Questions about C 4 Complement Serum test

[Rachel]

I was looking back over my son's immune testing results from last year. My son has daily pain issues but his C4 serum level was at 20 and normal range is (15-59). I went on the MAYO Clinic to see what this test checks for and I learned that it assess disease activity in lupus, glomerulonephritis, rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. I know he is in a normal range but it is in the low range. I'm wondering if I should request this test to be reran. Are there other test that could shed some more light or should I just let this go? I really want to understand why my son is in daily pain.

[LNN]

Here's an article on C3a and C4a as they relate to lyme and mold. http://www.jacemedical.com/articles/C4a%20C3a%20testing%20for%20Lyme%20disease.pdf

 

High C3a indicates lyme, high C4a can indicate mold. But according to Shoemaker and my LLMD, you need to run the test thru Jewish Laboratories - now a division of Quest. Only this lab provides measurements Shoemaker considers meaningful. Other labs, even those within the Quest family, don't give you comparable measurements. We went to Quest in Dec and they sent it to the wrong lab. Had to re-run in Jan and go thru hoops to get it done right.

 

As for the pain - is there joint swelling? Swollen lymph nodes? My son's pain was lyme related. But other issues including mold can also cause pain.

[Rachel]

My son has never had swollen joints or lymph nodes. His pain is all over and gets worse on damp rainy days. It reminds me of arthritis or neuropathy pain. This last type of pain is common with POTS patients His C3 was 146 and range was 73-183. This was a very interesting article. Thanks for sharing. Our test results were not ran through Jewish Labs but I am satisfied with these results for right now. If things get worse, I will get them reran through this other lab.