Question
Him 26 and ive been suffering from back pain for the last 2 years which i had put down to stress. I recently went to see a Dr as the pain is getting worse in the mornings and is spreading all around . My blood test shows my CRP is at 26,8 and the Dr said it should be  0-5 . The Dr has referred me to a rheumatologist but im now confused .. am i ill .. does this mean i have to change my life .. Any info will help me alot . thank you

Answer
Kim,

It is too early to answer these questions. C-reactive protein CRP shows that there is inflammation in your body. It dose not show where or what is causing it.

Yes, you can say you are ill but what can not be said yet is if it is something easy to treat or not. An infection can cause CRP to rise so can several other conditions including your heart or some types of autoimmune diseases such as Lupus or Rheumatoid arthritis. You are being referred to a Rheumatologist because of your back  pain. Your symptoms point more to some form of arthritis than other possibilities.

It will be the Rheumatologist job to try and find out what is causing the CRP to be high and what is causing the pain. If you have no skin symptoms it means that Lupus is less likely.

The good news is it may not be an autoimmune disease the bad news is that it may. The good news about the bad news is they are coming up with better treatments and it is unlikely that you will have to make significant changes in your life. In fact if the Rheumatologist is able to diagnose the cause (sometimes the exact autoimmune disease can be hard to diagnose} then the chances are you will find yourself feeling much better and living like the old you.

Rusty