C-Reactive Protein Levels
 

Does anyone have any experience with these? I'm off to see the rheumatologist after having half of my body's blood drawn for testing last week. :unsure: The testing (and I mean, she ran EVERYTHING) mostly came back okay...A1C is good, thyroid good, liver panel was good, etc. My cholesterol could have been better (bad cholesterol and triglycerides were high). But the cause for concern is in my C-Reactive Protein levels (CRP). My sed rate was high (24 when 0-20 is preferred) but I've had high sed rates before. I've been battling joint pain for 4 years now. After a week in the hospital in 2007 I was diagnosed with Still's Disease but have since then been un-diagnosed with it. (it's a joint-painelated autoimmune disorder). Anyway, your CRP should be between 0 and 4.9. Mine was off the charts. It was 12.2! It is a marker of inflammation but doesn't say where the inflammation is or what the cause is. So, I don't know what to think. They Xayed my knees and hips (my pain is in my knees, hips and hands) and are making me an appt with the rheumy. I am so happy to have a doctor who is finally being thorough but I'd love to know if anyone has ever dealt with this blood test.

I haven't personally, but I did some research on it in the past. What you wrote is right -- it's a marker of inflammation, but it's non-specific so it could be cause be a lot of different things, from a rheumatological problem to (if I remember right) even heart problems. I think it's one of those things that just tells them that they should take a closer look to figure out what's up. It sounds like that's what they're doing, so hopefully they'll do some other tests to get to the bottom of your joint pain.

Have you been checked for Lupus?

They should be testing your RF (rheumatoid factor) and your anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA).

Good luck.

Oh gosh. I don't know if I have had that test done before...I was actually diagnosed with RA in 2002. I battled severe joint pain since 2001. I had a very stressful event in my life in '01 and I honestly think that it was part of that that triggered everything. They say that it's been thought that environmental factors have something to do with it...anywho....I had tons of tests and xays done. I had major amounts of blood drawn as well. I was only 23 then, so I honestly didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the types of tests they did. I do remember them telling me that one of my levels was 9 something...I'm guessing maybe that was the C-Reactive Protein level? My SED rates were in the 30s then. Is your joint pain symmetrical? That's a major indicator of RA. If you have any more questions about anything, I'd be more than happy to try to help you if I can :)

Yeah, they've checked me for the biggies (RA, lupus) more than once.

TSH ( thyroid panel )
CBC
Complete Metabolic panel
Lipid Panel (cholesterol)
Iron and TIBC
Vitamine B12 and Folate
Hgb A1C (diabetes risk test)
Rheumatoid Arthritis Factor
CCP IgG antibodies (another arthritis test)
Antinuclear Antibodies Direct
Uric Acid
Sedimentation Rate
Ferritin (this was to continually help rule out my previous diagnosis of Still's Disease)
C-Reactive Protein
FSH and LH (some hormone)


Of all of those this time, they all came back good except my cholesterol, sed rate, and that CRP. It's not THAT my CRP was high that she's concerned about but rather that is SO high. Like off the charts high.

I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of it...I'm glad that something is correlating with how bad my joints feel :p I feel a tiny bit of validation, kwim?

I've been struggling with this for 5 years now (ever since I had a really bad case of fifth's disease as an adult) and what I have learned is that autoimmune disorders are diagnosed by process of elimination. And that there are over 700 of them. *sigh* !

Thank you! It's not exactly symmetrical. It is much worse on the right side (both my hip and my knee). My hands both hurt equally. Of course, we've ruled out RA more than once so I'm certain it's not that anyway, but that's good info to know!!