What's your SED rate?

for people on here who get routine bloodwork done i was wondering what everyone else's SED rate is at? After monitoring mine for over 5 years now it is very clear that anything over 7 is when my Crohn's is flaring (fyi normal range is 0-15 but everyone is different in regards to what is normal for them). Right now i am at 30. My range has been between 3 and 35. It's amazing when i look back at all my SED rates over the past 5 years and see exactly when i was feeling great aka remission when my SED rate was below 7.

thoughts?

fyi i am on remicade every 6 weeks / 1000 , delzicol , and rowasa.

gypsyfp said...
My SED rate was 51 in December and I'm also on Remicade every 6 weeks.
No one seemed very concerned.
:P

51? holy crap how are they NOT concerned? what are your symptoms like at 51? aside from the GI issues do you have feverlike episodes like you're burning up inside? achiness, weakness, exhaustion, etc.?

Sed rate usually relates to your ESR. ESR is a slower inflammation marker than CRP... So lags behind CRP. Hence CRP is more useful as it relates to how you are at the time (albeit accept that some people's never rise). My ESR is regularly up ... But I focus more on CRP ... Just before Xmas it hit 190 (yes I felt like death) but went back down to 40s shortly after. I haven't had a CRP within range ever! Maybe one daY!

the-80s-rock said...
for people on here who get routine bloodwork done i was wondering what everyone else's SED rate is at? After monitoring mine for over 5 years now it is very clear that anything over 7 is when my Crohn's is flaring (fyi normal range is 0-15 but everyone is different in regards to what is normal for them). Right now i am at 30. My range has been between 3 and 35. It's amazing when i look back at all my SED rates over the past 5 years and see exactly when i was feeling great aka remission when my SED rate was below 7.

thoughts?

fyi i am on remicade every 6 weeks / 1000 , delzicol , and rowasa.

Mine over the past 5 years has been between 1 and 4. I get my CBC blood panel every 3-4 months.

-------------------
Crohns since 1996
1 resection (1997)
healed with SCD diet

Duffle said...
Sed rate usually relates to your ESR. ESR is a slower inflammation marker than CRP... So lags behind CRP. Hence CRP is more useful as it relates to how you are at the time (albeit accept that some people's never rise). My ESR is regularly up ... But I focus more on CRP ... Just before Xmas it hit 190 (yes I felt like death) but went back down to 40s shortly after. I haven't had a CRP within range ever! Maybe one daY!

thanks for the info on CRP. just called my doc to add it to my bloodwork with my next remicade draw. btw whats the normal range for CRP?

the-80s-rock said...
thanks for the info on CRP. just called my doc to add it to my bloodwork with my next remicade draw. btw whats the normal range for CRP?

Depends on the type of CRP test. One type is high sensitivity (hs), the other is not. Normal range for the hs test is 0-10 mg/L; normal range for the non-hs test is 0-1 mg/dL. The lower the better, by the way - ideally your CRP should be under 3/0.3

The NHS uses the hs test, so I'm used to my results in those units. My highest CRP was 350. Yes, I was deathly ill at the time. It coincided with hopsitalisation and an abdominal x-ray which found toxic megacolon. Here's a handy chart of my CRP over a 7-month period: i.imgur.com/qX4Yc.jpg

I started Remicade in late August - I was hospitalised with extremely high fevers about a month later. I did have an initial response to the first infusion, which maybe explains the low CRP at the start. Subsequent drops were probably caused by steroids rather than Remicade, since it never showed a sign of doing anything again after that.

As for SED, I don't know too much about the one. My last ESR result was 31, I think - around 30 anyway. That was a few months ago and unfortunately the idiots didn't take my CRP at the same time. My platelets were also elevated, which is another sign of inflammation with me.

Duffle said...
As said, check norms for your country. They are not all the same as the UK <10mg/l. The inconsistency across health care systems is an interesting one ... Albeit the difference in this case is likely to be negligible at the low end. Where I live <5mg/l is considered normal. personal experience of two countries is this variance happens across all bloods. Ultimately how you feel is the biggest indicator.

How are your bonus problems related to Crohns? I never have heard of osteoporosis and blood clots as results from Crohns?

_________________________________________________
Crohns since 1996
1 resection (1997)
healed with SCD diet

Duffle said...
Crohny-I...

Osteopenia and osteoporosis are a direct and serious side effect of pred ... And bone health isn't helped by poor absorption and being underweight. Diagnosed through a dexus scan ...anyone on repeated and/or lengthy pred should have one.

Blood clots are again related to crohns or UC. I don't know why exactly but the link is well documented. IBD patients have an increased risk. No-one told me before I had one so I too was unaware of the risks. However I've now had two blood clots (calf) and two pulmonary emboli (PEs - where the clot shifts onto your lungs). Both followed major flares. This is possibly the most dangerous thing with this disease yet it receives far less air time than other issues. PEs can be fatal ... So it's really important the we are aware. Clots are easily diagnosed - first a D Dimer blood test can confirm you def don't have one or you may have one. If it comes back as 'may' you then are scanned. Life of blood thinners for me now ... Which of course sits uncomfortably with the bleeding issues of crohns.

Unreal! Thanks for the info! I was on those years ago, i wonder if i am still at risk.

Thanks again!