Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...

2,179 Members
16,355 Posts
0 Online
Muscles & Bones
/ Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

UPDATE with QUESTIONS for SERONEGATIVE RA

edward22x
edward22x
My wife is also seronegative. She has been taking Plaquenil for a month now and Prednisone was used for 2 weeks only. Our followup is in 2 weeks. Best thing about Plaquenil was that my wife can continue to breastfeed which is what mattered to her most importantly. Her bloodwork showed :

SED was at 65(normal - 0-20 mm/hr)
C-Reactive Protein was at 1.5(normal -
edward22x
edward22x
I apologize, it seems like my full posts aren't showing up.
edward22x
edward22x
C-Reactive Protein 1.5
Normal range is
lindamassey
lindamassey
Thanks for the update regarding your wife. My SED rate was right around that range upon diagnosis. C-Reactive Protein was normal for me also. Sounds like Plaquenil is a good start. Hope she feels better soon!
Linda
bcatz
bcatz
That sed rate is similar to what mine used to be but after aggressive treatment, it's usually 13-30 range. (big range and partly in normal range)

So, what is her anti-ccp?
LynnRivers
LynnRivers
SED rate test can fluctuate for many reasons and I personally don't even use that test anymore. Didn't seem to reflect what my disease was up to. The CRP test is much more accurate and sensitive.

Keep in mind that neither test is specific to RA inflamation they measure all possible sources of inflammation.

1.5 CRP is not very worrysome provided her symptoms concur. So the plaquenil is likely appropriate treatment for her situation. Keep in mind that inflammation levels can change quickly. The immune system can work with scary speed sometimes.

Report any significant increase in inflammation to her doctors promptly as they may want to add medications as soon as is practical.
altoclef
altoclef
Edward, this site thinks that using the "less than" and "greater than" symbols is an evil plot to attain world domination, and your post is over the moment you use one. If you are posting lab values, use the words instead of the symbols and you'll do fine.