Are your CPR levels supposed to go down on pred?

Bones, joints and muscles
1

I realise this is a topic that will have been discussed a million times but I'm going to raise it again.....

Are your CPR levels supposed to go down on pred?

I've had relief from all the pain and stiffness from taking pred but my CRP levels haven't budged!

2

Hello flipdover, sorry I can't help you on this one, far too dumb! I'll leave such technical matters to the members who have medical backgrounds. All the best, christina 

3

Hi goodmorning! Yes I presume so that the CRP does drop due to pred! Mine did, from 100 to 5 in just 4 weeks!!! My rheumatologist has just started a taper from 20mg pred to 17.5mg for 2 weeks then to 15mg for another 4 weeks then he wants another CRP check to make sure it's not rising again, so yes I think the pred controls the CRP.

hope that's a help to you!

andrea 😄😄

4

flipdover, during my first undiagnosed, therefore untreated, year with PMR, my CRP fell from 157 at the first blood test to 7.3 within four months.  Spontaneously recovered towards the end of a year, but illness returned with additional severe symptoms and eventually both GCA and PMR were diagnosed.  At that time my CRP had again risen to CRP 65.2 at first blood test but within a month of commencing steroids at 40mg, my CRP was again normal.  Some 7 months later, together with increasing symptoms, it again shot up to 56 with increased steriod dose returning it to normal and improving my symptoms within weeks.

So if my experience is anything to go by, yes the CRP should reduce if the steroid dose is working to control the inflammation.  From what you say, it sounds as though the steroids are controlling your inflammation if you are experiencing "relief from all the pain and stiffness".  You haven't said what your CRP levels were at diagnosis - perhaps they weren't too raised, in which case perhaps they are "normal" for you?  Either that, or there is something else going on which the steroids aren't having any effect on.

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Yes, they should fall but there are exceptions to everything I suppose! 

What CRP, what dose and how long are we talking about?

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There could be inflammation in other parts of the body which are giving a high reading for the inflammatory markers (CRP and ESR).

7

I don't know enough about this disease to know if CRP levels are suppossed to go down.  Mine have gone down then back up.  But have never gone to the normal range yet.

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Hi Linda, my CRP levels went up and down like a yo- yo over 18months which resulted in my Rheumy insisting on a CAT scan from neck to pelvis just in case ' something else is going on". It thoroughly freaked me out but the result was normal. Last apt. showed a CRP  reduction (17) and I felt like throwing a party.!  Eileen made the point a while back that different people may have different baseline CRP levels so "elevated" may not be significantly that high FOR YOU - if your level was at the upper end anyway . .  I found that my CRP levels did not correlate with symptoms ie. it could be quite high and I would only have mimimal soreness in my upper arms. . . . Kind regards.

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My CRP levels aren't that high in comparison to a lot of you - hovering around 16 - 17mg/L so I guess they could be 'normal' for me. My Dr wants them to come down under 3.0 mg/L. Seems some of you have miraculous reductions on pred.

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Are you a stately wench (if you'll pardon the expression)? Lodger had a CRP of 13, doctors were panicking - until one of the doctors pointed out she is a very tall lady and, at the time, was carrying a fair bit of pred weight. They stopped worrying, she got off pred sometime later and lost the weight. Whether the CRP fell I can't remember but she's had no more problems with GCA. I think she also had a very high result as the result of a kidney problem and respiratory problems will also raise it.

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LOLOL, love it "stately wench" :-)

I'm not thin that's for sure. I would describe myself as fat. Not enormous, but fat. In fact, I believe that my weight is in large part responsible for where I am now.

Fat produces hormones that cause inflammation - and so it goes around and around once you are on pred. Sigh.

I'm not worried about the levels so much as getting the pred dose down while still reducing the pain and stiffness. THAT is not going as well as I'd hoped!