Anyone had low serum albumin levels?

Have just got a rubbish set of blood results including this. GP asked receptionist to phone me about it but she didn't know her backside from her elbow so I picked up results myself. (GP has gone on holiday.)

Luce xx

[Shell1967]

Me too :((( platelets low,dr said today it could be just a blip and next time ok so just be reassured it may be fine nxt time.is yours to do with kidneys? He told me its the mtx causing my low platelets.take care love Michelle xx

[Hidden in reply to Shell1967]

Thanks Michelle! I think it's mainly liver but not sure as Receptionist didn't seem to know what GP wanted me to do or not do .... not her fault - terrible communication at that surgery. Am also very anaemic .... suddenly got that sinking feeling - must rise above it tomorrow!

Good luck next time with those pesky platelets!

[Shell1967]

Hey guess wot I'm anaemic too !! But been on iron tablets for years due to heavy periods.tou should have been asked to have a repeat blood test soon ? Try not to worry it all could be just a blip and return to normal soon.what meds are you on,I'm just on mtx? Xx

[Hidden in reply to Shell1967]

It's obviously not a good time for blood results! I'm on 25mg mtx and have just started on Sulphasalzine. Things were pretty stable for quite a while on mtx but it's not sorting out the inflammation any more. I was quite content (ish!) with the drugs etc. but I've got a bad feeling about it all these days - it's just one bloody thing after another & impossible to tell what's due to RA and what's caused by the drugs.

But I'll try to take your advice and not worry!

I have blood tests every other week anyway - not sure whether I should actually have one even sooner - I might phone the chaotic surgery tomorrow.

x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

And to be honest I could kick myself for drinking much more wine than I should have done in recent weeks .... though if there was any justice all that red wine would have sorted out the anaemia!

[Shell1967]

Here here to wine and yeh me too last weekend malibu was the highlight of my weekend lol !!!!good luck and let me know how you get on and if it is the wine it's just a blip :)))))) xx

[Hidden in reply to Shell1967]

Hope you are right Michelle though serum albumin seems a funny one - not as much easy to understand info. on the 'net as there is about the ALT & AST levels. I'm off the booze now, off EVERYTHING so have a Malibu for me if you can get away with it!

[Hidden]

If its the alcohol then you should find it sorts out in a few weeks time if you avoid all booze for a while. That's been my experience anyway - main reason I've never got higher up my dose of mtx than 17.5.

Anaemia should be easy enough to sort out with iron supplements but it does seem very unlucky poor you lots of sympathetic noises from me. And as for your surgery grrrrr! X

[Hidden]

Ps mine was ALT and AST (I think) and they were both too high - about five or 6 times since I stated MTX 17 months ago. Yours sounds different if its low?

[Hidden]

Serum Albumin doesn't appear in my mtx booklet but is nonetheless one of the liver function tests I have regularly. The most worrying thing I found when I googled it was that low serum albumin levels don't necessarily show up until there is a real problem with the liver. The most reassuring (?) thing I found is that low levels are often found in people with RA. I could only find scholarly articles though so am not on firm ground - comprehension was stretched.

The Rheumy nurse mentioned my anaemia when I saw her but time didn't permit any discussion about it. However, I didn't realise quite how anaemic I was. She seemed to think it was inflammation-related & therefore here to stay for a while ..... My Rheumy team are not exactly pretending to think that the Sulpha will help much with inflammation or anything else - I like their honesty but it will be nice if they are wrong.

Funny how my wobbliness about the drugs is reflected in the blood results isn't it? (Possibly! Might just be my friend the Merlot.)

Luce x

[Hidden]

I think perhaps you are just coming to terms all over again with having RA Luce. And finding yours is more aggressive than pain levels indicate is troubling to you and I understand that too. But I wouldn't worry about your serum albumin levels unduly until the health professionals who are monitoring you start worrying, because that's their job and they sound fairly efficient and not a disparate and disjointed team (if I can call it a team even) like mine. I would just hope it's the merlot and lay off for a bit - worry when they tell you to.

My advice, for what it's worth, would be for you to phone the NRAS helpline and have a chat sometime soon. I did this yesterday, for the second time since RA started, and it really did help me make sense of a few things because they are so well informed and can tell you about statistics and have more experience of the various presentations of this wretched disease too.

I'm feeling less wobbly about the drugs now and more worried about what is causing all these bizarre symptoms that haven't gone away since I stopped my meds almost a month ago. Morning stiffness has returned with a vengeance and it's taking me ages to get dressed as all the energy and strength seems to be being sapped away? I feel like an old bike that has been abandoned somewhere and is rusting and the wheels are becoming knackered! My GP said wait until pain comes winging back and then I'll know it's RA but I'm far more scared of rusting up like this actually - so unpleasant!

Tilda xx

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I did manage to speak to the GP who'd asked the receptionist to phone me. He said he is concerned about the serum albumin levels coupled with the FBC results & ESR increasing by 20 points (or whatever they are) every fortnight so I'll have another test next week & fingers crossed!

Meanwhile I'm enjoying the wonderful sunshine & sweetness of spring in the air at last.

[Hidden]

Lovely - it's still too cold here but very bonnie. Your GP sounds sensible. Tilda xx