Okay, I have a question for anyone who has had children with elevated sed rate or arthritis. My 1 year old has had lots of little health problems lately. She had three bouts of >103 fever that really were unexplained and other things (weight loss, etc) so dr did a complete blood work-up to test her immune system among other things. He asked before he did it if she had problems with her joints. The only thing we have noticed is her knees are red and warm at times and she crawls without crawling on her right knee at times. I figured it was just her not wanting to crawl on the hard wood floors. Anyway, dr mentioned that if there was anything like arthritis then the sed rate he tested would show up something. So we get the blood work back and it was elevated, but everything else was okay. We go back next week to recheck it (he said it could be elevated if she was sick at all). So now I am worrying--internet sites I checked said elevated levels could be juvenile rheumatoid arthirits (other symptoms include off and on fevers of 103, weight loss which she has). Long story, I apologize, but has anyone experienced anything like this? Thanks!

By Emily7 on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 09:45 pm:

No, I didn't know little ones could have arthritis. I will keep you in my thoughts.
Keep us updated!

By Karen~moderator on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 07:48 am:

There are some members of Momvsview who have kids with JRA. They have a knowledge of the symptoms, etc. so let's keep this post bumped to the top so they will see it. JRA can be nasty, but it can be treated and managed.

By Kaye on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 08:31 am:

My son age 8 has JRA, he was diagnosed when he was almost 7. There is a whole rheumatic panel they draw, but unfortantly the DX of JRA is a waiting game, 6 weeks of a flare up and nothing else shows up, all of test are mostly fine. The sed rate detrimnes if there is inflamation. But inflamation can be from a number of things. Unfortuantly I think that your are right, your child does fit the symptoms. Here is a site that explains a bit about the blood tests. http://www.stillsdisease.org/arthrits_panel.htm.

Now for better news...LOL. My son has been diagnosed for about 1 and 1/2 years. Mostly he has been fine. He does tend to catch everything. But once we addressed the swelling with meds, did PT the swelling did reside. His legs grew to different lengths for about 6 months and then caught back up. If you have swelling in your legs the blood flow is increased and it grows faster. We mostly are symptom free. My advice find a GOOD ped rheumatologist, listen, ask lots of questions and then go from there. It is a scary dx. We were very sad and worried about his future, can he play sports, will he walk as an adult, etc. What I have learned is most children do okay. And a high percentage outgrow it when they hit puberty. He is currently playing baseball and on swim team. Good luck and please feel free to email me if you wish. mvcardswap "at" hotmail.com

By Emdee on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 09:48 am:

Kaye, thanks for the info and the web site. I don't know if I am just being optimistic or what, but she doesn't sound near as bad as what I am reading other places. Apart from being sick alot and running fevers and losing some weight (she is on pediasure now and slowing gaining), she is doing great. Her knees are just red and warm on and off at different times (not all the time) and she only doesn't crawl on her right one every now and then, so nothing that is all the time. Can you tell me how you knew something was wrong with your ds? I am hoping that her sed rate is down next week and this is nothing, but it is also reassuring to hear that there might be an explanation to everything. TIA

By Kaye on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 02:52 pm:

WE knew there was something wrong with my son when he went to get in the bath and couldn't get his pants off..LOL. His knee had swollen so much that it took a lot of effort! We thought he must have hurt it. So we did xrays, then blood work and then more blood work. 6 weeks later is when he was diagnosed. He is very mild, he has an occasional flare, he does run random temps, he also catches everything. Mostly we look for swelling, continue to make him do exercises and have patience. There are some morning he is stiff and slower, riding in the car for a long time also makes him stiff. We feel fortuante that he does as well as he does, we have met several other children who are much more serious.

By Emdee on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 08:47 pm:

I thought I would update. We retested her sed rate today and it was normal. Last time it was 32 (<25 is normal) and this time it was 10, so down alot. Kaye, do you know if these values fluctuate when there isn't a flare up, or are they always elevated? I was just curious if I didn't have to worry about this anymore. Anyway, she has had a low grade fever for 2 weeks now (although it has gone away as of yesterday), and the dr said to keep a journal and if she still has it next week to go back in, so we will see. Thanks everyone

By Kaye on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 10:22 pm:

His sed rate is only high during a flare. Actually the number I heard on sed rate was less that 10 is normal, 15 for men and 20 for women. My sons was considered slightly elevated at a 16. This test just shows inflamation, his knee was huge, I never got how that number wasn't higher..LOL. But when he isn't in a flare his rates are about 8-9. Definitly keep an eye on her and you might want to think about getting a rheumatologist referral. At the very least ask what else could cause an elevated sed rate!

By Jodes on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 04:48 pm:

Hi there. My son was diagnosed with systemic JRA in July. He began with symptoms though when he was 5, he would complain that his legs hurt, limp on and off, get strange rashes and unexplained fevers. At that time, his sed rate was over 40, but all other labs were within normal, and eventually, the symptoms went away. But, almost 4years later, the symptoms were back with a vengence, he had fevers of 105, a rash all over, and he couldn't walk or barely move. After over a month of tests ruling out everything else possible, we had a diagnosis. Kaye is right, it takes a series of illiminating everything else before they can get a clear diagnosis, since there is no specific test for JRA. My son is doing well now with medication, he has his bad days, but for the most part, he does well. Good luck and keep us updated, and if you would like to email me, here's my address...idmommy97@hotmail.com