Blood test abonrmality?

[madfish69]

Hi,

I had my annual diabetes blood test. I got 48 for my Hbac1...that's ok isn't it?

But apparently while everything else came back as normal I was told my "blood count" is showing as abnormal. And the doctor has asked me to do another blood test for the blood count in 6 weeks time.

What does that mean? What's going to change in 6 weeks on it's own? And what on earth are they measuring with "blood count". When I googled it all i got was red and white blood cell stuff....

...but when I asked the receptionist to give me the numbers...she said it was broken down into 3 parts, sodium, potassium, and creatinine.

The numbers for them were:

Sodium - 142

Potassium - 4.8

Creatinine - 66

Googling the numbers seemed to suggest I was in range...so what's abonrmal...or are those numbers not part of the blood count?

Am I in trouble?

Please let me know what all this means

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[novorapidboi26]

When I hear blood count I think about the number of blood cells......

new blood cells are made and old ones are disposed off, so it might have something to do with that.....

but I am just making an educated guess......it will be fine though......

 

[Bluetit1802]

A blood count is a count of your red and white blood cells, whether you have too few of either or too many, and things like that. Your repeat test will be just to confirm the numbers of the first test, and to see if the first was some sort of blip. You would be best asking the receptionist for a print out of the test results so you can see for yourself. The potassium, sodium and creatinine are not part of the blood count. They are kidney functions. The receptionist must have given you wrong information, which is not uncommon - they are not doctors.

 

[ringi]

A high while blood cell count is often due to the body having to fight an infection, if so, it will go back to normal over a few weeks.

 

[madfish69]

Thanks for your replies. That's what I thought the blood count was, red and white cells. I don't have an infection at least not that I'm aware of. I'm going to need to get a print out to see what exactly is abnormal. The receptionist just stating the blood count is abnormal doesn't tell what specifically which readings are abnormal.

I've had sciatica for a couple of months now...could that have anything to do with it? Don't see how.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I've had sciatica for a couple of months now...could that have anything to do with it? Don't see how.

It is possible. Raised white blood cell count is a marker for inflammation in the body as well as infection. Sciatica is an inflammation of the sciatic nerve. You won't know unless you get that print out.

 

[JohnEGreen]

Could also be a low level infection that you would be completely unaware of. And steroid treatment can alter blood count as well.

 

[Bluetit1802]

In addition to the information you have been given on abnormal white blood cells, if the red blood cells turn out to be the problem, this could indicate anaemia, iron deficiency, or B12 or folate deficiency.

 

[madfish69]

So got the test results printed. All the numbers are in range except total white cell count. It shows a range of 3.0 - 10.0 ....and mine is 10.2

Something to worry about? I don't have an infection ....the only thing I've had for two months was back pain...seems like sciatica. But that has improved quite a bit now.

Every time I google for some info...it always bloody leads to "could be the big C"...and of course unnecessary worries ensue

 

[Lally123]

So got the test results printed. All the numbers are in range except total white cell count. It shows a range of 3.0 - 10.0 ....and mine is 10.2

Something to worry about? I don't have an infection ....the only thing I've had for two months was back pain...seems like sciatica. But that has improved quite a bit now.

Every time I google for some info...it always bloody leads to "could be the big C"...and of course unnecessary worries ensue

Personally I wouldn't be worried too much on the strength of one test. It may be that you have a very low grade infection, that you have had an infection which is now clearing or it may well be normal for you, depending on what other blood tests have shown. Blood count normally refers to the full blood count which as others have said is comprised of your red and white blood cells. The other test you had was a test we call the U' s and E's which is your electrolyte balance but I am sure many people will use the term blood count to refer to it. Unless your doctor has flagged up your white cell count as needing action you probably don't need to worry it is only slightly raised and we tend to be more concerned about trends rather than one specific blood test. If you're still concerned, the best thing to do is to contact your GP and ask him. Your kidney function will look at your creatinine levels and something called your eGFR which will show how well your kidneys are working. Hope that helps.

 

[Bluetit1802]

So got the test results printed. All the numbers are in range except total white cell count. It shows a range of 3.0 - 10.0 ....and mine is 10.2

Something to worry about? I don't have an infection ....the only thing I've had for two months was back pain...seems like sciatica. But that has improved quite a bit now.

Every time I google for some info...it always bloody leads to "could be the big C"...and of course unnecessary worries ensue

I really would not bother two hoots about being 0.2 over standard. If you had cancer it would most likely be a lot higher than that. You could have inflammation or an infection and not know about it because your white cells are dealing with it. It could have been a bump or knock you had on the day that seemed irrelevant at the time.

 

[madfish69]

Personally I wouldn't be worried too much on the strength of one test. It may be that you have a very low grade infection, that you have had an infection which is now clearing or it may well be normal for you, depending on what other blood tests have shown. Blood count normally refers to the full blood count which as others have said is comprised of your red and white blood cells. The other test you had was a test we call the U' s and E's which is your electrolyte balance but I am sure many people will use the term blood count to refer to it. Unless your doctor has flagged up your white cell count as needing action you probably don't need to worry it is only slightly raised and we tend to be more concerned about trends rather than one specific blood test. If you're still concerned, the best thing to do is to contact your GP and ask him. Your kidney function will look at your creatinine levels and something called your eGFR which will show how well your kidneys are working. Hope that helps.

Thanks for your response

 

[madfish69]

I really would not bother two hoots about being 0.2 over standard. If you had cancer it would most likely be a lot higher than that. You could have inflammation or an infection and not know about it because your white cells are dealing with it. It could have been a bump or knock you had on the day that seemed irrelevant at the time.

Thank you !

 

[derry60]

I had an ear infection once and did not even know