Normal sed rate and CBC

Hello everyone!

I am going back on Humira and cannot wait!  I do have a question though.  As mentioned in my previous post I have diarrhea, joint pain and very, very irritable along with being tired.  My GI agreed I am in a flare.  I feel it also but my sed rate came back normal along with my CBC and metabolic panel.  Has anyone ever been in a flare when they didn't have elevated levels?  I know the difference between feeling well and not feeling well.  Just confused thank you.  I also am under a great deal of stress in work!

Stacy

What do you do in those cases?  Family, friends and coworkers don't want to hear about your UC and then when things come back normal you question yourself.  How can this be explained or is it just part of the disease!  thanks for taking the time to answer me!

Stacy

I've never had my bloodwork show signs of a flare up. My GI said it's better that it's not affected.

In the fall, 2010 I felt incredibly tired even though my UC was in remission. My gastro ran every available blood test + urinalysis, too; all came back normal-- just vit D on the low side, usual for me & I cannot do the giant supplement per allergies. So I dragged my tail right up thru Dec when the 1st cold weather hit my area. I started to feel better-- energy level definitely improved. I concluded that something environmental had been bothering me. It can be very frustrating to establish a clear cause for what ails us! / Old Hat (31 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

I just ran across this post and it is my exact question. I flared in February and tapered finishing in late March. Was doing fine, then I broke out in a strange itchy rash in April which my family doctor gave me a steroid dose packet to treat.
2 weeks ago, I started having mucus and urgency but little blood. Pain in passing stool, but stool was/is formed. Last week, my left knee went out. Cramping, pain and swelling. Doc gave me a steroid shot on Monday. Last night, my right hip did the same thing that my knee did.

I went to the Doc again this morning. He did X-ray and did a sed rate test for inflammation. Just got the call that both are fine and he is chalking it up to "wear and tear".

Could I be flaring? Prednisone is the ONLY thing that takes me out of flaring and I really really have been fighting doing anther round. I am tired, feel like crap and walk like I'm 90 years old.

We don't need extensive amounts of inflammation to have a rather crapty quality of life. A small amount of inflammation within the rectum can cause urgency and the usual annoyances of UC. There can be a big disconnect between symptoms and inflammation.

46&crashing said...
Thank you for the info. After online research I suspected that maybe the Nexium I have been taking for the last few weeks might have caused a magnesium deficiency so I asked my doc to run that test. He ran that and other blood tests. Got a call from him that I am all normal.

So at this point I am wondering if my body is just having aches and pains since it is recovering from my previous use of prednisone or if it wants me to give it another round of the drug.

BTW, if you can stomach it or don't have severe GERD, I would get off the PPI longer-term (nexium). PPI's suppress stomach acid, make you more prone to infections like CDiff and can contribute to UC flares. I was on one intermittently for years for GERD and feel way better off it. Diarrhea is one of the side effects of PPI's.