Repeated Blood Test Concerns

[puppetmaster75150]

Hi everyone. Sorry to post here but I am a little concerned at the moment. I had a standard 'dear patient' letter from my doctor yesterday saying that my full blood count results were in but they need repeating. I am now panicking at 2:30 in the morning wondering what the reason is. I have anxiety and recurring chest infections each winter, (about 2 or three acute bouts that clear up within a few weeks. I had the onset of a mild chest infection when I had the blood test too) and now I am fearing this has something to do with it. I also have mild depression at times and gastric reflux that is kept under control by medication.

Has anyone had a letter like this before after a full blood count? Also, I don't know whether it's worth mentioning but the nurse who took the blood actually ripped the label before sticking it on the test tube. She seemed a little flustered and embarrassed when she did this, maybe this could be why the results were returned. I don't know. Either way, if anyone has had any experiences like this or if there are any medical professionals here could shed some light on why repeated blood tests are needed it would be a great help. I can't get in to see the doc or have retests for 7 days so I've got a lot of time to worry. Any help would be great. Thanks

[Indigojoe]

Letters are standard. Did you contact the doctors office today?

[puppetmaster75150 in reply to Indigojoe]

Hi. I booked an appointment for next Friday that was the earliest I could get in.

[Indigojoe in reply to puppetmaster75150]

Until then, put this OUT OF YOUR HEAD. I worked in a hospital and for doctors. A standard letter was never sent out for " scary" stuff.

Their machine might have gone off and results were skewed for that afternoon's lab results.

keep us posted.

[puppetmaster75150 in reply to Indigojoe]

Thanks for your reply, I needed that! I always have a tendency to fear the worst, but this has eased my mind. Thanks, mate

[Hidden]

Hi puppetmaster. I know it's easy said than done but please try not to worry. You said it was a standard letter sent to you by your GP. I work for a GP surgery and can assure you that if it was anything to worry about they wouldn't have sent you a standard letter. There can be all sorts of reasons they may want to repeat it. If the label was damaged and the lab had trouble reading it they may have requested a repeat...they can be real!! Stickles for that and quite rightly so. The result may be inconclusive and just needs double checking. I know when we do blood test and someone has a chest infection we normally recommended they wait until it clears up. Please,please try not to worry. I have routine blood test for cholesterol, blood sugar levels and full blood count. Even if there is a reading that not normal it is easy to rectify...usually with a change to my diet. My blood sugar was high recently due to too many sweet things in my diet. Hope this may help s bit.

[puppetmaster75150 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much. It’s great to have some reassurance like that. I’ll try and put it out of my head until the appointment. Thanks again

[Kicker113640 in reply to puppetmaster75150]

what happened with your blood work? I know this thread is old, but I cannot help but wonder, lol.

[Dogdoo]

I worked in a blood lab and let me tell you, there are a million things that can happen that require a re-draw. And none of them have anything to do with you or your health.

Tubes get broken, if its shaken too much the specimen gets hemolyzed and becomes useless for example.

Its probably just a lab error. If it were anything serious, they would let you know.

I wouldnt worry about it at all