I began pred in May 23 2023 and have had no pain symptoms since then. I am now down to 0.5mg pred.
My latest CRP shows " less than 0.5mg/dl" as it has consistently. However my ESR shows 48 mg/hr (normal 2-37), whereas previously it was 22, 24, 40, 12 and19.
I feel much better- the mood swings, light-headedness and awful fatigue having departed and I had been hoping to quit the pred in a couple of weeks.
I see the rheumy mid-Jan and have an attentive GP.
My questions are please:
(1) What could be the significance of this suddenly high ESR?
(2) Can I perhaps disregard the ESR reading (with my GP's agreement) and keep on the 0.5mg for another 2-3 weeks then stop?
(3) Should I just keep going on 0.5mg?
(4) When should I have another ESR test?
Thanks so much for all your work on here.