Hi everyone,
I'm hoping someone can answer my question. I've been on Plaquinel for about 2 years now. My sed rate varies between 22 and 55. My Ra factor is 39. My doctor still hasn't diagnosed me with RA. Sometimes I don't have an RA factor at all. Can it disappear when the medication is working? This just doesn't make sense. I know the sed rate can vary but can the rheumatoid factor vary?
The way I understand it, the Rheumatoid factor only indicates that inflammation is present. So rheumies use it as a diagnostic tool. Some people dont have any sort of reading when tested, but that doesn't mean they don't have RA. It just makes the diagnosis a little more difficult. (Mine was 276, so that made it a no-brainer to diagnose me.) They don't normally test it every time, once you're diagnosed. So anyway, I'm thinking if your inflammation is down because of meds, then it would make sense that the number would decrease with the meds.
my rheumatoid factor varies quite a bit. From very low to OMG in the course of a couple of months when I was first diagnosed. here's a link to an easy to read table of diagnostic criteria for ra.
http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/diseasemanagement/rheuma tology/rheumarth/table1b.htm
have a great day!
Cheryl
Thank you Sara and Guzele for all of the info. I really enjoyed reading the information from the site you posted. It gave me a lot of medical information instead of just brushing the surface. Thank you again for taking your time to respond.Anny,
My RFactor would vary. Sometimes low positive, sometimes negative. I also take Plaquenil ( 11 years now). My Sed would do the same thing...normal, then low postive, then normal. Generally the RFactor stayed in the low 30's, but due to the symptoms and this number, I was diagnosed early in the disease with RA.
When I added the antibioitic protocal, my labs went sky high and stayed that way for several years. Then they started backing down and now I am back to the low positive, negative, back to low positive results.
I am totally new to this board. I am 31 and was diagnosed with RA just a few months ago. I lived with the pain for almost a year before my GP tested for it. My RFactor was 548. The only thing that seems to work on the pain is Prednisone (about 20mg per day). I have found that there is very little info about the RFactor and how it relates to RA. It is a total bummer.
My RA factor is normal but my sed rates runs between 30-58. I'm tested every single month for sed, ra factor and other items.