Macrocytosis

[pusillanimous]

I went on Tuesday morning (starved, fasted) whatever terminology you prefer!, from the previous night to have blood taken (4vials) at the Path Lab specimen collection depot.It was for a full blood count. My GP phoned me on Thursday afternoon to tell me everything is fine except for a very slight Macrocytosis. The pathology report suggested the following reasons (liver disease, hypothyroidism, medication, ARVs, Chemotherapy, alcohol! andVitamin B12/folate deficiency). She considered it was most likely the vitamin deficiency as I do not have the diseases mentioned neither do I drink , take ARVs or have chemotherapy,and has prescribed supplements which will be delivered today. But I wondered if it could be an AF medication - I just take Bisoprolol and Rivaroxaban - and would be interested to know in anyone else has had this result when on these drugs. Thank you.

[CDreamer]

What was the folate count is first question to ask? If just inside the normal range I wouldn’t be too concerned. I don’t take either of those meds and as far as I know they should not be the cause. I take meds which do affect my folate count as the meds ‘eat up’ blood cells so take daily B complex supplement on advice from GP, they rarely test for B12 unless you are very symptomatic but I would be interested to know exactly what the supplement prescribed contains. Where any of the other iron related tests out of kilter or low end of normal? Sounds as though they weren’t but worth getting a full read out of the results.

Worth having a look at your nutrition and see if your diet contain enough foods high in VitB or if there maybe an issue with absorption of B12 - alcohol would be No1 suspect but if you take PPIs or statins may do it as well.

[pusillanimous in reply to CDreamer]

Everything they tested for, Urea and Electrolytes, Urate, Gamma GT. ALT. AST, Lipogram, Glucose Fasting,Ferritin, Thyroid Function, Vitamin D were normal - the only comment was on the Red Cell macrocytosis which my GP who interpreted them said was very slight, and the results for my age (I'm nearly 82) overall were very good. She is pretty sure it is diet related, as although I'm not a vegetarian, I do not eat a lot of dairy or red meat. I cannot eat large quantities as I had a compression fracture of the T3 which reduced the space for my stomach and I refused to have cement injected in my spine to 'jack it up' as I do not like the idea of having my spine fiddled with. I was just curious to see if it could perhaps be related to the AF drugs.

[pusillanimous in reply to CDreamer]

Well the supplements have arrived. One is called Folic Acid Forte and contians 500ug Folic Acid and small amounts of a range of B Vits, BI,2,3,5,6, 12 and Vit C The other is called Neurobion and is 100mg B1, 200Mg B6, 200mg B12. I do take 5mg of Atorvastatin per day. I do not have any alcohol - I have one cup of decaf coffe with coffee creamer (I do not like milk ever since school days when we were given the ghastly stuff warmed in front of a radiator) and only drink water, but do not take PPIs.