Anti-CCP testing

[roserdRA]

Hi all 🙂

I have a question about Anti-CCP tests. I got different test then usual this time. Why are there different tests?

I told you all I started Minocycline 3 years ago with severe RA in hands, wrists, shoulders, elbows,knees. Took 100mg twice a day, got slowly but gradually better and my blood tests came back every half year better and better. Anti-CCP and RF were dropping slowly but gradually.

I was high in Anti-CCP and RF to start out with and my RA symptoms gradually started disappearing with Minocycline alone. A year ago I dropped my dose to one 100mg pill per day and am pain and swelling free in all joints and have no problem at all.

My last report to you all was following: Anti-CCP 7, RF 16

Reference was: Anti-CCP 0-5 negative, >5 positive ( I used to be over 100 on that one), RF 0-13.9 negative and anything higher was positive.

Now my last blood test had a different reference with Anti-CCP…it says as reference

<20 is negative, 20-39 is weak positive, 40-59 is moderate positive and anything higher then 59 is strong positive.

Well long story short…my Anti-CCP came back with 134 which is according to this test still strong positive.

BUT…… RF is 12.2 and guess what! IT'S NEGATIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE GRADUALLY DROPPING AND DROPPING! I had told my Rheumy that I will beat this and I am convinced with this now more specific Anti-CCP test I will be seeing a lot better how my Anti-CCP is dropping as well. Last C-reactive protein was 16 (reference: 0-4.9 is negative) and it was fluctuating from negative to positve throughout this whole time…so that one I am not too concerned with, really.

I let you know when I hit Negative on Anti-CCP as well! 😀 

(One down…one more to go!) Wooooohooooo

[anno]

Woo-hoo indeed!!:) Yay Rose! Are you still taking 100mg mino per day? Did you ever consider trying pulse dosing, as in M,W,F?
Just looked at your profile & previous posts & am so glad you're still progressing & posting now & then. Am intrigued with your baking analogies.
Where in Europe are you?
All the best to you.

[roserdRA]

Hi anno,

I am European but live in the USA since many years now. Yes, I am still on 100mg generic Minocycline a day. Well, to be honest I had done a test a while back. I had stopped Minocycline for 9 weeks just to see how it would go. LOL

After 9 weeks slight pain returned so I took one pill again and went through the Herx of a lifetime! LOL I collapsed onto the bathroom floor not able to walk or put my hands down to get up again. Not even my husband could pull me up I was screaming in pain. Had to wait 3 hours until the painkillers kicked in to be able to hoist myself into bed. So I went back on Mino 2x100mg twice a day and had everything under control (that means painfree again) within a week. After some time I dropped it to 100mg a day and my Doctor followed. He does as I do. So I decided once I get my RF and Anti-CCP down into a range I am comfortable with I will ask him to prescribe the 50mg doses so i could split that 100mg per day dose and go on 50mg a day when I feel ready. So that's my plan….wasn't thinking that my RF would go down into negative that fast now. LOL

I don't take 100mg EVERY single day. Sometimes I skip it when I have a couple glasses of wine or when we go out to parties and have a couple drinks. I figure that Alcohol and Antibiotics don't mix too well. LOL I don't drink regularly but I do like a glass of wine once in a while…… got to live a little too.:D

[tbird2340]

LabCorb changed the test values for Anti-CCP my last testing as well (last month)..

In the past my value was always “>100” and the limits were “Negative: 0-5, Positive: >5”.

This last time my level was “>250” and the limits were:

Negative < 20
Weak Positive 20-39
Moderate Positive 40-59
Strong Positive >59

So I'm guessing you use LabCorp too?

Wow, so you were >100 too? I always hated not to get an exact number because you never know if it's going down.. It could have been 1,000 when I started and could be 101 now but you never know because it's “>100”.

My RF this last time was 28.4..

It's so awesome to hear that your RF is now in the normal range and that your Anti-CCP level has dropped that much.. Gives me hope.. That anti-ccp number REALLY freaks me out.. 🙁

So you have been taking 100MG twice daily for 3 years?

[roserdRA]

I've been taking 100mg twice a day for 2 years and then dropped the dose to 100mg ONCE a day about a year ago.

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