Tunaboy, I had a chat to one of my clinical immunologist colleagues about this.

Her comment was that it is common for CRP measurements to vary between labs. She also commented that retesting of the same person in the same lab is often variable, assuming that there are no underlying changes in infection or inflammation.

Her very general opinion was that probably you have nothing to be stressed about .

I just looked back at my test that was run last fall. It showed a reference range of 0.00 to 0.50. My result was <0.03

If my PN was inflammatory, it would probably be a lot higher. Too bad I have no other test results to prove it's autoimmune

What about SED rate? It's another test for inflammation.

Tests for inflammation are not always perfect, so you can still have inflammation and blood tests not reflect it.

Have they ever tried steroids to see if your symptoms improve? If it is inflammatory based, the symptoms will usually improve with steroids. It's not the best course of action (due to long term side-effects), but it can help determine if it is inflammation.

My sed rate is low at 4.

I tried alka seltzer the other day and it seemed to have reduced the burning. Could have been a placebo.

My doc offered a course of prednisone but im scared to take it.

Actually this got me thinking earlier today, was that my symptoms started after oral surgery. I was given IV steroids (not sure what kind, I am waiting to hear back from my surgeon) during my surgery. My symptoms started approximately a week after.

Then I read the below threads:
http://www.drugs.com/forum/need-talk...thy-29885.html

http://www.drugs.com/answers/prednis...hy-653205.html

Could steroids cause PN?

I'm sure anything is possible, but it certainly would be rare. I would think the autoimmune process would be more likely in your case since most AI diseases are 'triggered' by either an infection, virus, illness and even trauma/surgery...anything that causes a major immune response. Oral surgery could definitely be a trigger.

I understand not wanting to go the steroid route (I regret my years of steroids and the now permanent damage to my body), but if the course he prescribed is short (5-10 days in a taper), then it might be worth it just to see if the your symptoms improve. If they do, then you would at least know which direction to look for the cause (things with inflammation). You don't have to continue the steroids after you see they help...at this point just focus on hunting down the source of the inflammation.

I agree with en bloc. A short course of steroids could provide useful info, and it would be very unlikely to cause any permanent problems.

If it is inflammatory, you could have a better idea of what's happening, and possibly other meds to try that aren't steroid related.

Before I was diagnosed with PN, my CRP was also flagged high at 5.4 MG/DL. (Under the reference ranges, it states <0.8).

It was a terrible experience. I had all of the classic debilitating symptoms and the first (non neuro) doctor I saw said blood work looks good, I look like the picture of health and to try to enjoy life more. I insisted something was terribly wrong, again explaining my symptoms and he laughed and told me to have a good day.

I agree with Enbloc - a short course of steroids could be the best way for you to clarify whether your neuropathic pain is part of the inflammatory process. This is nagging away at you and I can't see that a short course would do much harm although I avoid them like the plague as they make me go bio polar.

To shock you a little about the CRP. Mine is usually in the low teens while my ESR is usually quite high - between 30 and 60. Over the last five weeks my CRP has risen up to 160 twice and gone down in between to as low as 6.7! The huge surges have corresponded with symptoms that have led to two week long hospital stays and were assumed to be because of infection the first time but second time - this time last week I was re-admitted - two hospital consultants, one a nephrologist the other general - found no sign of infection. My ESR has been steadily rising and is now at 78. Conclusion - this a reflection of out of control inflammation as part of the autoimmune disease process.

I am not taking steroids yet and not on NSAIDs because of stomach issues. Nothing is simple or straightforward in my world but if I had your issues I'd take steroids and use them to play detective.