of inflammation while the sed rate is a longer term measure. If your CRP readings are normal then the sed rate might be incorrect like mine are at the local clinic. Have you had your sed rate readings checked at another lab?