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.