Anyone able to translate a blood test from hospital please? My DH husband has been faxed his recent results but we do not understand them.

[angel1980]

My husband with DH finally got his Dermatologist to have bloods done for deficiencies, they were last done in April 2011 & he has always been told that the levels have been fine when he has asked.My husband was also told by the same Dermatologist to just stop Dapsone, he is always tired, low energy & slow. Is it wise to suddenly stop such an agressive drug as Dapsone?

[NorthernSoul]

Stopping dapsone is fine, so if your dermatologist has suggested it then give it a go (he/she will prescribe the drug regularly so they know what they're talking about).

As for the bloods- I can help you if you post them on here.

[angel1980]

T hank you Northernsoul, I'll do my best to type it out as well as I can. Full blood count on 02 Feb 2012

Haemoglobin concentration(Xa96v) Result; 136g/L(125-0179.0)

Red blood cell count(426..) " " " 3.78*10^ 12/L (3.01- 6.79)

Haematocrit (X76tb) " " 0.387 L/L

Mean cell volume ( 42A..) " " 102fL (80.0-100.0-Above high ref limit

Mean cell haemoglobin level (XE2pb) " 36.opg(27.0-32.2 - "" " " "

" " " concentration (429) " 351g/L( 300.0-350.0) " " " "

Red blood cell distribution width (XE2mO) Res: 11.8% (8.0- 14.0)

Platelet count-observation(42P) Res: 119*10^9/L (150.0-400.0 Below " "

Mean platelet count (42Z5.) " 9fL

Total white blood count (XaldY) " 3.5*10^9/L (4.0-11.0- Below low " "

Neutrophil count (42J..) "1.3*10^9/L (2.2-8.0- " " " "

Lymphocyte count (42M..) " 1.6*10^9/L (0.5-4.0)

Monocyte count- observation (42N) Res: 0.3*10^9/L (0.1-1.1)

Eosinophil count- observation (42K) " 0.1* 10^9/L (0.0-0.4)

Basophil count (42L..) " 0.0* 10^9/L (0.0- 0.5)

Nucleated red blood cell count (4266.) Res: 0.0* 10^9/L (0.0-0.0)

I take good care of my husband but my skills on a computer are zilch! Please do not hesitate to message me if you're not understanding my figures. I appreciate this so very much, thank you. Angel

[angel1980]

To Northernsoul I have just seen the following results, there's only four!

Serum B12 240 ng/L (197-866)

Serum Folate >40 ng/mL (3.1-20.51) Hi

FreeT4 13 pmo1/L ( 11-22)

TSH 1.9 mu/L (0.27-4.2)

I hope you can make sense of all this. By the way my husband was @ Dermatologist's office today & because he has been itchy for a month now & is getting daily outbreaks ( no blisters as yet) she has recommended he go back to 50mg daily. I think he is going to stick it out for another month & see how it goes. I really don't want him to go back as he is still so tired all the time on one tablet every other day but I am not the one with the constant itching am I.

[anniet in reply to angel1980]

I have thyroid issues and looking at this result your husbands T4 should be higher, even though its within 'ranges' its better to be above 16 towards the top end of the range. The TSH is better on the bottom end of the range under 1 is best.

For more into this there is a thyroid site in the above communities.

Take it up with your GP I felt rubbish when mine were like this, now I take 125mcg thyroxin and feel better (not 100%) but I am dealing with iron issues. My DH type skin complaint has dried up by not eating gluten (not coeliac but sensitive)

Good luck

annie.x

[NorthernSoul]

I'll go through the bloods with you:

Haemoglobin concentration (this is how much of the molecule that carries oxygen you have in your blood)- normal

Red blood cell count (how many red blood cells you have in your blood) - normal

Haematocrit (the proportion of red blood cells compared to serum- the liquid part- in your blood)- normal

Mean cell volume (how big the cells are- this can be useful for determining the cause of anaemia and a few other things)- it's very slightly high but of no significance so, also normal

Mean cell haemoglobin level (again, how much haemoglobin you have in each red blood cell)- normal

Red blood cell distribution width (this is use to determine if you have two populations of differently sized red blood cells in case the average cell size is normal and it wouldn't otherwise be picked up)- normal

Platelet count (number of platelets in the blood)- a bit on the low side, if your husband goes to see your GP about the tiredness (unless he's certain it's caused by the dapsone), it would be worth asking about

Mean platelet count (this should probably say volume- it's the average size of the platelets)-normal

Total white blood count (number of immune cells in the blood)- a bit on the low side, which seems to be mostly due to a reduced number of neutrophils

Your husbands vitamin/cofactor levels (B12, folate) are normal, as are his thyroid function tests (TSH, free T4).

If this tiredness is definitely linked to the dapsone (i.e. it improved when he came off it and has worsened since he's back on) then he'll just have to think carefully about which can be managed better- the itchiness or the tiredness, I'm afraid. Making a few life-style changes might improve the latter, however.

If he's not sure or if you're concerned, give your GP a ring and ask them to ring you back about the blood results. I'm just a student and I don't know your husband's medical history so the slight abnormalities could be completely innocent or caused by another medical problem he has or they might require a few more tests depending on what other symptoms he's experiencing.

Overall, I would say don't be too worried (there are plenty of normal people walking around with blood results like these ones) but go and see your GP if you'd like to clear the whole thing up. I'm surprised they just sent you the blood test results with no explanation or chat anyway...

I hope that helps.