ESR 39

[TedTheMaineCoon]

Hi

I’m wondering what you guys think about this ESR blood test result of 39 ?

The rheumy says it’s normal . A gp at my surgery said it’s normal for my age - 63 !

King Regards

Lesley

[SnazzyD]

It might not be normal for you though, so previous readings over the years are handy to know to give some context. The main things are whether you have any symptoms and what the next reading is. It might be on the upper end of some scale but it isn’t low. You need to know what it has done since. The subsequent readings are an indicator of a blip, potential interaction or a problem brewing. In conjunction with any kind of symptoms (as it’s not specific), it likely isn’t just one of those things and still needs repeating.

[TedTheMaineCoon in reply to SnazzyD]

Thank you snazzy . I’m having another blood test for ESR soon . Previous test showed levels about the same .

[SnazzyD in reply to TedTheMaineCoon]

Do you feel ok?

[TedTheMaineCoon in reply to SnazzyD]

Well I’m always tired & achy . I’ve been on steroids briefly. Gp took me off after a few weeks . Not had any since October & pains minimal at the moment .

[Koalajane]

it would be high for me as when I am okay mine are in the very low teens. So even 20 would be high for me

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Do you know what sort of ESR level you have had in the past? In addition - when you get the report, is there a range in brackets after the result? That is the lab range which varies with the technique used to measure the test.

But out of context - no, that ESR is not "within normal range" since in general at 50 and over under 30 is taken as the upper range for women. It used to be assumed that it was perfectly normal for ESR to rise with age but it eventually dawned on them that it was more likely older patients had undiagnosed inflammatory conditions.

Exhaustive details are here:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK5...

[TedTheMaineCoon in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you for the information! I’ll check out to see if there’s a range bracket .

[TedTheMaineCoon]

Also I was told it’s raised because I’m overweight & have diabetes T2 !

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to TedTheMaineCoon]

Have you also got diabetic kidney disease? That is the main reason for ESR being raised in diabetic patients.

bmcendocrdisord.biomedcentr...

If overweight patients have raised ESR that accounts for half the population - not much use then is it?

[TedTheMaineCoon]

no diabetic disease.

[Merryfield]

My last sed rate was 33 but Dr Google indicates you want it below 30. It was 128 when I as first diagnosed with PMR; the lowest was 9. As I reduce steroids, I am fearful it will go up.