Does anybody else have a SED rate that stubbornly remains high, yet they have no noticeable signs of inflammation, and no noticeable progression of joint damage? I've been taking Humira for 20 months, and feel absolutely great. I have no pain, no morning stiffness, no problems walking, no swelling in my hands or anywhere (that I can see), yet my SED rate remains around 50. Every once in a while it drops into the 20's, but it always goes right back up. My doctor is hinting that I should try another biologic, perhaps Enbrel. However I'm afraid that if I do switch, see no improvement in my SED rate, and switch back to Humira, that the Humira might not work as well as it is now. I feel so good right now that I absolutely dread the prospect of trying anything different. Has anybody here experienced anything like this? Perhaps some of us are simply doomed to a lifetime of hidden inflammation.
I don't understand hidden inflammation at all. My sed rate is not usually high but my WBC is usually elevated and my CRP. Not a lot at all but still- I have absolutely no visable swelling anywhere. What the heck is inflamed?My Sed rate has been extremly high since Aug. it has been 89. I have had to have 3 rounds of iv of solumedrol. It has made me very sick. I have had a headache that wont go away. My nerves are on end and I feel like I am exploding. My sed rate has been high but my Dr. always says that my hands look good joints look good but I don't feel good. I have had a bout with inflamation in my back and am looking at the possibilty of AS as being the problem. Don't know much about it but had bloodwork done to look for something showing it. I am just waiting. LauraInflamed joints are swollen and sometimes reddish, and often difficult or painful to move. I don't seem to have any of that sort of thing going on any more, at least anything that's visible to the eye. However, a high SED or CRP reading supposedly indicates that there's inflammation going on somewhere. In my case it's probably internal inflammation, though none of my doctors can seem to identify anything. It's very frustrating to have my RA in control on the outside, but to still be worrying that something nasty is going on inside.
I'm stiff as heck, it lasts all day long and my sed rate was 5 last week. Two weeks before it was 2 so it is going up. I've been ordered to have labs every two weeks now so I'm interested in seeing if it goes up much more. My WBC count was also only 11,000 which is good too. The ESR is more of a "generic" test for inflammation whereas CRP is one of the very first acute phase proteins that elevate in the presence of inflamatory response so it is probably the more reliable of the two to go by. That being said, back in June when I first started flaring, my ESR was in the 100's and all that was swollen was my left ankle and both knees and they weren't bad at all.