Inflammation
 

Does anyone know if PN can raise your C-reactive protein levels? John's is elevated and his doc said that there's inflammation going on somewhere and he thinks it's most likely do to some infection. The only outward signs of inflammation we can see are his PN and his knee. He had surgery a year ago to re-attach his quad tendon and the knee feels hotter than his other (good) knee.

So does anyone know:
1) Will PN elevate your C-reactive protein?
2) Does the continued warmth on the injured knee mean there's problem there and also impact your CRP levels?

BTW....his vitamin C levels are low and he does have iron overload that we've been working on for the past five years now.

Any insights will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Marlene

Not sure if PN can do it,
 

But PN does cause problems with the blood supply to the extremities I believe. And is it possible that the knee is developing some arthritic tendencies? My stepmom fell on her knee and much later on (over a year) it started swelling. Finally the doctor MRI'd it and found that the knee injury had caused blood supply problems to the knee bones. The bones developed growth problems and the knee had to be replaced. Have they MRI'd the knee or xrayed it? Elevated C-Reactive protein is a marker for inflammation.

Not sure about the Vita. C level and I remember his iron problems. Good luck.
Billye

there are some things one can do...
 

I think it is more than just the knee.

This type of inflammation comes with age, and increasing free radical damage
from the environment. This is why the emphasis in the nutrition field is to eat as much antioxidant rich fruits and veggies as possible. The antioxidants protect your blood vessels and brain. I just had a seminar two weeks ago, and the speaker who is a PhD nutritionist in Oregon went back to this topic over and over. She is about 50, and a slender slight thing (I am envious), in perfect shape, with defined muscles (for a woman), wears a size 2 or 4 maximum, BUT she
showed a high C-reactive protein on HER last check up!

Fish oil, and fiber are also recommended to lower this level.
Those are the 3 biggies...

So I bought some PURPLE cauliflower this week on sale at the grocery Sunday.
Yep, and there is an orange one now too. But I really fancied the purple one!
And the new juices-- by V8 are high in antioxidants.
Broccoli is great. There is a broccoli slaw now with purple cabbage and carrots. I have this instead of lettuce. So I keep looking for stuff I like that is colorful and affordable. Make the changes slowly and you get used to it, and in the end you feel better!

Haven't explored that yet...
 

We haven't really thought about getting it looked at until now. The Ortho guy who operated said you can easily have swelling for year after the surgery so I guess we expected his knee to have a long healing period. Most everyone we know who have had knee surgery say the knee will always have some level of discomfort.

It may be well worth it to get it looked again. Over the past week and half I have used therepuetic grade esssential oils on it 2x/day and it has helped tremendously. The temp difference between the knees is now minimal. But it was pretty dramatic at the time he had his blood drawn.

Hmmmmm.

The more I know, the less I really know :).

Marlene

Antioxidant...YES
 

The doc ran a organic acid urine test. That's how we know about the Vitamin C. And also possible glutithione def. We struggled with the iron and vit C. It's a bit controversial regarding high uses of Vit C when chelating iron. Vit C mobilized the iron which can be a problem for the heart for some. It also increase dietary absorption if taken with food. So I think an ester C brand between meals will help. Most who are iron overloaded are def in Vit C. I think it will be wise to really step up the antioxidants.

I will have to look at the V8 juices. I do have a juicer but can't seem to use it faithfully. Some of my juice blends did not taste the greatest. Trying to blend the right vegetables in the right amounts is an art. And we find that they are best comsumed with a meal.

Thanks everyone....M

these V8- V-fusions
 

are very new. Just in stores. I have the pomegranate one, which is good,
and I just bought the mango peach. These are not like the other
Fusions out there that have added sugars. These are all natural and very
good tasting, and good for you...but a bit more expensive as you'd expect.

So if your husband has hemochromatosis? Does he give blood regularly?
The new juice has 160% of vit c in it for one serving! The natural sources I have seen on the diets for this are allowed.

That's a good level of Vit C. for a juice.

John's iron is from numerous blood transfusion over a two year period. He was on Desferral first, then did phlebotomies for while but it was too taxing on his bone marrow and now he's on Exjade. Exjade is the first, effective oral iron chelator. Very expensive. It really upsets his tummy though and he needs to take a break every once in a while. If he can get his hemaglobin up to 12 then he'll probably add in phlebotomies every 8 weeks along with the Exjade. His Ferritin is around 1480 and he really wants to get it down because we think it's effecting his endocrine system now.

But the good news is that his PN is the best it's been in five years...it continues to heal at snails pace.

Marlene

at least
 

he is getting some healing. It took a long time to get where he was, so it takes time to heal. But as long as you see improvements, that gives encouragement.
This lowers stress some, and the stress I think is a big player. At least for me it is. Stress was eating me alive! :p

I don't know if PN can cause elevated C-Reactive Protein or not, but mine is up almost continually, sometimes more than others. It scares me, but if it is the result of inflammation, Prednisone doesn't get it all of the way down where it should be. I don't know why, but Doxycycline seems to help reduce it...

Cathie

An elevated C-reactive protein level--
 

--would be expected in people with certain types of neuropathies--especially ones that are autoimmune related--but they wouldn't always show up.

My reading seems to imply an elevated C-reactive protein would be more likely to be characteristic of an inflammatory process that primarily attacked myelin, such as in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy or Guillain Barre, but it could also show up in those autoimmune vascular/connective tissue conditions, such as lupus, Wegener's, Sjogren's, Rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, etc., in which neuropathy might be secondary.

I don't think it actually causes neuorpathy--it's more likely both an elevated level and the neuropathy are secondary effects of a more primary process.

So much to consider
 

Looks like we will have to attack this on multiple levels.

John's PN is from his treatment back in 2002. Lots of drugs complicated with malnutrition. So at this point, I don't think he has an autoimmune PN issue.

We found out his testosterone is very low also so we hope that by improving that, it will help his cardio profile and possibly increase his red blood cell production.

There also seems to be a possible hypercoagulation issue with his blood. One doc says there is, another says there isn't. I think we need to get the test rerun. Anyway, cancer, infections, chronic illness can cause this apparently. (bad blood draw can increase test results also) According to our doc, when the fibrinogen builds up it prevents good circulation at the cellular level. So nutrients don't get to the cells and trash doesn't get moved out. So John has added in a systemic enzyme to breakdown and clear the fibrin out. This one has me a little nervous though because I'm a worrier at heart and his platelets are still low. But everything I've read about this says it does not impact platelet production or increase bleeding times. I found a transcript of a presentation on the use of systemic enzymes if anyone is interested.

We are taking all of this very slowly, much to the chagrin of the doc. He wants to do multiple things at once and we are pushing back big time. Our experience is that it's best to introduce one thing at time and let it settle in. I'm also a firm believer that if you fix one thing, it can then lead to healing in other areas.

Cathie.....this doc looking for a potential infectious agent that may be lingering and has talked about using Doxycyclin. He says an infection will elevate the CRP. I'm not sure John will go for this though. He'll try herbal remedies first since he's had so many problems with long term use of antibiotic. The last thing he wants is to take a hit on his bone marrow from drugs.

Thank you for all the replies....It really shows how complicated this stuff is and gives me lots to ponder.

Marlene

I hope you are still here Marlene:
 

I am searching on PubMed today for B6 data for a my thread on the Vitamin forum and ran across this C-reactive Protein paper:

P5P can be purchased easily... NOW brand makes a good one.

Thanks
 

I will have to look at John's supplements to see what kind and how much of the bio available Bs are in them. He's taking Thorne multi and I know they use bio available Bs in many of their mixes.

Part of John's problem is getting them all down at the recommended dosage. His Exjade puts his stomach on edge.

One question on the folate. Is the folate in uncooked food the bioavailable form? Or does folate from vegetables still need to be converted?

It's so interesting to see how the B vitamins are vital to many aspects of your health.

Thanks....M

I have heard from many places...
 

including the new lecture I went to 2 weeks ago, that folic acid in food
can be less available than in supplements.

It is very susceptible to loss in cooking, esp microwaving.

So it is better to take it as a supplement.. just to be sure.

My C-Reactive protein was actually normal this week. Of course, this may have something to do with higher levels of Prednisone, which I am trying to reduce as quickly as possible, but then I am back on the Doxy again...

My Internist really scared me though by saying he was worried I would have a heart attack or stroke when it was elevated. I think I understand though that elevations don't necessarily mean that it is in the arteries, but it can be from other things too. Having vasculitis always makes me think that it is vascular though...

MrsD: if you know about this, could you please explain it? If you don't have an infection, does that mean it is in the arteries?

Thanks,
Cathie

Thanks Mrs d
 

Your such a help and so we are blessed...Also Glen i had a room full of
Drs. say the the same thing to me this week exactly what you said.
I would like to know about that Yorkiemon.......Sue

Cathie....
 

I found this on Doxy while looking for natural ways to lower CRP.


http://www.natural-hrt.com/artman/pu...icle_133.shtml