Posted , 11 users are following.
I am very new at this in fact I haven't even seen a rheumatologist yet. My GP is the one who did the blood test and found that my CRP was high. My question is what kind of numbers are we looking at as being high. Mine is 12.1. Is that just a little high very high medium high. I just like a ballpark as to where that falls on the scale.
0 likes, 21 replies
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cindy63197 amkoffee
Posted
Hi. My CRP was around 13 when I was diagnosed with PMR. That's considered to be not normal, but a lower than usual amount for those with PMR. In my case that led to the doctor giving me too little prednisone to have the desired effect, and needed to go to a different doctor who was ok with putting me on a higher dose of 15 mg daily. I think I either caught it early, or had a light case of it because then I was able to taper and get off the prednisone in about 18 months. After that though, I continued to get stronger, and feel completely normal after about 2 1/2 years.
EileenH amkoffee
Posted
The range depends on the lab and the units, whether it is mg/L or mg/dL. One site quotes normal range CRP: 0-10mg/L. But labs differ slightly depending on their technique so that isn't a figure fixed in stone.
Bear in mind that the lab will print out a result and mark it as raised as soon as it is above the top reading - and a reading of 12 when 10 is the top is not really much to worry about. It should be repeated in a few weeks and the trend looked at.
He may well be right but your GP is jumping to conclusions - although some experts claim that having CRP and ESR raised is more specific for PMR I suspect it is the other way round to what your GP is thinking. Many doctors jump to the conclusion someone has PMR because the ESR is raised and they have symptoms. The ESR is a VERY non-specific test, all sorts of things from a cold to pregnancy and how the blood sample was stored will cause increased readings. Experts are of the opinion that the CRP should also be checked - and if both ESR and CRP are raised it is more likely to be meaningful than if just the ESR is raised (CRP can be normal but the ESR high). Does that make sense?
What I'm saying is that yes, your ESR and CRP are raised and that does indicate the presence of inflammation somewhere in the body so something is wrong. It could still be any of a wide range of things - CRP is also pretty non-specific.
Where are you? To have a rheumatology appointment in a month or so isn't bad - someone in Northern Ireland has a 15 month wait! Only a small number of new patients can be fitted in in a clinic so if you are in the UK that is the limiting factor if there is a sudden rush of patients some have to wait a bit longer. In any country, even the US, this is definitely the wrong time of year to want to be seen fast: it's summer holidays! Most doctors are of an age to have school-age children and they want family holidays too!
amkoffee EileenH
Posted
EileenH amkoffee
Posted