I am very new at this in fact I haven't even seen a rheumatologist yet. My GP is the one who did the blood test and found that my CRP was high. My question is what kind of numbers are we looking at as being high. Mine is 12.1. Is that just a little high very high medium high. I just like a ballpark as to where that falls on the scale.
Hello, I'm sure There are very helpful kniwlesbke people who can give the ranges , on this forum. My CRP level has been has been as high as 85.
Standard range is .0 to .30 mg/dl.
Hi well I think the range is 0 to 5
i was diagnosed with PMR over a year and half ago,
first my CRP was 118 and then GCA, it was 128
i was obsessed with having my bloods done to get my CRP result.
but it was a good indication as to the inflammation that was going on inside,
my CRP is 3.1 hope this helps
From Healthline:
C-reactive protein is measured in milligrams of CRP per liter of blood (mg/L). Normal CRP levels are below 3.0 mg/dL. A standard CRP test often can’t even detect normal levels because they’re so low.
A high sensitivity CRP test can detect levels below 10.0 mg/dL. This kind of test is performed to determine risk for cardiovascular disease. Levels of CRP over 3.0 mg/dL are thought to put you at a higher-than-average risk for heart disease.
I'm reading from my blood test result
CRP. 3.1. Mg/l. Range 0.0 - 5.0
Have to convert. d/L is a tenth of a liter. Your test is in miligrams per liter apparently. Look up normal range in Mg/l.
Looks like you're within the normal range to me.
I know it's no normal simply because the test says high. But from reading the results from some of these others it not very high.
That is normal range milligrams / litre
0.0-5.0
Your CRP is a bit high it should be 0-5. I am sure it will go down once you have had pred for a few days. Mine was 123.3, my rheumie was very impressed!
Here's something else to consider - CRP is not always raised in PMR! So although you have only slightly raised CRP it's not necessarily an indication of the presence or lack of PMR!
Other symptoms are also used in the diagnosis - not just CRP. Are you in pain, do you suffer fatigue? Have you lost your appetite/weight loss? Can you lift your arms above your head? Can you get out of a chair or car seat unaided?
Hi, did it take you a year and half for your CRP to be 3.1 ? and with the GCA were you on high Pred dose to start and for how long before the CRP started to get under contriol for the GCA?
I have both PMR and GCA .. 3 months now, 6 weeks into it we found the GCA and I have been on 40mg pred for a month, doing blood next week.
Have you had and vision damage?
Many Thanks Cheers Dea
In answer to your questions my original appointment with my doctor was because I was hurting all over but because I have chronic pain from my back I am on opiates so this pain was superseded by pain pills. I can lift my arms above my head and as far as fatigue I'm always tired because of the medicine I'm on so I don't know that I wouldn't notice any extra fatigue. My sed rate has been elevated for the last couple of years. We haven't known why it's elevated and then when I went to the doctor and he discovered my CRP was elevated too he said I had PMR and referred me to a rheumatologist. I can't get in to see one until September. So I won't know what her opinion is until then.
I too hurt all over and felt like I'd been hit by a truck every morning when I got out of bed. I'd stopped my HRT 12-18months prior and was told by a women's health GP it was due to me just getting older. Every day I was so stiff and sore like I'd run a marathon. My family was sick of me complaining all the time. I recently restarted HRT creams and it's helped with some of the body aches and pains. I've done a lot of research and some websites state sudden drop in hormones can trigger auto immune response in some people. I'm still waiting for my Rheumo appt-2 months to go.
It's all well and good for them to ask you to wait - in pain and unable to function. Honestly, where do they get off?
Hi. My CRP was around 13 when I was diagnosed with PMR. That's considered to be not normal, but a lower than usual amount for those with PMR. In my case that led to the doctor giving me too little prednisone to have the desired effect, and needed to go to a different doctor who was ok with putting me on a higher dose of 15 mg daily. I think I either caught it early, or had a light case of it because then I was able to taper and get off the prednisone in about 18 months. After that though, I continued to get stronger, and feel completely normal after about 2 1/2 years.
Hi Dea I started off with flu like symptoms, pain in my neck then pains in my thighs until I couldn't walk, got bloods done CRP was 118 doctor told me to go to A & E I was lucky then doctor in A & E got a rheumatologist to come and look at me and she diagnosed me with PMR,
I was on 20mg pred I was back at clinic on following mon and they told me to reduce after 2 weeks , I was down to 12.5 over 5 days which was too quick,
I went to eat and couldn't open my mouth and then headaches came on and I could see arteries bulging out at temple. I was back at hospital and was admitted I was in for 5 days and they did a biopsy and it was positive.
my dose was increased to 60mg pred, when I left hospital I was fine,and CRP was down to 70mg
But day after I developed severe headaches, so back to hospital and they were reluctant to increase pred and put me on painkillers but didn't work, couldn't put my head on pillow.
I cried with pain anyway a week later I lost sight in one eye but I was lucky it came back I had 3 episodes of this, it was the most frightening time of my life, my dose was increased to 80mg and I was fine except all side effects.
And down to 6.5 mg how are you doing
The range depends on the lab and the units, whether it is mg/L or mg/dL. One site quotes normal range CRP: 0-10mg/L. But labs differ slightly depending on their technique so that isn't a figure fixed in stone.
Bear in mind that the lab will print out a result and mark it as raised as soon as it is above the top reading - and a reading of 12 when 10 is the top is not really much to worry about. It should be repeated in a few weeks and the trend looked at.
He may well be right but your GP is jumping to conclusions - although some experts claim that having CRP and ESR raised is more specific for PMR I suspect it is the other way round to what your GP is thinking. Many doctors jump to the conclusion someone has PMR because the ESR is raised and they have symptoms. The ESR is a VERY non-specific test, all sorts of things from a cold to pregnancy and how the blood sample was stored will cause increased readings. Experts are of the opinion that the CRP should also be checked - and if both ESR and CRP are raised it is more likely to be meaningful than if just the ESR is raised (CRP can be normal but the ESR high). Does that make sense?
What I'm saying is that yes, your ESR and CRP are raised and that does indicate the presence of inflammation somewhere in the body so something is wrong. It could still be any of a wide range of things - CRP is also pretty non-specific.
Where are you? To have a rheumatology appointment in a month or so isn't bad - someone in Northern Ireland has a 15 month wait! Only a small number of new patients can be fitted in in a clinic so if you are in the UK that is the limiting factor if there is a sudden rush of patients some have to wait a bit longer. In any country, even the US, this is definitely the wrong time of year to want to be seen fast: it's summer holidays! Most doctors are of an age to have school-age children and they want family holidays too!
Hi, Thanks for your reply, sounds like you had a very hard time of it all. I am so pleased to hear you have your sight back and that you are on the lower Pred now, gives me hope .
I see my Dr tomorrow for follow up and will take it from there.
I have a few other issues at the moment also >
Cheers Dea