Medications for Temporal Arteritis/Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA)

46 now that doesn t worry me as much as the crp.which 16.6

Do you recall what the highest number ever was for your SED Rate?

Any chance that your cpr rate of 16.6 is a false positive???

Read the following and see if any of these factors may pertain to your elevated cpr rate:

It is important that any person having this test be in a healthy state for the results to be of value in predicting the risk of coronary disease or heart attack. Any recent illness, tissue injury, infection, or other general inflammation will raise the amount of CRP and give a falsely elevated estimate of risk.

Women on hormone replacement therapy have been shown to have elevated hs-CRP levels.

Since the hs-CRP and CRP tests measure the same protein, people with chronic inflammation, such as those with arthritis, should not have hs-CRP levels measured. Their CRP levels will already be very high due to the arthritis, so results of the hs-CRP test will not be meaningful.

Taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, e.g., aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen) or statins may reduce CRP levels in blood. Both anti-inflammatory drugs and statins may help to reduce inflammation, thus reducing CRP.

When first diagnosed about six years ago it was in the mid 70 s

Thks good information. I just started getting crp rates but have always had sed rate measured

You have certainly come down considerably from when you were first diagnosed....even if appears to be escalating a bit right now. My SED Rate was really mild compared to many of the people on this blog....It was 28 and flagged by the ER with two other components of the blood work also flagged at that same time. When I spoke with the initial RA doctor whom I have now dropped due to his attitude, my SED Rate was 28 and he told me that for a woman of my age then 69 years old that was nothing....he further told me that those SED Rate baselines were really for young people in their 20's so you can take it from there. I also did hear that from another healthcare professional....I don't know your age but you may want to also consider that bit of information.

My sister who is 65 years old and has advanced RA only detected about five or six years ago went on Methotrexate as well as Prednisone and Humira. I can tell you through speaking with her that Methotrexate is nothing to mess around with or be taken lightly as to the severe consequences of side effects. Most people are given only about 10-25 milligrams per week! What I am trying to say is double check if you really need to take this at all and watch out for the amount of dosage in the RX. Also, I am going to say something else here that some won't care to hear but be careful of doctor's that try to get you on too many drugs quickly....remember, they have guaranteed follow-up appointments every three months or so for every patient who is on a prescribed drug which is considered to be maintenance in nature....the bulk of some doctor's practices are made up of these types of patients....they are essentially their bread and butter to put it nicely. If you take Methotrexate you will probably have to have your blood work tested at those intervals also....some doctors have their own blood draw labs as part of their practice, which can further be a double dip for them! In the next few years the government is going to do away with doctor's having their own in-practice blood work labs....I think that they see problems of possible Medicare fraud with it!

I wish you the best and hope that you make some wise decisions for yourself and be your own best advocate!

Forgot to mention to you one very important consequence of taking Methotrexate it will take your overall immune system down, meaning you will be highly susceptible to infections, diseases, etc. the entire time you are on it!

I read that so thank you so much. Talked to my pharmacist and I am going stay in predizone 7 mg. It worked and I tolerate it well.

I was 73 in June. Was first diagnosed about 6 years ago. Started with 40 mg of predizone then got it under control . It returned in 2016 I think. Started with 10 mg and got to 7.