Results of first blood test and confused!! - LUPUS UK

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Results of first blood test and confused!!

Powerhouse profile image
3 Replies

Good evening everyone,

Received a copy of a letter, that was sent to my GP ,by the Rheumy I saw on 16/01/15.

States that autoimmune screen negative and ESR 24mm/hr. Plus I am not anaemic

Since mid November last year I have not been well, starting with dry eyes and the cold, which is still in my system, then the following symptoms. Exhaustion, painful joints from head to toes, chest and back pain when breathing, headaches, temperature,dizziness, confusion, heart beating fast, stomach ache, jaw pain, muscle pain, sore in my mouth, numbness of the arms and fingers, mid-upper back pain etc.

I am still feeling rotten, I drag myself to work, whilst at work I struggle,when it get home I go, straight to bed,

Weekends, I spend in bed.

I don't understand the results, especially where it says I am not anaemic, yet I am suffering from exhaustion.

Can anyone tell me what ESR 24mm/hr mean?

I just don't know what's wrong with me

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Universal blessings

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Powerhouse
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dar58 profile image
dar58

ERS is sedimentation rate..This shows the progrss of a disease or flare ups etc.The higher the number the more of an inflamation. Thats what my Rheumy told me. Mine is always elevated, last month was 60, but I was sick also. Here is a rate chart I found. .........................Age205590

Men—5% exceed 121419

Women—5% exceed182123

in reply to dar58

The ESR is quite a non specific way of measuring inflammation in the blood. Although most labs say that anything over 10 is elevated I've read in the BMJ that a more accurate way of measuring if you are a woman is by taking your age and halving it and then adding 5. So mine, as a woman of 52 would be about 31.

However like Dar58's mine is usually up in the 50s or 60s but I have friends with inflammatory autoimmune diseases whose ESR rarely rises much about 12 even when they are in a lot of pain and flaring.

It's worth knowing that you can have most connective tissue diseases with negative antibodies and inflammatory markers - it just makes the likelihood of having them somewhat less. Has your GP checked your thyroid bloods and also your Vitamin D levels and other vitamins and minerals? Finding out that you are deficient in these plus checking for possible food intolerences is important when trying to find out what is wrong. Good luck getting to the bottom of things - sometimes it takes a very long time indeed but hang in there and hopefully you will succeed.

dar58 profile image
dar58 in reply to

Wow, Twitchy Toes you are so spot on my friend. Those are well worth getting checked out. I am also Vitamin D deficient along with all the other medical issues and the pain and muscles spasms from the deficiency just makes everything else wrong less tolerable. My daughter has has rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative collitis and rarely does her ESR go over say 15-20.

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