SED Rates

Eileen, thank you for your guidance in your previous reply to my question of prednisone reduction.  I just really want to go VERY slow this time to reduce another painful flare up.  I noticed that stress and not the right selection of anti-inflammatory foods  at the time caused some of the shoulder and lower back pain connected to the SI- joint and piriformis muscle inflammations.  Physcical therapy has been helping, and trying to reduce climbing steps in my townhouse as much as possible. I am planning to sell this house and move into an apartment this summer.

I finally feel better after 3 weeks,  and I don't want to rush the reduction of prednisone.  The shoulders are better ......most of all I have a WILL TO LIVE and not think about my pain.  :-) 

Hope, the Fasching festivities are not too annoying for you.  They will end soon.

Thank you again for your kind help.  Erika

When my PMR went downhill and hit like the proverbial 10 ton truck it was just after we had moved from a house with toilets both up and downstairs and I was having to climb stairs several times a day. I came here to our flat and things improved dramtically - and I'm positive it was "stairs" that was the reason. This is all on one level and there is a lift to the second floor (level 3 to you I think). Not doing steps made a lot of difference and the same thing happened when the hip bursitis flared - every time I had to do more than a couple of steps the bursitis was made worse and more painful.

Thank you Eileen, it is good to hear your opinion, and it confirms that I need to make this important change in my life with PMR. 

I am so glad for this forum and the help and guidance I am able to receive.

Erika

It has been thought for years that sed rate rises with age. More recently it is being thought that, yes, it does go up with age for many people but it isn't "normal" it is an indication there is inflammation present in the body with few or no symptoms. These days they like to see it under 25 whatever age you are.

Mine has been up to the dizzy heights of 7 on one occasion, normally it is 4. I'm early 60s but another lady in her mid 60s and another who is 70 both have readings of 2 to 4. 

Hi Eileen,

do they only do ESR's in UK and Italy? I have monthly CRP's here (USA) and no ESRs. 

Barbara

We have CRP taken in UK too. Last month my CRP went down and my ESR went up to 60 it has been as low as 30, but I did have a cold. In my case my CRP seems to show how I feel more than my ESR. 

It depends on the doctor probably. It doesn't make any difference to me - both remain stubbornly normal however bad I feel!

There is another measurement called plasma viscosity which some places use instead of ESR. All of them are very non-specific - although some doctors will tell you that CRP is more specific. No, it isn't that much better - the CRP does not alter with age, is slightly less sensitive to a cold and it is less important how the blood sample is stored and how soon the test is done, ESR must be done in less than 4 hours. 

It is said that studies showed that doing both ESR and CRP are more specific in diagnosing PMR but I would say the figures aren't that different. For the purposes of monitoring how effective the treatment is being it depends on the patient - and anyway it is the symptoms that should be king not blood tests. The bloods can be fine but the symptoms worse - because they lag behind. The same applies in rheumatoid arthrtitis - and it is a constant bugbear of patients who know their pain is getting worse but their bloods are still fine. 

I also get A LOT of muscle pain in my forarms and lower legs

Have you been resting since diagnosis and pred? The pred just helps you manage the pain and stiffness by combatting the inflammation. YOU have to do your part too - your muscles are still intolerant of exercise and you MUST adjust your activity to help manage it too. In time you will be able to gradually build up the amount you do but it won't come overnight and you will have to "get into training" very slowly. It took me months at 15mg before the forearm pain faded - it's a mixture of muscle claudication and tenosynovitis and both need a long recovery. You can't rush it either. Those first few days when pred kicks in seem magical - but it is relative to the amount of pain you had beforehand. As soon as you then try to go back to normal activity you make it worse and the dose of pred that was so wonderful is barely enough. The side effects at higher doses are worse (at least, that is what is thought) so taking a bit longer for the lower dose to have its effect is worth it.