crp blood test question

CRP (C-Reactive Protein) is a generic marker for inflammation. He may be checking to see the level of inflammation in your body to help understand if any changes need to be made in your treatment.

I wouldn't worry about the heart thing. Some MD's use CRP to assess heart disease risk, but I think in the context of Lyme, it is more about the inflammation than anything else. Of course, you should ask your LLMD just to be sure, but this is my take on this situation.

I thought this is interesting about my CRP level. It is normal if I am not herxing and then when I herx it is elevated 4 - 5 times normal. I try to time my blood tests with herxing to kind of get a picture of what is going on in my body.

Some studies have shown a correlation between elevated CRP and an increased risk of developing heart disease because CRP may be elevated by inflammation in the blood vessels. A newer test, called the highly sensitive CRP, may be more accurate than the regular CRP for determining heart disease risk.

That said, CRP is not specific to blood vessel inflammation and may be elevated by inflammation anywhere in the body. Even a cold can cause a temporary increase in the CRP level. But that doesn't mean you will get heart disease from the elevation of CRP from a cold - it just means that the cold has triggered an inflammatory response in the body to deal with the cold. Likewise, Lyme disease (or a herx) may trigger elevations in CRP that may or may not have anything to do with heart disease risk because Lyme disease has a tendency to trigger inflammation in the body.

I hope this helps - take care,