Inflammation, but without elevated CRP/ESR

Firemanphil_39

Hi all...
Would anyone be able to offer wisdom from their experience? I saw my Consultant about 4 weeks ago, I mentioned biologics and we honed my diagnosis down to PsA. I'm seeing the biologics nurse this Thursday .

I have slight swelling to my knee, more inflammation and persistent swelling to ankle and foot/toes I do feel that 20 mgs of meth weekly and 2g of sulph daily isn't cutting the visible inflammation and my tender joints.

So, my concern is my most recent bloods came back with CRP and ESR values of 1 and 2 ( they have been decreasing recently but the swelling remains, the highest figures were about 25 ish)

will the biological nurse disregard me for biologics based on bloods alone being within normal ranges?

rugbygirl

Sorry that I cant help you with this but I am sure someone will be along soon who knows more about this.

I just wanted to say good luck and I hope that you get things sorted out soon

valval

nope sorry no idea either val

suzygirl

It isn't just down to your bloods, but how many joints are involved. They check for swelling, redness and inflammation, there fore you should be ok.

cthornley

I got through on a low esr and crp she said the problem is the mtx keeps those low to an extent even tho I'm getting inflammation and pain (and they fluctuate on a daily basis which you can guarantee is low at times like these)
It's based on an assessment if your bloods combined with no's of tender and inflamed joints + weighting for how you feel the day you have the assessment - then they put them all in a neat little calculator thingumajig and tell you what your score is.
I had loads of swollen joints so the esr didn't matter
Hope that helps
Chrissie

Firemanphil_39

cheers for that Chrissie...
I got it today... no need for another assesment either... 16 swollen joints and 14 tender...