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Calprotectin - self testing??

I saw a fascinating TV programme earlier this week, on the BBC, about self monitoring one's health. One guy - Larri Smarr - who is probably well known to the Crohn's cognescenti - had diagnosed himself as having Crohn's by taking 150 different readings from his body and spotting 3 that were well outside the "normal" range. The principle ones being Calprotectin and CRP. (I think I've got that right)

I did a quick search on the internet and both the tests mentioned above appear to be available as easy to use kits.

I'm currently going through a quiet patch with my Crohn's but, as always, at the back of my mind I'm expecting the inflammation to return at some point. What I would like to be able to do is regularly monitor the key indicators so that rather than letting the Crohn's get too bad I could get an early indication that something was amiss and start any treatment sooner rather than later.

Is anyone on the Forum doing any similar tests themselves? Could it be feasible and/or worthwhile? What sort of frequency would be the optimum? Is there a danger of becoming obsessed by test results?

I explored these thoughts a little further here - http://www.crohnoid.com/2013/08/self-monitoring.html

Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree but I'm curious to know what other crohnies think.
 
I'm not sure about home testing but even if you are in remission you should be having blood tests every so often to monitor your crp, renal, liver, fbc and sometimes esr.
I would rather have this dealt with in a lab and then passed onto the dr who would interpret the results. Also in the uk blood tests are free with the nhs so I wouldn't see the need to pay out money for the kits when you get more accurate results from the lab.
I did try to look for the crp kit but could only see ones that are pretty basic and usually just as an indicator of cardiac disease not other diseases that cause a raised crp.
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
I wouldn't know how to go about doing my own stool and blood tests. I also don't need them daily. Blood& stool tests are every few weeks/months and I'd much rather go to a lab and know its done right and a doctor reads the report.
 
Thanks for your thoughts. I suppose it all comes down to the frequency of tests for them to be beneficial. I'm out of my depth when it comes to questions like that. Will ask my consultant what he thinks.

I don't know which part of the NHS the costs of any tests come from. I suppose I would have to convince my GP if I think I should be having tests more regularly. The home test kits worked out around £10 a go.
 
£10 a go is expensive for a crp test if the lab does it I believe it only a couple of pound and would be far more accurate it would give you a figure. The kits that I saw online only have low,medium or high which may not be enough information for the GI. I couldn't seem to find what the ranges were for those groups.
For me I have blood tests around every 3 months and this seems to be frequent enoug to monitor my disease. When I have been flaring I have has blood tests more frequently but the GI/GP have let me know when they want it done.
Another thing to thing to think about is the quality of these tests and also the quality of samples that you would provide for them and how this could change the results. How would you monitor it at home would you have to run a control everytime you used a kit? This would again increase the cost as you would be using two kits each time. Also how long the kits last and they have to be kept at 4-8C so it would mean monitoring the storage conditions to make sure the kits would still work correctly.
It would be interesting to hear what the GP would say but I think they would just give you a bunch of lab test request forms and a time schedule to get them done.
 
I haven't got a schedule for when I should be having blood tests, I think I'll make an appointment to see him and get his opinion.

The other tablets I'm on are beta blockers to keep my blood pressure low. I know that is easy to monitor using an bp armband and a smart phone. Maybe I'll start with that
 
I monitor with monthly Calprotectin tests (sent to a lab in the UK, it costs 48£ per test). I can send you their contact info if you want to use them.
Because of the relative frequency of these tests, I did look into buying a home-testing kit. I decided against it because the one i found only gives 3 readings, 0-15, 15-65, and above 65. (Normal is 50 and below). Although I am normally between 15-65, there is really no cause for alarm for a crohn's patient to be over 65. It is much more informative to have the test done at a lab, so that I can get more detailed results. If I get a result of 66 back from the lab its nothing to worry about, but if its 200 or more it means something is about to go wrong, and if its 2000 or more it means I'm flaring. With the at-home test I would get the same result (>65) in all 3 cases (66, 200, 2000) so it wouldn't really be a useful test. Unless you were able to find an at-home test that gives a more detailed result I don't know if its worth the trouble and investment.
 
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