Just wondering if anyone else has had an elevated sedimentation rate.
I was talking to a co-worker who also has PCO, and she mentioned her doc thought she had rhuemetoid arthritis because of an elevated SED rate.
My doc thought the same thing...wondering if there is a connection....
I know with PCO your ovaries can be enlarged (and SED rate tests for inflammation).
Just curious :-)
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I had some severe joint pain and inflammation in June so my sed. rate was through the roof when they checked it. They did a full arthritis pannel and tested for lupus, but couldn't find anything wrong with me. I mentioned to the arthritis specialist I was seeing that I had been dx with PCOS and wondered if there might be a connection. He said it would be pretty unlikely, although estrogen can sometimes do strange things to your joints. It turned out to be a stress reaction from driving across the country on very little sleep.
So anyway, (sorry about the ramble) they did another sed. rate test at the beginning of Sept. and it was completely normal. I don't know how many other people would have had this test done, though.
__________________ Candy (33) DH (29)
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OMG..I have been obsessing about this very thing. I have been having horrible migraines and had a CT which was normal. They did some bloodwork and my sed rate was elvated (38). I have no symptoms of arthritis (no joint pain, ect). I wondered if it could be the migraines, but maybe it's the pcos...I'm been very worried thinking I have cancer, or lupus...maybe it's just more pcos crap??
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I don't know if its connected. When my PCOS was at its worst, I had a sed rate done because I was have weird joint pain (found out later it was mononucleosis, I had no idea where I got it, and had no idea it could cause some of these really weird symptoms I had). Anyway, it was really low, not high at all.
You know, a sed rate is a broad spectrum test. It doesn't really indicate much at all. Yes, it can tell if there is inflammation but that is about it! We used to call it a useless test!
Here's some info about ESR's.
1. What other tests might my doctor be ordering besides ESR?
2. What do changes in my ESR mean?
1. What other tests might my doctor be ordering besides ESR? Your doctor may order the CRP test as well as other general tests, such as a comprehensive metabolic panel or a CBC, at the same time they order the ESR. They may also order additional tests based on your symptoms, such as the ANA (antinuclear antibody) and RF (rheumatoid factor) tests for symptoms of arthritis.
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2. What do changes in my ESR mean? The ESR is an indicator in your body. Like pain, it is giving you a warning that something is wrong. In most cases, the ESR will decrease over time once the underlying inflammation is addressed. If you have a chronic inflammatory disease, the ESR may fluctuate with the degree of activity your condition.
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How is it used?
The ESR is an easy, inexpensive, nonspecific test that has been used for many years to help diagnose conditions associated with acute and chronic inflammation, including infections, cancers, and autoimmune diseases. ESR is said to be nonspecific because increases do not tell the doctor exactly where the inflammation is in your body or what is causing it, and also because it can be affected by other conditions besides inflammation. For this reason, ESR is typically used in conjunction with other tests.
ESR is helpful in diagnosing two specific inflammatory diseases, temporal arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica. A high ESR is one of the main test results used to confirm the diagnosis. It is also used to monitor disease activity and response to therapy in both of these diseases.
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When is it ordered?
A physician usually orders an ESR test (along with others) to evaluate a patient who has symptoms that suggest polymyalgia rheumatica or temporal arteritis, such as headaches, neck or shoulder pain, pelvic pain, anemia, unexplained weight loss, and joint stiffness. There are many other conditions that can result in a temporary or sustained elevation in the ESR and some that will cause a decrease.
Since ESR is a nonspecific marker of inflammation and is affected by other factors, the results must be used along with the doctor’s other clinical findings, the patient’s health history, and results from other appropriate laboratory tests. If the ESR and clinical findings match, the doctor may be able to confirm or rule out a suspected diagnosis. A single elevated ESR, without any symptoms of a specific disease, will usually not give the physician enough information to make a medical decision.
Before doing an extensive workup looking for disease, a doctor may want to repeat the ESR test after a period of several weeks or months. If a doctor already knows the patient has a disease like temporal arteritis (where changes in the ESR mirror those in the disease process), s/he may order the ESR at regular intervals to assist in monitoring the course of the disease. In the case of Hodgkin’s disease, for example, a sustained elevation in ESR may be a predictor of an early relapse following chemotherapy.
My sedimentation rate tested normal when I had it done last year. Even though I was in a LOT of pain.
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Sedimentation rate 
