Sed rate

[Cupkatemom]

So...this is the first time we've had an elevated Sed rate. It's 22...just slightly out of the normal range, says the nurse. When she was first diagnosed it was around 11. This doesn't make sense to me. Can anyone help me understand?

 

[crohnsinct]

Double the dx rate? That would have me hmmm'ing. Is anything else going on? Has she been sick recently? Injuries? Allergies? Sed rate can be elevated for many different reasons. Did they do a fecal calprotectin test also? That is specific to intestinal inflammation.

 

[Cupkatemom]

Hmm...her allergies are acting up and she has more stomach pains since State Testing has begun. But...stress can't cause inflammation, right? She is no longer anemic (in last 7 months) and we have stopped the iron.

 

[araceli]

I agree with crohnsinct , faecal calprotectin will be a good idea. In my opinion 22 is not slightly", if the range is 0 to 15. Specially if your daughter is like mine that sed rate does not go up the hill. Stress can cause symptoms in my daughter but I do not know if it can cause inflammation. I hope is just stress or a bug.

 

[Jmrogers4]

Yeah I would do some more investigation FC at the least. 22 would freak me out as Jack's like that his sed rate hardly budges with infection and stays in normal range. We've found we have to look at what's normal sed rate for him 6-7 is normal 9-11 is inflammation. He was at 15 last summer with MRSA.

 

[crohnsinct]

I think allergies could raise sed rate but paging my little penguin on this one as her kids have allergy issues. Did they also have a CRP value. CRP raises and lowers more immediately with inflammation so if that is normal it could mean that sed rate is just lagging a bit.

I would want a conversation with gi and another draw at minimum to see how things are trending and I would probably ask for an fc test.

 

[my little penguin]

Allergies IgE mediated ( food/pollen/drug etc..) does not raise sed rate or crp .
Gi allergies that are mixed IgE ( Eosinophilic disorders ) which cause parts of the gut to scar due to EOS aslo does not raise the sed rate .

Inflammation of any sort due an infection any where in the body including a mild cold can raise the sed rate fast but take a while to drop.
Fwiw my kiddo has a 10 consistently for sed rate
But has gotten to a 22 and not had anything Ibd wise going on.

 

[cre]

I'm not exactly sure how tests differ but I know our normal sed rate numbers are 0-25. My guy is at a 32 as of last week and although it is elevated we are giving it another week and testing again. GI says it could be a bug of some sort he is fighting off which would increase inflammatory markers.

I hope it is something "simple" for her and she gets better soon.

 

[Mehita]

mlp - what about muscle inflammation due to exercise? Can that affect it or only due to infection?

 

[Maya142]

The range can also be 0-20, so it really depends on your range to see how elevated it is. I would probably ask for a FC test too.

Mehita - I know with Myositis (an inflammatory connective tissue disease) ESR can be raised, not sure about regular muscle inflammation due to exercise. Fwiw both my kids played varsity soccer 7 days a week and never had an elevated ESR with (multiple!) injuries.

 

[pdx]

My daughter's sed rate was 79 when she was diagnosed last December, and it stayed that high for several months. It's now dropped down into the 20's, and we're thrilled to see it that low. That said, she's not in remission yet, so I guess I'm in agreement with what others have said--it's probably worth continuing to investigate to see if your daughter has some hidden source of inflammation.

Five years ago, when my daughter was 7, we took her into the doctor for hip pain, and she had a slightly elevated sed rate--I can't remember the exact value. The hip pain gradually decreased, and we all just assumed that the elevated sed rate was not related--that she was fighting some mild infection. Now we know it was probably Crohn's related, and wish that we had pushed for more follow up. Hindsight is 20/20 of course.