esr levels

[emmajj1971]

just had the results of my blood tests back and never asked what they were before but I have been feeling very unwell and been in a lot of pain even though I am on weekly injections of 15g of methotrexate. I take 400mg of hydroxychoroquine a day and 1000mg of naproxen a day plust tramadole and paracetamol but I am still in so much pain. They said that my esr level was 101 is this high or not i dont understand it but they did say that they had written to my consultant.

[Beaches2]

Hi Emma

Esr is erythrocytes sedimentation rate.........it's a measure of inflammation in the body.

Yes 101 is high. Everyone is slightly different but normal range for females I think is below 20. Mine has been up to 90 when I was pretty bad, now hovering around 30-40 and that's still not good enough.

I am sure that when you next visit your consultant they will look at changing your meds to better control things.

Sorry you are in so much pain, horrible isn't it? Hopefully you will get sorted and feel much better soon xx

[sonny1 in reply to Beaches2]

Hi. Sorry you're not so well. ESR levels should be between 5-15, so yep 101 is really high. Hope you get sorted soon. When I was first diagnosed, my ESR was 112, CRP 70, and Rheumatoid factor 348 ( should be less than 30). Not been too bad this week, but I stopped drinking so much tea and coffee, rheumatoid doesnt like caffeine!!!. Have you tried magnetic bracelets, I wear one round my ankle most days, not allowed on my wrist because I work in a hospital.

[emmajj1971]

Beaches 2 I can believe its that high with me no wonder I have been feeling so ill. Thank you for the information x

[emmajj1971]

I was diagnosed 1997 i was only 25 with a 18 month old and a 6 month old its been an uphill battle but i have had some ok time over the years but the past 2 years have been a nightmare. X

[Beaches2 in reply to emmajj1971]

Hi Emma

Sorry you have had such a rough time. Bringing up children when you have this horrid condition must have been so hard. Sounds like you need to get things under control again as soon as you can. Do you have a rheumy nurse you can call and ask for help, perhaps a steroid jab to give you some relief while they get things under some sort of control. Sometimes you need to shout out a bit to gp/rheumy people so they know you are in trouble and need help.xx

[Beverley-NRAS]

Hi emmajj1971

A rough and ready way to calculate what your ESR should be is: for women (your age + 10) divided by 2

Obviously what is normal for one person may not be for another but on the basis of this 101 would appear to be high. I have put a link to the wikipedia article on ESR which you may find useful too.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryth...

Hope this all helps

Regards

Beverley (NRAS Helpline)

[Paulineg]

Hi emmajj1971, yes your esr is very high and I would be quite concerned. Hopefully your medical team are on to it. Good luck

[cathyh]

When it comes to esr readings I think mine are based on a 15 min test not the hour. They should be less than 8 and before the medication it went to 25 which they said was high. It's now down to 13. Does this sound right or normal to anyone? Thanks