HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

C-Reactive Protien

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 9/7/2010 9:10 PM (GMT 0)
Can someone explain to me how this protein reading works?

I've had it checked every month since I was diagnosed ~8 years ago, but I just started paying attention to it since I've started to feel crummy lately. My last CRP was 2.8 in June and I had my blood taken last week and it's up to 5.6 now. Why the jump after 2 months on Prednisone??

I did some research online and found that CRPs <15 were considered mild Crohn's, <65 (i THINK) was moderate and everything about was severe.

But when I was diagnosed in 02, I was diagnosed with severe Crohn's at the time. So now it's mild?

Sooooo, I'm confused I guess. I'm also confused as to what makes doctors assign different classification groups. What makes one mild vs. moderate vs. severe?

I don't think I'll ever understand this disease...
Posted 9/7/2010 10:23 PM (GMT 0)
While CRP can be an indicator of inflammation or infection, it is not always elevated when inflammation is present in the body. At the onset of an acute episode of inflammation, the CRP might be high. As the inflammation progresses to a chronic status, the CRP MAY go down though the inflammation is present. The reason for this is not known and is often seen in diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. In the body, CRP plays the important role of interacting with the complement system, an immunologic defense mechanism. C3 Complement and C4 Complements are often measured to get further indications of inflammation in the body.

While my CRP has always remained very low, my C3 Complement values are often extremely below normal levels indicating high levels of inflammation.
Posted 9/8/2010 12:12 AM (GMT 0)
Yep, Ides is right, mine goes up and down at will. Sometimes the strange thing is when the values are elevated
I usually feel ok....
Posted 9/8/2010 1:17 AM (GMT 0)
I have similar queiries qith CRP levels...... mine have been raising since my resection in 2006 and not gone down at all.
MY CRP level atm is sitting between 19 and 33 for the past 2 weeks.
I have been flaring and feeling really lousy lately, but the specialist said she is not sure if it is due to narrowing of the intestines or inflammation,or if it is even the crohns thats causing it, but I thought CRP was an indication of inflammation???
the lowest my CRP has been in 4 years is 17!!
I hope u get some answers soon and feel better soon too
Posted 9/8/2010 3:28 AM (GMT 0)
Normal CRP is less than .8, according to the LDN study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Even a CRP reading of just 2 or 3 can indicate inflammation.

Tooth, could you send me links to research you found - I searched all over the net and in journals, and haven't seen anything that suggests that a CRP of under 15 is either low or indicates mild Crohn's.

Posted 9/8/2010 3:44 AM (GMT 0)
Had a lot of downtime at work today and apparently read a ton of articles on this. Didn't realize the article I got my info from was from 1982. blush blush blush smilewinkgrin

But here's the abstract of the article. Still an interesting thought process for the time back then....

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6814926

Still finding that I don't understand this CRP much.
Posted 9/8/2010 2:46 PM (GMT 0)
Before I got diagnosed with CD a few months ago, my CRP was at 147. I had inflammation everywhere it seemed, including crazy swelling and pain in my ankles and knees. My GP's initial thought was Lupus so off to the Rheumy I went. Lupus and RA tests came back negative though, so next stop was my GI where I was diagnosed with CD and related arthritis. I haven't had another test since, but I'm curious to know where I'm at now after a few months of asacol, pred and now Immuran.
Posted 9/8/2010 2:55 PM (GMT 0)
my boy's CRP in July was 71. no symptoms, no pain, no diarrhea. other times it has been half of that or less nad he has been in agony. I don't know.
Posted 9/8/2010 4:45 PM (GMT 0)
bob, I hope the LDN diminishes the CRP and sed rate in your son. I'm not sure whether it affected my daughter's CRP or not, because CRP was already low, but it definitely diminished the sed rate.

tooth, very interesting, thx! The article seems to say that the median CRP value (half of patients had higher, half had lower) was 4, but the range was 0-65.  The median CRP in patients with "moderate" Crohn's was 15, but the range observed was 1-100. The median CRP in patients with severe disease was 85, range of 15-183. (I do think this info, and the definitions of "mild", etc, is dated.)  

In the LDN clinical trial, the median CRP was 2.6, and after the LDN was used, the median CRP fell to .9 by the twelfth week of treatment.  

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply