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What does high calprotectin mean?
Dear all,
Any guidance, suggestions, and information is greatly appreciated. My GI has been off for the past few months with relatively inconsistent and loose stools on a regular basis. I completed by labs and bloodwork last week and received all results yesterday. I reside in California, and am in the Scripps medical system. All labs and bloodwork came back normal, except for calprotectin, which was 67 ug/g. According to the lab, the normal range is 50 ug/g or below.
I am an epidemiologist and I suffer from SEVERE health anxiety. My primary care physician has not responded to my calls or emails, which heightens my anxiety even more. I understand that my calpro level is not extremely high, but my anxiety spins out of control.
I would be most grateful for any thoughts or feedback on my calprotectin result. In addition, any advice on dietary or lifestyle modifications would be useful.
Warm regards and thank you in advance,
D
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@szelisk Hi. I had very high calprotectin levels 2.5 years ago and had a colonoscopy that did not reveal anything helpful and now because my calprotectin level is close to 1000, my doctor wants me to have one again. For those of us with severe GI issues, you often have to do the two or three day prep vs. one day and it makes one sick as a dog, so trying to avoid it. What tests did you have done that provided the pancreatic enzyme insufficiency diagnosis. Were you asked to have a colonoscopy because of your high calprotectin level? Really appreciate any advice you are willing and able to share. Best, Gail
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1 Reaction@thornbury Me too! Has diet helped? I'm doing a low-fat diet.
@weathergirl15 - I had several CT and MRI's, which showed issues with my pancreas, a possible bubbling in my liver bile ducts. Unfortunately, I had to switch GI physicians. I call myself the problem child. :). The enzymes have helped, but unfortunately, have not cured my issues.
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1 Reaction@dominik3144, this information is a bit technical from Mayo Clinic Laboratories, but it explains more about what calprotectin is and what it's used for in medicine:
- https://www.mayocliniclabs.com/test-catalog/overview/63016
I'm guessing that if you are in epidemiology, more technical articles are okay for you. Also, here is a web article written for medical professionals about the test for fecal calprotectin:
- Fecal calprotectin assay performs well as biomarker for measurement of ulcerative colitis disease activity https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/digestive-diseases/news/fecal-calprotectin-assay-performs-well-as-biomarker-for-measurement-of-ulcerative-colitis-disease-activity/mac-20571579
Specifically, this article says "Fecal calprotectin (FC) has recently emerged as a promising noninvasive biomarker for assessing disease activity in UC. Calprotectin is a protein released by activated neutrophils during inflammation."
Here's hoping that your primary care physician will get back to you in due time, as he or she would have the very best information related to your particular situation and testing results, dominik3144.
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2 Reactions@weathergirl15 Hi there. My level was a little over 2000 3 weeks ago. I’m in the hospital now, 2nd colonoscopy tomorrow. The doctor thinks that there might be some bad bacteria that is in my colon that is fighting treatment. They will compare last weeks to tomorrow’s and I’m hopeful. You are right. The prep has me down. I wish you the best!
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