Anyone else there have issues with their ErythrocteSedimentation Rate results,
I've been feeling really good lately and did my blood work in mid Dec. and reading for ESR was 4, great, then did it yesterday and it comes back 39....????
totally puzzled by it; currently going just by how I feel and not lab results.
My blood results usually lag behind me feeling rough. So these results could relate to a couple of weeks ago, how were you feeling then? If you are still feeling ok i wouldn't adjust your pred unless gp advises. I would be tempted to just carry on as normal and watch carefully. Others who have had this happen will no doubt be along to give more advice when they wake up.YBB
thankyou, I will be just staying with same dosage and see how things are in a week or two
Isn't there a problem with accuracy of ESR if it isn't done within a certain fairly short period of time?
There may well be. I only know mine lags for a few weeks. I messed my dose up taking two 1mg tabs rather than two 5mg and felt absolutely terrible but when we did bloods they were low but the next test two weeks later were high. Then again the higher esr might be to do with inflammation elsewhere and not pmr related. Does that happen often but we just assume pmr!! Xxx
What is your CRP?
"The sed rate test can only tell your doctor that you have inflammation somewhere in your body. It can't show where the inflammation is or what caused it. Your doctor will use the sed rate test together with other tests of inflammation, such as C-reactive protein, to make a diagnosis." webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/you...
bmcrheumatol.biomedcentral....
The utility of ESR, CRP and platelets in the diagnosis of GCA
Hi,
ESR rates can be affected by many other things as well as your PMR.
The causes of inflammation to rise in your body can range from a stub on the toe, to a virus to an operation and numerous other things inbetween. That’s why a one-off reading shouldn’t result in a knee jerk action to increase Pred, but obviously if subsequent readings increase you do need to take them seriously.
Have a look at this post -
ESR is a very non-specific test and is affected by a lot of things - including poor handling between being taken and the test being set up. A cold will send it up too as will injury. A single raised result without symptoms should also not lead to a kneejerk raising of dose but be repeated to see if it is still raised and if there is a trend.
A single result is not very scientific because it could indeed be an anomaly a I’d be loathe to jump into action without proof it was indeed correct or part of a trend upward, especially if I were feeling well. Do you have any other niggles that you have overlooked because it’s clearly not your condition eg a cold?
no cold, no flu, nothing sickness wise..could be stress over up coming tripand how I will handle it
But 39 is quite a big rise and if it was me I’d want to know before the trip if is going up, down or was a one off blip and is now normal.
Feelthe same way, that is why I'm having blood work done again before I leave, but I having read some of the replies and people who have had high readings, though felt good, I will wait to see my doctor before increasing the prednisone, because I've also felt worse and had low readings.....becomes confusing and all I can do is trust my body
CRP & ESR
ESR still raised.
Elevated ESR & CRP
Update on CRP and ESR results
Asking for ESR & CRP numbers
