I have seen discussion about the CRP test, but not CPK....I had some heart issues a couple of times, and that's why my doctor started doing the CPK test. From what I know, this test has three components, CPK-1 tests inflammation levels in the heart and lungs, CPK-2 tests infl. levels in the brain, and CPK-3 test infl. levels in the skeletal muscles. For the past several years, my test results are quite elevated in the CPK-3. They've been between the low 400s to almost 700. When the test result was close to 700, I really felt crappy. The normal range is 30-200. I'm wondering why there isn't any discussion about the CPK test here, and if anyone has any input about this test. (My CRP is normal (.10) as of December, 2013.)
thanks for asking the question, Grandma J. I had to look up the tests online to understand your post so, obviously, I'm not the right person to answer your question. I was interested, though, in whether the CPK-3 test is useful only for those with heart problems. Seems like it might be a good measure of whether a drug is having much of an effect if you did a pre-/post-Rx test. Anyway, I'll be reading any answers you get with interest. Cheers!
Hi janeatiu, I hope someone can shed some light on this! I was surprised when I searched cpk and there's been no discussion about it. My rheumatologist had told me if it went up to 600 and stayed there he would want to start me on something. So I thought it was one of the usual tests used to measure the severity of the disease. But I guess not, if nobody else is having that test.
janeatiu said:
thanks for asking the question, Grandma J. I had to look up the tests online to understand your post so, obviously, I'm not the right person to answer your question. I was interested, though, in whether the CPK-3 test is useful only for those with heart problems. Seems like it might be a good measure of whether a drug is having much of an effect if you did a pre-/post-Rx test. Anyway, I'll be reading any answers you get with interest. Cheers!
400 - 700 doesn't mean a lot necessarily. Usually an abnormal number is in the thousands. There are a few autoimmune diseases (mysotis) that the CPK is helpful for diagnosing. Several of them mimic Fibro. The enzyme being tested for is present with muscle damage. Muscle damage is not ordinarily a symptom of arthritis. An inflammed heart on the other hand is often "damaged"
Interesting. I wonder why the normal range is 30 - 200? He really never explained it clearly to me. All I know is when I have a bad flare up, it feels like more than my joints. I thought psoriatic arthritis involved tendons and caused fatigue also. I just know that when I have the joint pain along with tendonitis sore muscles and fatigue my number is elevated.
tntlamb said:
400 - 700 doesn't mean a lot necessarily. Usually an abnormal number is in the thousands. There are a few autoimmune diseases (mysotis) that the CPK is helpful for diagnosing. Several of them mimic Fibro. The enzyme being tested for is present with muscle damage. Muscle damage is not ordinarily a symptom of arthritis. An inflammed heart on the other hand is often "damaged"
Hi tntlamb--i googled mysotis and i couldn't find anything about it. Could you please tell me what it is?
Grandma J said:
Interesting. I wonder why the normal range is 30 - 200? He really never explained it clearly to me. All I know is when I have a bad flare up, it feels like more than my joints. I thought psoriatic arthritis involved tendons and caused fatigue also. I just know that when I have the joint pain along with tendonitis sore muscles and fatigue my number is elevated.
tntlamb said:400 - 700 doesn't mean a lot necessarily. Usually an abnormal number is in the thousands. There are a few autoimmune diseases (mysotis) that the CPK is helpful for diagnosing. Several of them mimic Fibro. The enzyme being tested for is present with muscle damage. Muscle damage is not ordinarily a symptom of arthritis. An inflammed heart on the other hand is often "damaged"
I guess if I'd check my work, it would have been easier I made a typo its myositis:
http://www.myositis.org/learn-about-myositisI believe that these tests are more indicators of something than they are definitive tests. The CPK can be elevated for a number of reasons other than heart muscle injury, which is why it is a tool in the toolbox to be used with other tools to make a clinical finding. Muscle strain from exercise can cause it to be elevated. It isn't discussed much here because PsA generally doesn't include muscle injury. That's what I remember anyway. I may be remembering the wrong test, so feel free to correct me.
You and lamb are so danged SMART!
GrumpyCat said:
I believe that these tests are more indicators of something than they are definitive tests. The CPK can be elevated for a number of reasons other than heart muscle injury, which is why it is a tool in the toolbox to be used with other tools to make a clinical finding. Muscle strain from exercise can cause it to be elevated. It isn't discussed much here because PsA generally doesn't include muscle injury. That's what I remember anyway. I may be remembering the wrong test, so feel free to correct me.
I can't wait to see if my CPK level went down to the normal range. I plan on asking to have it checked on my 3-month Enbrel Dr visit. If it's down considerably, that will be a good indicator that my inflammation is down.
I read up a little more on CPK tests, and at my next physical, which is next week, I'm going to ask my internist why they keep testing me for it and what it all means. My bloodwork on December 22 showed that my CPK result was the lowest it's been in years - 420 - which is elevated, (my highest was around 700, and that was when I was feeling really crappy in 2013) but supposedly being elevated above the normal range (0 - 200) isn't of any concern unless it's elevated really high--like in the thousands! I did see online that it's one of the tests also done for lupus, along with the ANA test and anti-DNA test, which I guess are commonly positive when there's lupus. My Rheumatologist had done those two tests on me in 2013 and they were both negative.
Severe muscle injury or damage will result in a very high CPK result. I've never had severe muscle damage, but my muscles were always sore and weak--thighs, arms--before I went on Enbrel, and I'm thinking my "slightly" elevated but dropping CPK result indicates some sort of muscle problem that isn't too severe and is slowly improving!
Just putting this discussion up to see if anybody has recently had the CPK test and what your results were--if your doctor explained what it meant to you?
It is am indicator of damage to the heart muscke and is often used with folks who have done sort of cardiac injury. It’s so helpful to use with all heart patients, but even better to monitor women since we have different symptoms of heart problems. We ran them in the ER for patients with suspected heart problems from heart attacks to heart failure to unexplained chest pain. Because it can also indicate damage to other muscles, it’s not a definitive test as a stand-alone and needs to be used with other tests and clinical observations. It’s probably not used with PsA for the same reasons that Lamb said. Also, there are more reliable ways of determining progress than this test, which is why those are included as a part of the normal assessment of a patient’s progress. If you have tendon pain, this test will not pick that up as the tissues (muscle and tendon) are different and don’t release the same chemicals when damaged. The muscle pain you describe having during a flare may be attributed to fibro, which isn’t uncommon with PsA and it can flare at the same time. It can also feel like it’s a part of the PsA, and severe muscle pain and is very deceptive.
But my muscle pain went away after I went on Enbrel. So, does Enbrel help fibro symptoms too?
No, but having PsA under control can help with fibro symptoms. It could also be referred pain from your tendons and joints that goes away when you’re psa is under control.