Confused .com.

[Polo22]

I really am, confused. Bloods from June last year they didn't really explain but Plasma magnesium 0.82 mmol/L

Serum vitamin B12 354.0 ng/L Serum folate 2.7ug/L

9.9umol/L Serum iron level, 2.94g/L serum transferrin, 74.0 umol/L Se unsat iron binding capacity, 13.0% Saturation of iron.

5.0 nmol/L 25-Hydroxyvitamin D2 level, 10.0 nmol/L 25 Hydroxyvitamin D3 level,

10.0 nmol/L combined total vit D2 +D3 lvl .

GP gave my a months supply Folic acid, a months supply of Vit D and said if you want more to buy. Getting fuddled trying to understand what's what, HELP

also

Serum ferritin December 2020 107.0ug/L

Thyroid 0.81 mu/L Serum TSH level, 22.3 pmol/L Serum free T4 level

Also have lipid levels, U&E's , Liver function, Renal profile, FBC, Bone profile

Getting overwhelmed. Self injecting B12 , what else should I have. Want to get GP to sort things if I can so need to know what to ask for.

[Dilly_blue]

Sorry to hear you are confused.. I’m afraid I have no knowledge of the tests listed, but have you tried Googling the reference ranges (ie what is normal) for each of the tests listed? At least you would know then if any were abnormally low or abnormally high (or normal), then possibly Dr Google again for any that do seem to be outside of the normal ranges to see what it means, and to help you get together some informed questions that you can then take to your GP? Good luck with it, and hope you get some resolution / reassurance soon..

[Polo22 in reply to Dilly_blue]

Yes I did try to google, think that's added to the confusion. Can't seem to find things listed in the same units of measurement, ug/L's, mmol/L's, nmol/L's, pmol/L's, g/L, umol/L, ng/L , so finding it bit of a mystery 🙃

[helvella in reply to Polo22]

My document (which is primarily intended for thyroid patients but has lots that is relevant to many others), has a small section on calculators for converting units. There are several links - all without charge.

Hope it might help.

helvella - Vade Mecum for Thyroid

The term vade mecum means:

1. A referential book such as a handbook or manual.

2. A useful object, constantly carried on one’s person.

Please don't get put off by the number of pages!

In particular, it is not intended that you sit and read the document. Just that you download it and know you can look things up.

Not everything is in this one document - my major medicines document is still separate!

From Dropbox:

dropbox.com/s/vp5ct1cwc03bl...

From Google Drive:

drive.google.com/file/d/1ZW...

[Marz in reply to Polo22]

When requesting results from your surgery ensure they have the ranges ..

[rogergee in reply to Polo22]

You need the specific reference ranges for tests used each time.

NHS app allows you to see your blood test redults without the need to ask for them.

[helvella in reply to rogergee]

Only available in England.

[rogergee in reply to helvella]

Ah, didn't realise it was avec internal borders! Sorry if I've raised false hopes there.

[helvella in reply to rogergee]

Trouble is, it isn't an internal border any longer! Brexit made the EU a full international border away.

Prior to brexit, there was effectively no customs involvement in parcels between the UK and the rest of the EU.

[rogergee in reply to helvella]

I actually meant the NHS app...

[helvella in reply to helvella]

Sorry - my mind was with a previous reply I had posted! :=(

Yes, the NHS app is not available in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Afraid I don't know what progress has been made there.

[Polo22 in reply to rogergee]

Do You mean My GP?

[rogergee in reply to Polo22]

No, we don't have Ask My GP at my surgery. My mother in law does though at hers, and she loves it. The NHS app is a different thing.

[Polo22 in reply to rogergee]

oh Ok, it's not all that though, ok but not fab. Wouldn't know where to start finding your one, well not just yours obviously 😆

[rogergee in reply to Polo22]

Do you mean the NHS app? You just download the app to your phone or device, through PlayStore for Android devices, through iStore for iPad or iPhone and, I guess, Apple Mac. Then you log your personal details on it and you can access your medical info. I choose not to access much, but I do have the app, and it also shows the dates you had any covid jabs. It's a very personal.thing what people choose to use it for. My GP actually urged me initially, a few years ago now, to have it so that I could check my blood test results. Please bear in mind, as helvella pointed out, that the capability of the app is not the same throughout the whole UK. You'll be able to read up all about it on t'internet, I'm sure.

[helvella in reply to rogergee]

Afraid that none of the NHS apps (Covid, standard, etc.) is available for macOS.

Always difficult to know why - could be that they simply have not been verified, or (as with the Covid apps) they rely on features of the device.

[rogergee in reply to helvella]

I'm full of duff gen!

[helvella in reply to rogergee]

Not at all - they should be. But this applies to thousands of apps.

As I use a new M1 Mac, it is so frustrating that developers, vendors, etc., can't see that it is very convenient to run apps on the desktop or laptop.

[rogergee in reply to helvella]

I can see that would be very frustrating!

[Marz in reply to Dilly_blue]

Labs do vary when it comes to ranges so best to request copies of results from your GP surgery. We are legally entitled to them ... 🌻

[Nackapan]

Yes you need more up to date bloods. Sounds lije you are having full blood counts and vitamin d ect .

Get some done.

I've made an appointment in the past to go through the blood results.

I was denied vit d loading

As not low enough!!

But upped my vit d myself

As I know it plummets otherwise.

[Polo22 in reply to Nackapan]

when they realised and got in touch with me to say I was vit D deficient , 3 or so weeks after telling me all was fine there was no discussion, just pick up prescription and when it's finished you'll have to buy. Not even sure you can buy mega dose vit D? Even though have My GP on phone it's a bit sketchy , not all that interesting, and has me down as a 20 a day smoker, I am not.

[Marz]

Taking a good B Complex could improve the Folate level and keep all the B vits in balance. Thorne Research on-line is the one I take.

How much VitD are you taking and when ?

[Polo22 in reply to Marz]

Vit D spray, 1000 iu each spray,

[Marz in reply to Polo22]

If your result was 10 then that is deficient and you should have been prescribed loading doses if tolerated. You can check out VitD Treatment on the CCG website in your area.

grassrootshealth.net

Is a good source of information - including dose required according to results.

There are important co-factors to take with VitD Magnesium and VitK2-MK7

Some D sprays contain the latter ....

[Polo22 in reply to Marz]

Thanks for info, the spray says it is D3, doesn't have Mg in , have been supplementing just ran out of Mg tabs but there appears to be some in some of the other stuff I am taking, looking at results apparently have probably been needing to supplement for at least 5 years as according to GP was developing a problem with insulin resistance , never mentioned this to me. I mean they could see up to 5 years ago there was an issue and then they announce just before Christmas I am now type 2 , and organised various diabetic specific appointments, in January walked into appointment with Practice Nurse who announced "right we are starting you on Metformin" erm jog on , think not. Can you tell I wasn't impressed.

[FlipperTD]

Scientist, not medic.

It's difficult to comment on your results without reference ranges, because for some tests they can vary quite considerably. When the results were reported, they will (or should) have been issued with reference ranges for each analyte. If you were able to upload screen shots from your GP's system, suitably anonymised, it would help folks on here to share their experiences. Personally, I would not look to Google for reference ranges as they can vary considerably between providers, and for very good reasons.

The units can be confusing but it's relatively simple; it's just scientific conventions. If it's got g/L then it's expressed as mass concentration, whereas if it's mol/L it's molar concentration. To use molar concentration, we need to know what the molecular weight is. Sometimes that's easier than others.

Conversion from one to the other is something best avoided.

The prefix of u [actually should be lower case Greek letter Mu, 'μ'] is particularly confusing as it's not on the keyboard. There is a thousand-fold difference between the prefix letters.

m=Milli, a thousandth.

μ=Micro, a millionth.

n=Nano, a thousand-millionth.

p=Pico, a million-millionth.

f=Femto, a thousand-million-millionth.

a=Atto, a million-million-millionth.

I realise I probably haven't helped much here. Good luck.