CPK WENT SKY HIGH! ANY IDEAS TO RESOLVE?

[MINOCINMAN]

Just saw Rhemutologist 2 days ago and was very excited to confirm that my Rodman score went from 20 to 15, but then had labs done and CPK went sky high to 888 from 350. Doctor said that elevated CPK common with SD, but advised that is rated to muscle inflamation and not brain or heart attack.

Any ideas on what I can do short of Prednisone, which he suggested to get this down. I am feeling much better in terms of range of motion, skin softening, fatigue gone, etc, so wa a shocker to see this go way up, as opposed to down.

How long of a delay for labs to go down after you are feeling better? Am i in danger to just wait?

[hopefulmama]

Hi there,

So sorry to hear that you (or your labs) have hit this bump in the road. I had to google CPK because I am not as well versed as most folks on this board but one thing that came up as a differential to heart stuff, etc. was renal failure… which would be kidneys, right? If I am not mistaken the kidneys are often a problem in early CREST SD… but can be treated with ACE inhibitors, or other methods. Have you had your kidney and liver function assessed recently? An easy thing to do to check kidney status is get one of the UTI over the counter kits that looks for protein in the urine. If you come up positive for protein, you could make an appt with your doc or urologist and get those kidneys checked out asap.

I guess better safe than sorry?

As far as inflammation goes, fish oils (EPA-DHA) are good for that and I believe that a lot of people on the board take Neprinol or Wobenzym which are systemic enzymes with anti-inflammatory effects.

Take care and as always you and your family are in our prayers.

[richie]

Hi–CPK means creatine something which is used as an additional marker for kidneys —Since you had skin involvment most likely you have diffuse scleroderma –the advice you received is right on —very important you get your kidneys checked —and discuss with either your internist or kidney specialist the use of an ACE inhibitor —DONT rely on your rheumatologist for this –I always feel that many rheumies tend to treat too many things in SD —
richie

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