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Posted 7/19/2021 2:48 PM (GMT 0)
A question for iPoop or anyone else who might want to chime in.

Is the scale used for a CRP test linear or is it a log scale?

So if your levels go from 2 to 4 does this imply they have doubled (as per a "meter-stick scale") or have they increased by a factor of '10 to the power of 2' = 100 (as per the Richter scale).

Thanks
Posted 7/20/2021 3:13 PM (GMT 0)
Linear. CRP values are expressed as Mg/liter. My GastroE believes if my CRP can be kept less than 5, I should be symptom free or very near symptom free.
Posted 7/21/2021 4:10 PM (GMT 0)
CRP tests show inflammation anywhere in the body so even when I am in remission it always shows that I am high because I have arthritic knees. When I am flaring it's a lot higher. But if I had a reading of 4 I wouldn't give it another thought.
Posted 7/21/2021 5:20 PM (GMT 0)
CRP is not raised extensively in osteoarthritis...if at all....the mechanism of inflammatory action being different....if you have raised CRP CCinPA then likely this is not due to your OA knees...if indeed OA is the source of your knee issues

For some CRP will not be raised during a flare...see David Rubin on Youtube who talks about some of his IBD patients as not being "CRP producers"

As to the OP question which was purely about the type of scale...it is indeed linear so increases to CRP are not exponential in nature
Posted 7/21/2021 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
I always blamed the high CRP and Sed on the osteoarthritis in my knees when I am in remission (confirmed by colonoscopy) though I had no info to back that up -- I just thought that made the most sense. I just did a google search and Sed & CRP CAN be elevated with knee osteoarthritis.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26384360/
Posted 7/21/2021 8:38 PM (GMT 0)
Th effect is very mild....CRP is a proxy of T1 and T2 cell response as part of the cytokine cascade in uncontrolled inflammatory disease....OA is not a systematic inflammatory disease...its bio-mechnical....chronic OA might get you a CRP of 3, as might an infection, .....chronic PA may put your CRP overnight to 100. As well as that as you age your CRP will naturally increase particularly if you develop cardio issues even of a mild form

In short CRP is never used to measure the progression of OA

Post Edited (damo123) : 7/21/2021 2:41:47 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/21/2021 9:03 PM (GMT 0)
My CRP is normal most of the time despite me flaring and having symptoms so I dont know why your GI said that, doingmybest.
Posted 7/22/2021 3:32 AM (GMT 0)
Well everyone’s UC story is a little different as we all know. I think my GI believes keeping my CRP under 5 should result in me showing very few if any symptoms for the following reason. I have a history of showing elevated CRP levels when flaring with big time symptoms. Historically, my CRP levels have ranged from 30-90 during bad flares. I am very much hoping to keep my CRP under 5.
Posted 7/22/2021 5:16 AM (GMT 0)
That seems like a good, individualized use of crp, doingmybest. If your past has demonstrated that it tracks your flares and is elevated when flaring and under 5 when not flaring, then that totally makes sense. That's a good doctor using crp properly.
Posted 7/22/2021 6:21 AM (GMT 0)
I agree beave. I like my doctor using the CRP as a bio measure and indicator/leading predictor of flare or oncoming flare. I do not mean to oversimplify the difficulty of keeping my CRP under 5 though. Mesalamine and Humira both failed to keep my UC in check, flares ensued, and of course my CRP levels rose dramatically. It is all about finding a long term medication which can keep the “Beast in its cage.” But again, I do very much appreciate my GI checking my CRP periodically. If nothing else, my GI thinks a rising CRP, (in my case anyways), could be an advance warning that my current long term maintenance medication might be starting to fail, and a different plan/strategy might be needed.
Posted 7/22/2021 1:37 PM (GMT 0)
Oh ok, that makes sense for you then.
Posted 7/22/2021 4:24 PM (GMT 0)
Before my UC diagnosis my crp was always below 1 or 2 at the worst. At the height of my worst flare it measured well over 100. Now in remission it varies between 2 and 4 depending on how well I avoid triggering foods.
Posted 7/22/2021 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
damo, I never said it CRP was used to measure the progression of OA. But having OA can keep CRP from being in the normal range so that's why I don't get too alarmed when my CRP is high. It's not crazy high, but the old scale my lab was using said <1.0 was normal. I rarely have a normal CRP -- highest was 2.8. They are now using a new scale where normal is less than 10.0 and when I was flaring it was in the 40s. Most recent from April was 12.5.
Posted 7/22/2021 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
Even when I was hospitalized, mine was only 3.1, which is only very slightly elevated. The scale my lab uses says below 2.9 is normal. It doesn't look like it's really that accurate for all of us:

"CRP has been reported to have modest correlation with endoscopic and clinical findings, generally better with CD than UC. The major downsides to CRP are its lack of specificity for intestinal inflammation and moderate false negative rate. Genetic variations in CRP likely contribute to its overall lower sensitivity." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4616202/
Posted 7/22/2021 8:30 PM (GMT 0)

Sara14 said...
Even when I was hospitalized, mine was only 3.1, which is only very slightly elevated. The scale my lab uses says below 2.9 is normal. It doesn't look like it's really that accurate for all of us:

"CRP has been reported to have modest correlation with endoscopic and clinical findings, generally better with CD than UC. The major downsides to CRP are its lack of specificity for intestinal inflammation and moderate false negative rate. Genetic variations in CRP likely contribute to its overall lower sensitivity." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4616202/

That's the same for me usually Sara14. I could be about to have my bowel removed and my ESR will be normal, and CRP barely elevated. However it was over 100 mg/l when I was hospitalised in March 2020 - which surprised me - but everything about that flare up was odd for me.

Post Edited (UCyousee) : 7/23/2021 2:00:55 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/22/2021 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
One thing with CRP that we should be careful on here is to quote the units....people quote figures here without the units and it can mean anything depending on how the CRP result is quoted by the local lab.....it can be mg/l in which case 0-5 is usually normal...or mg/dl in which case the analgous normal scale is 0-0.5

however if we are trying to make comparisons with each other or give each other advice than such is meaningless without quoting the units....one person may say that their result was 2...but if that was on mg/dl and the others interpret that as mg/l then the advice is out by a factor of 10

Quote units!!!
Posted 7/23/2021 8:02 PM (GMT 0)

damo123 said...
One thing with CRP that we should be careful on here is to quote the units....people quote figures here without the units and it can mean anything depending on how the CRP result is quoted by the local lab.....it can be mg/l in which case 0-5 is usually normal...or mg/dl in which case the analgous normal scale is 0-0.5

however if we are trying to make comparisons with each other or give each other advice than such is meaningless without quoting the units....one person may say that their result was 2...but if that was on mg/dl and the others interpret that as mg/l then the advice is out by a factor of 10

Quote units!!!

You're right. I've edited my post to state that my 2020 CRP level (when I was hospitalised) was over 100 mg/l. Usually it's 5mg/l and barely ever rises above 10mg/l even when I'm being encouraged to have my bowel removed, so March 2020 was a strange anomaly for me.
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