crp went up

[Lulucat46]

Hi

l was diagnosed in April had crp of 105 went on 15mg pred and it made me feel way better. Followed the 3 week on 15 3 week on 12.5. Got blood test after 3 or so weeks crp was down to 19. Moved onto 10mg as per plan but got bloods done tail end of week 1 on 10 and cro was back up to 44. We are thinking start again at 15 for 4 weeks and 12.5 for 4 but making sure the bloods are down before going to 10 again does that sound right?

looked at the taper advice from Dorsey lady post it talks about ruling out cancer how is that done? Worried it’s something else but maybe being silly!

[piglette]

You have reduced your dose very quickly, how do you feel? Do you feel as good as you did when you first took the steroids? That is what you should be aiming for. I have inflammation markers that are high all the time and fluctuate up and down. My GP did test for cancer doing various blood tests. I used to feel find even when the CRP was over 100. It has now been decided it is just me!

[Mayadill]

Hi lulu, me and Piglette both, my CRP never comes right down in three years and I'm fine, last summer I was 5 going on 4 mg and when I had my routine blood test my CRP was 48. Only excuse it had was physical trauma of cataract surgery which was actually seamless and successful and didn't feel traumatic at all. Again as Piglette says, how do you feel on 10 mg? if you feel fine maybe they could look for a cause of the CRP before changing the dose? Have you had any infections? Concerning the ruling out, been there, done that. I came down easily from 20 to 10, then flared, referred back to hospital, saw the Consultant who did a thorough physical exam, blood tests and a CT, then returned me to my GP to get on with my PMR.

[SnazzyD]

I’m about concerned at the rate of decrease, if you are down to 10mg after 8-10 weeks. The starting dose is often held at 4-6 weeks to make sure the inflammation is well controlled. Increased markers can be due to any inflammatory cause not just PMR, but with this rapid decrease it may be the PMR, but how do you feel?

[Lulucat46 in reply to SnazzyD]

sorry there was a typo I started on 15 so followed the initial recommendation

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi and welcome,

We are thinking start again at 15 for 4 weeks and 12.5 for 4 but making sure the bloods are down before going to 10 again does that sound right?

Sounds more sensible, but you need to take account of how you feel, not just the bloods results…. when reducing.

Symptoms, or rather the absence of them are the key to reducing …if you are feeling good with no pains then your bloods ( for most people) are just confirming all is okay….

..and with most patients, other illnesses should be usually ruled out until all you are left with is PMR

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Have you got symptoms? You may not need to be as drastic as that - go back to 12.5mg and if that doesn't manage the symptoms, go to 15mg for a week and then back to 12.5mg and stay there for a month. From there I would go at 1mg at a time with 3 week spacing.

Raised markers without symptoms shouldn't result in a kneejerk return to the start. And slower is always better,

[Lulucat46]

sorry typo I started on 15mg

[Meggsy]

I could only reduce by 1mg a month from 15 to 10 mg, then by 0.5mg.

[Rugger]

When I was first diagnosed, I took almost 6 months to get from 15mg to 10mg - in stages, through 13, 12.5, 11, 10...... I had 5mg and 1mg tablets. My GP also monitored my CRP which came down from 78 to 2. (I'm still on the 'journey', but that's another story!)

All the best.