Got my "MS-mimic" blood test results back. I'm really wondering if that MS specialist neuro I saw last week cares in the least about getting things right. He seems to have a number of wrong ideas. He thinks that the McDonald criteria REQUIRE MRI lesions for diagnosis, that Lhermitte's is not Lhermitte's if it doesn't shock you down your spine, and now he appears to have gotten the formula wrong for sed rate.
My sed rate was 33, which was flagged high. He said that for women, they take your age, divide by two, and add 10, which in my case would mean the ESR would be normal up to a value of 36 (I'm 52 years old).
However, when I poke around online, I see that the formula appears to be take your age, add 10, THEN divide by two, which for me yields an upper normal value of 31. Thus, this should be interpreted as high. (I haven't been sick.)
I don't really care because I know lots of things can raise the ESR, but my confidence in that neuro, already low, just fell another 33 points!
Quix or anyone--is he wrong, or are there two versions of that ESR formula??
My B-12 was 472. He said that while this is normal, he likes to see 600 to 900 and suggested I take 1000 mcg supplement. Still, he didn't imply that my B-12 level was the cause of my symptoms. (For the full account of my visit with him, see my thread "Is this a record or what!" awhile back.)
Celiac, Lyme, and homocysteine were all normal. He said he was going to run the ANA (I think--anyway, he mentioned lupus) but he didn't. However, I had three dead normal ANAs in the early 2000s.
Any comments on sed rate or B-12 welcome!
Thanks,
Nancy