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C-reactive protein normal. Does that rule out auto-immune conditions?


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I had a blood test a couple of months ago; my doctor couldn't order any tests for specific infections but did do a test for C-reactive protein, which she said was a general indicator for inflammation/infection. It came back normal, <0.2 mg/l. (In fact, that seems very low, given that the acceptable range was given as anything up to 10.0 mg/l and Wikipedia says that the normal concentration in healthy human serum is between 5 and 10.)

Does that rule out the possibility of auto-immune problems, or is it possible to have a normal level of C-reactive protein and still have a PANS condition? If so, is that true of all the various kinds of PANS (streptococcus, mycoplasma, Lyme disease, etc.), or only particular ones? (I know Lyme disease is liable to confuse tests because it itself suppresses the immune system.)

 

Thanks,

Wombat140

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My dd was diagnosed PANDAS/PANS by 2 top docs. Her CRP is always low, as well as ANA and other tests. That always confused me, and I couldn't figure out why all of those inflammatory marker tests were normal or low.

 

Now her doc has been doing other testing for biotoxin illness (mold, staph, Lyme, etc.) such as TGF-b1, VEGF, MSH, CD-57, C3/C4, and dd's test results are very indicative of that being the issue. (We know she has Bartonella, probable Lyme, and has the HLA "dreaded" gene...)

 

My husband tried to explain this to me, but the testing is showing inflammation in a different part of our system. (Sorry, maybe someone else will jump on and explain.) Regular docs don't seem to be up on this, and are very limited in understanding what tests should be run.

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Ah, thanks. I thought it couldn't be that simple.

 

By the way, I don't understand any of those test names you mention, I'm afraid :-) Are you saying there are other tests that can indicate the presence of Lyme disease or its co-infections, other than the fiendishly expensive Igenex and Western Blot? (I don't know if we could get those, anyway, even if we could afford them.) If so, any information would be very welcome. (And please don't say "here are some websites, you can read up on it" - I'm so tired right now, and the blood's being drawn on Wednesday, so I have limited time for research! Just give me the 10-second oversimplification.)

 

Even if it's only a test that would indicate whether SOMETHING like that is going on, without necessarily pinpointing whether it's Lyme or Bartonella or Staphylococcus or one of the others, that would be useful - it'd let us know whether anything further was even necessary. Just as a preliminary test (assuming it wasn't too expensive in itself). In fact, a "catch-all" one that covered several possibilities might be quite handy to narrow things down, at least it seems to me as if it should be.

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I think our insurance covered most of those tests. You'll have to check and see.

I don't really know if I'm explaining things correctly and am hoping someone else will chime in, but the C3/C4 test I referred to is a "complement" test. Here is some basic info I copied:

 

"The complement system is a part of the immune system that enhances (complements) the ability of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear pathogens from an organism." (Our dd's C3 was low, C4 high.)

 

"Complement tests, most commonly C3 and C4, are used to determine whether deficiencies or abnormalities in the complement system are causing, or contributing to, a person's disease or condition."

 

"It is thought that the complement system might play a role in many diseases with an immune component, as well as diseases of the central nervous system."

 

You could always print out the page from the link below from Shoemaker's site (surviving mold) and take it to your doctor to see what she thinks. It describes the tests he looks at. We had some done through Labcorp and some through Quest. If your doc is interested there is more info on his site. Here is a brief description of each test:

 

https://www.survivingmold.com/diagnosis/lab-tests

 

He isn't saying that all these test indicate mold - there are other issues that can cause these tests to be out-of-range. I hope this is helpful. I know how frustrating and time-consuming all this can be!

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