RA Blood Tests for Immflamation
I am a woman 53 years old with seronegative RA and my PCP doctor said the high normal end of SED rate for a female over 50 is 30. I know I may be paranoid, but my SED rate turned out to be 34. Is this a cause for concern or a retest or am I being overcautious?
Hi
. It can be scary when you see results that are higher than normal. However, there are many things that can increase your sed rate without being a cause for alarm. Exercise, alcohol use, infections (even a slight cold), all can make your sed rate climb above normal. We are not medical experts, but my guess it that your doctor determined one higher reading was not enough for concern. If it continues to remain high over a period of time or spikes even higher, your doctor will probably recommend addressing it. I hope that helps ease your mind some. Wishing you the best. - Lori (Team Member) I deleted my second post by mistake. I was saying that whenever I was diagnosed with any of my comorbidities ( and RA) my numbers were always near normal. In fact, at first an RA diagnosis surprised me because then I did not have any symptoms besides a high sed rate and " something autoimmune going on". So that is why I'm overcautious sometimes with my health problems ( not that I think of them all or most of the time; only when I feel a flare coming on.)..Sorry to repeat my post, but I erased the other one and mistaking put no more comments (how do I correct that, admin?).
Hi
. It looks like your previous comment has been deleted, so no worries. That happens a lot. If you make a mistake in a future post or comment, you can click on the three gray dots at the bottom right of your comment to edit it. I can understand your caution and it probably is something to keep an eye on. Do you feel a flare coming on? Can you message your doctor to see why your doctor has dismissed the higher number? - Lori (Team Member) 
Hi
. I think a response I wrote to your deleted post disappeared along with it. I mentioned that if you have concerns about the SED rate test, you may want to ask your doctor about the CRP inflammation test which is less prone to false negative and false positive results. It is also more sensitive and responds more quickly to changes in clinical situations (see: https://www.nps.org.au/australian-prescriber/articles/erythrocyte-sedimentation-rate-and-c-reactive-protein#:~:text=Summary,measuring%20the%20erythrocyte%20sedimentation%20rate. for a good description of the tests and the differences). Hope this is helpful and please feel free to ask further questions. Best, Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)
