What is normal ESR reading?

[geater16393]

I am on 3.5 mg pred, and have ESR of 24, I thought this was quite good?

[piglette]

On my blood report it says 1-20 mm/hr as the normal range. Mine was 127.

[geater16393]

Thank you, I am not too bad then!

[venezia1]

I have read that the "normal" range alters with age - can't remember the details but I think the numbers increase.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

The "normal range" is the variety of values found in about 85% of a large population of normal healthy people. The ESR can be between 1 and about 25 in them but it is zero when we are born and increases gradually through life so older people tend to have higher values - but it is actually impossible to know if they really are totally healthy or whether there is some unknown inflammation going on.

Some people never have a higher ESR - mine was 4 in my 50s where a figure of 30 would have been regarded as acceptable: someone worked out once you could work it out as (your age plus 10) all divided by 2. But even when I couldn't move and was really ill mine never went above 7 - that happens in about 20% of people with PMR or GCA.

I and quite a few others would be worried if they had a reading of 24 - it would be very high fir us. It is a totally individual thing and the right figure for you (if you have never had one done when you were well) is the lowest figure you can get to on pred.

So the answer to your question is really: how long is a piece of string! If you had a high reading at first what is important is that it falls and then doesn't go back up.

[Asbeck]

When I am fairly well my ESR is 5 or 6. When it's 15 I'm in a flare. You measure C Reactive Protein differently than I do. But when I'm well mine is less than .1 I was diagnosed when I actually was beginning to feel better. My ESR rate was 79. There is a book in the US. You can buy it, or read it on-line. Title: Giant Cell Arteritis One Man's Exciting Experience. By Mason A. Clark. He is on this site. But I don't recall his user name. He made charts as to how for him when his ESR went up, he flared. He also described how a "normal" ESR rate is really much lower than the highest part of the range. I think that he said something like the "normal" rate for an average 60 year old woman is 8. But my quote could be inaccurate. If you google it, I think that the entire book comes up for you to read for free. I found it very helpful and am very grateful to him for writing it. It's about GCA and not PMR.

[Hidden]

Ask for a print out of your blood test results. The results show normal/average readings alongside your results.

[lyndyloo2]

When I was diagnosed with PMR in the UK my doctor gave me a formula to calculate my ESR; current AGE+ 10 years then halve the total this gives the "normal " ESR.

So age 50+10=60 /2 = 30 so anything higher shows PMR activity.

This may only work with UK and European measurements, I'm not sure how scientifically accurate it is, but, it seems to give me some idea how I'm progressing!

[lyndyloo2]

When I was diagnosed with PMR in the UK my doctor gave me a formula to calculate my ESR; current AGE+ 10 years then halve the total this gives the "normal " ESR.

So age 50+10=60 /2 = 30 so anything higher shows PMR activity.

This may only work with UK and European measurements, I'm not sure how scientifically accurate it is, but, it seems to give me some idea how I'm progressing!