Advice on blood results appreciated please?

[Bunny12345678]

Finally I have my blood results, I think my mcv is high...does this suggest b12 issue please?

[Reloadfaun]

Hi Bunny, can’t help with the results. But your full name and DoB is at top of page. I’d consider removing and cropping it and repost to protect yourself. 🦊

[Bunny12345678 in reply to Reloadfaun]

Thankyou,

[Reloadfaun in reply to Bunny12345678]

👍🏼

[Sleepybunny]

Hi,

I'm not medically trained.

High MCV can suggest macrocytosis ; enlarged red blood cells.

Macrocytosis can occur in people who have B12 deficiency ( and also in those with folate deficiency) but many people with B12 deficiency do not have macrocytosis.

You have several blood test results that have an asterisk by them and also they seem to be written in a different colour. I'm struggling to read them but I assume that these are the results that are either above or below range.

What has your doctor said about these results?

[Bunny12345678 in reply to Sleepybunny]

Yes, there are a handful of results that are out of range..shall I repost the report?

I couldn't get hold of my gp surgery today, their online system not working and phoneline busy. These are private tests that I had done as my gp's have given up on helping me, they prefer to diagnose anxiety it seems...I've got desperate to try and get me well again

[BirdlessBox in reply to Bunny12345678]

Good on you for getting private tests done. I have had a life time of my medical problems being dismissed as anxiety - it infuriates me! I recently looked through a lot of my old medical records online and was horrified at the number of abnormal or marginal results they glossed over or ignored. Do your research and take a support person. Good Luck

[Bunny12345678 in reply to BirdlessBox]

Thankyou very much. I'm bracing myself for a battle with a clueless gp tomorrow, I had a cardiologist tell me to stop looking for possible causes as I may never find one (he told me I had inappropriate sinus tachycardia and wanted me on medication, i begged to differ) I told him that I believe in 'cause and effect' he agreed with me..unbelievable

[BirdlessBox in reply to Bunny12345678]

So what are your symptom? If you don't mind me asking......

[Bunny12345678 in reply to BirdlessBox]

I have many, i started in December with shortness of breath and palpitations. I was near collapse many times during Dec and January, ended up in a&e twice and sent away being told everything 'normal '! I felt ghastly. I developed upper right sided back ache,upper right chest ache/pressure, right neck ache...tinnitus, feeling freezing quite often, extreme fatigue, new raynauds to fingers, now have lower back ache too, bowels are not right at all, my legs feel like jelly... i just feel ill

[Hidden in reply to Bunny12345678]

I’m in the same boat as you!

I’ve been trying to get well for five years. I’ve been working with a nutritionist/ practitioner.

My symptoms are the same tinnitus, sore tongue with bite mark out, tired, feeling unwell but latest I get burning pain in arms and legs, IBS too. My MCV were enlarged last year but because my B12 was ok doctor did thyroid test . What I didn’t know at the time I was on high doses of oral B12.

I had injected B12 three years ago as a doctor said good for Fibro pain which they thought I had but problem lies in oral B12 skewing the results for me.

I started to inject again last October weekly and was able to walk again for exercise. In lock down been walking miles!

Tried going to two weekly injections and got quite ill again. I did an Organic Acid Test with nutritionist and she said my B12 was low and the test is more accurate than bloods. ( she is a well qualified scientist).

Last week I did private blood tests and MCV high again and all others for anemia like ferritin ok.

Started to inject every other day to see how I feel and have started to change. Able to do a bit more and tinnitus quieter, other symptoms varying.

Keep at it with GP and don’t take oral like I did.

Good luck

[BirdlessBox in reply to Bunny12345678]

I don't know if this will have any relevance for you but sometimes right side pain can come from an aggravated liver, and so can bowel problems. The main things that can upset a liver is alcohol, too much fat, stress, coffee and paracetamol. You could try cutting these out and see how you are in a week or two.

[FlipperTD]

Hi Bunny. Sorry for the length of this response, but here goes.

I am a [retired] scientist and I've performed literally many hundreds of thousands of these. My comments are based on the science behind the tests, and must not be taken as clinical advice, as I'm not qualified to give that.

It's helpful that you've posted a fairly broad profile because there's often more we can read in to the results than is immediately obvious.

Some of your chemistry values aren't available due to delays in the sample arriving in the laboratory, so my assumption is that both samples were delayed.

Whilst the haematology values are a bit more forgiving, [and depending on the methodology employed] as red cells are stored, they can take on more water from the sample, and when it comes to measuring the MCV, it comes out higher than it would have done when fresh. This has a knock-on because the Hct [from RBC x MCV] also comes out higher, and the MCHC [from Hb / Hct] comes out lower. I note that your MCHC is at the bottom end of the range, which suggests to me that this has happened. The range quoted for MCHC is rather wider than anything I ever used professionally.

My guess is that your sample was delayed before processing, and consquently your MCV is potentially an over-reading, and reflecting in a depressed MCHC also. I could be wrong, as I'm assuming a lot here, but I can only work with what I've got.

Blood samples are almost always best performed on fasting samples, whether this is specified or not, and processed without delay, regardless of what the testing laboratory claims.

The MCV tends to be raised when there is megaloblastic change in the bone marrow, and lack of either B12 or folate, or both, are implicated in megaloblastosis. If there is concurrent iron deficiency however, then the expected raised MCV will probably not be seen.

In hypothyroidism, the [true] MCV may be raised too, so it's all rather more complicated!

I hope this isn't too confusing, but as always, it's important to speak to your GP, or another experienced medic, for interpretation of your results.

[BirdlessBox in reply to FlipperTD]

It's great to have someone who understands blood result help decipher them. I got access to mine online and went over a couple of decades or so - seeing all the clues they kept ignoring. I don't understand why they ask for blood work and then ignore it. I wanted to try transfer it all to a graph of test vs date to try and seen the patterns.

[Bunny12345678]

Well, GP phonecall went badly, she accused me of fixating on my symptoms and said my bloods were normal, i told her that they were not, and that my kidney function was off, mcv high and thyroid levels off too...i said i think I need referring on maybe an ussof my kidneys she said no, as I've been referred to several places, i said that's not true, only been referred to gynae regarding fibroids and colorectal because my bowels are not right, probably linked to whatever is going on...she said she can't keep referring me, i said if she can't help then please refer me on..she said my kidney function is normal when they did it, i had to ask twice for the result..told her to stop saying normal because I am not right at all and can't live like this, she agreed to repeat kidney function and thyroid levels and review my repeat ct( that I had last week because of nodules, apparently thats routine) next week...ive never ever lost it with a gp before...