Opinion on blood tests please...

[pugdogs10]

These are my grandsons blood tests he was 4.5 years old at the time of these tests ..which was 5 months ago. GP acknowledges that there are a few things not right about them but they are "nothing to worry about". I have recently taken him back to the doctors and asked for another full blood count ,coeliac and folate. The new results are due any day but in the meantime I wondered if anyone has any thoughts on these. I am very worried about him, he has lost a lot of weight, had a lot of time off school with infections, is very pale and lethargic and not making progress in his school work.

Total white cell count 9.6 (5.0-14.5)

Red blood cell count 4.31 (4.2-5)

Haemaglobin estimation 102 (96-148)

*Haemacrit 0.299 (0.34-0.42)

* MCV 69 (75-88)

*MCH 23.7 (27.7 (32.6)

*Red blood cell distribut width 15.8 (9.9- 15.5)

Mean corpusc,HB MCHC 341(3.20- 350)

Platelet count 329 (150-400)

Neutrophil count 5.8 (1.5-800

*monocte count 1.3 < 5

lymphocyte count 2.4 (1.5- 6.5)

*Reticulocyte count 14 (30-100)

*Serum b12 919 (197-771)

Will be very grateful for any comments on these. Thanks.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

most of figures point to low iron

however, given age of the patient think you really need to try and work with your grandsons GP.

There are a few things that can lead to raised B12 levels in adults (beyond supplementation) but not sure if that is the same for children.

[pugdogs10 in reply to Gambit62]

Thanks for responding...will see what the results of the newer test throw up.

[Foggyme Administrator]

Hi Pugdogs10. I agree with gambit62 about the low iron.

Monocyte's are also below reference range - a 'one-off' is not significant but repeated low results would indicate more testing required (bone marrow etc).

Reticulocyte's also below range - usually indicative of iron deficency anaemia / aplastic anaemia etc. (can be due to iron, B12 or folate deficency or conditions affecting the production of red blood cells).

Can only image how worried your are about your grandson...think you did exactly the right thing taking him back to the doctor (beats me how any doctor can ignore out of range results in a small child's blood results, especially if the child appears to be unwell 😖).

Please keep at it with the GP and if you are not satisfied perhaps there's another GP in the same practice that you could see? But hopefully, it won't come to that.

Paediatric medicine can be quite different to adult's at times but although we don't have that expertise here - still lots of support and hugs for you if you need it.

Very best of luck to you both Pugdogs10...hug hug x

[pugdogs10 in reply to Foggyme]

Hi Foggyme.... many thanks for your helpful comments. Actually I will not be taking him for his next GP visit I just did it this once because my daughter in law was working but she will let me have the blood results and we will take it from there. She completely trusted her doctor when she was told to buy a packet of childrens vitamin pills.... and we all know where that can lead don t we?

I wouldn t be surprised if the vitamin pills ( I don t know what they were) contained B12 and that is the reason for his high B12 result???

I just hope that he has not got coeliac disease, I live in dread of passing on these things to my children/ grandchildren.

I think maybe the next step will be to see a paediatrician.

Much love and many thanks.

[Foggyme Administrator in reply to pugdogs10]

Hi Pugdogs10. Oh wouldn't it be nice if we could all just trust our doctors 😖.

And I suspect you might be right about the multi-vitamins and the raised B12 levels - most of them do have B12 in them.

And I know just what you mean about the 'pass-on-dread'...I have that too 😖.

And (so many ands)...I think that under the circumstances I'd be asking (well, demanding...probably) a referral to a paediatrician as well...if only for peace of mind (and knowledgeable assessment - 'cause paediatricians are usually very very good....hurrah.

Much love back...to you all..and let us know how it goes 👍

[pugdogs10 in reply to Foggyme]

Will do. Take care.