Will not taking Pred on the day of a blood test for CRP and ESR make any difference to the results do you think?
It will be an hour later than the usual time I take them. For some reason the DR has taken an interest in my condition. Must be the questionnaire the surgery are getting patients to complete.
If you are on enough pred then the results should be "in normal range" anyway.
I am trying not to go above 6mg. It's bad first thing but eases off by lunch. When I told the doctor I wanted some 5mg tablets in case of a flare up on holiday he decided to listen for a change. For some reason I find the holiday prep really stressful and I don't work now. PMR seems worse but I reckon it's because I have more time to notice it. I find anything I do tires me out so I am going to visit the DR when for an action plan and monitor my symptoms more.
You are just at the level where your adrenal function has to come back - and that could well account for feeling tired when you have to do anything. That is the function of cortisol in the body.
"I am trying not to go above 6mg" - why not? There is absolutely no virtue in being on too low a dose. Even the tiniest bit too little will allow left over inflammation to drip drip drip - and fill the bucket.
Even if you take your tablets before the test they take the best part of 2 hours to get into the system and take an effect. If your mornings are so bad - have you tried taking your pred before bed?
In my head if I increase the dose then I have twice as long to decrease it? I wll split the dose tonight. But your right I am not upping it to a high dose if I try 1 mg more.
Hi Estellemac,
Could be slightly raised I suppose, but I doubt it will make that much difference! Why can’t you take them before test?
I can I was thinking it might make a difference not having had any for 24hrs.
I wonder whether significant inflammation will have built up after just one day ie to show on the blood test results. I know you’ll feel rotten but will that show? Tell the doctor.
Going to try a bit harder to get him to understand me better and how this affects my quality of life. I just left it before and managed myself which has plus and minus points? Now my hips loads better I notice this more perhaps and should be a bit more proactive at managing the condition.
I read and saw a graph indicating that ESR and CRP tend to be raised in the mornings. (Can’t find again now) one can therefore deduce that a pm blood will have lower results.
Found this that supports anti-inflammatories reducing results ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/3...
Thank you for the link, interesting.
That's really helpful thanks.
Good luck with your blood tests and your action plan to manage symptoms better. I am at 7 mgs attempting to reduce to 6 mgs. I have felt really rotten at this stage. I know it must be the Adrenals. If it gets too bad, returning to 7 mgs helps. Thank goodness the signs of spring are back with the birds singing their hearts out. The last few days were like a bad dream - so cold and dark. Today I have felt great, yesterday I felt like death. Only the temperature has changed.
Meds before blood test? 
Continuing with hydrocortisone after synacthen test or go back to pred? Dilemma 🙄
Blood Tests and Doctors
Blood calcium level testing?
