[confused1]

I got my blood work results back. The note just says the rheumy will talk to me about the results in our next appointment -- which is four months off.

So I was out of normal range in several places:


Sed rate was 34, normal range is 0-20
WBC was 3.8 and normal range is 4.5-11.
RBC was 3.93, normal range 4.00-5.2
MCV was 99.5, normal range 81.0-99
MCH was 34.2, normal range 26-34
Potassium was 3.4, normal 3.6-5.1
Chloride was 99, normal 101-111
CO2 was 35, normal 22-32
I had blood in my urine, which is a constant for me because of interstitial Cystitis
Also in the urinalysis,
Epithelial cells were 3-4 and normal was 1-2

So what does it all mean? One thing I looked at said maybe I need more folic acid or vitamin B or something. But ..... I'm not even sure whwat the last two tests listed are. I was in normal range on a lot of things, although at the very lowest possible for Absolute lymphocytes and absolute monocytes, both my score was 1.0 and 0.3 respectively, when the normal ranges start at 1.0 and 0.0. Who knows?

Any help I can get would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sunny

 

[Merle]

Hi Sunny

I'm no expert but I understand that a high sed rate indicates inflammation, while a low white blood cell count [WBC] indicates that the cause of inflammation is not infection [ie possibly autoimmune]. Low red blood count [RBC] indicates anemia.

Not sure about the other tests, but others may. Otherwise, there are a number of websites which explain the significance of such tests. You'll find them through Google.

Take care.

Merle

 

[KarolH]

I agree with Merel but I am also not a expert on blood test results.

There is a site on line that you can gather info from about blood tests, not sure of the name??? Try:

labtestsonline.com

Good luck and I am sure others will be along that are knowledgeable and can provide you with insight.

 

[Maia]

Even though it looks like a lot of things were out of whack, they were barely out of the range for normal so it's not too bad. The others have given good interpretations so far... the potassium and chloride were low so that means you were low on electrolytes, but only a tad. Had you been sick or had diarrhea recently before the exam? Like the others... they were only slightly low and don't need any immediate attention. C02 is also actually part of an electrolyte panel... and can be affected/increased by prednisone and other drugs. Here's a link about it and you can access other lab tests on this site too:

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/co2/test.html

The epithelialal cells in the urinalysis usually indicate simple "contamination" or that more cells from that region got into the urine than is typical. That usually does not mean much of anything other than the specimen may not have been obtained following strict protocol or you wiped a bit too hard in the prep for the U/A test.

The fact that your doctor says he can wait 4 months to discuss things with you means there isn't anything terribly concerning - nothing that needs to be addressed right now. So that's also good news

 

[onetay]

Sunny,
I am not so much up on the numbers of labs so in this area I can not offer you any help. I did want to say I am so sorry that you are having all the problems that you are. I do hope that you start to feel better soon.