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ABNORMAL BLOOD WORK COUNTS?

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MaggieMuffin
MaggieMuffin

I WENT TO THE ER 2 NIGHTS AGO BECAUSE I WAS HAVING HEART PALPITATIONS ALL DAY AND FELT VERY ANXIOUS WHEN MY HEARTRATE STAYED IN THE LOW 50'S (BPM) AND EVEN DIPPED DOWN TO 42 BPM A FEW TIMES.  MY HEARTRATE NORMALLY STAYS IN THE LOW TO MID FIFTIES AND MY BLOOD PRESSURE USUALLY RUNS LOW ( AVG. BEING 104/54). MY BODY TEMP. ALWAYS STAYS ABOUT 95-96 DEGREES (98.6 IS NORMAL).THEY DID AN EKG, BLOOD WORK AND CHEST X-RAYS.  THE ER DOCTOR CAME BACK WITH THE RESULTS AND SAID EVERYTHING LOOKED NORMAL.  TODAY MY TEST RESULTS WERE POSTED ON "MY CHART" ONLINE AND I GOT AFRAID WHEN I SAW SOME "MY" NUMBERS AND WHAT WERE CONSIDERED THE NORMAL STANDARD RANGE FOR HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS.  I AM 62 AND EXPECT MY BLOOD WORK COUNTS TO BE A LITTLE OUT OF NORMAL RANGE BUT AFTER READING ONLINE WHAT COULD CAUSE SOME OF THESE BLOOD COUNT NUMBERS TO BE TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW I GOT MORE AFRAID AND ANXIOUS.  THE 2 NUMBERS THAT CONCERNED ME THE MOST WERE THE LYMPHOCYTE % WHICH MINE WAS 51.2% (NORMAL RANGES ARE 19.6 - 45.3 %) AND THE OTHER WAS THE NEUTROPHIL % WHICH MINE WAS 32.3% (NORMAL RANGES ARE 42.7 - 76.0 %).  ALL OF MY OTHER BLOOD WORK FELL INTO THE NORMAL RANGES.  DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THESE NUMBERS ARE SOMETHING I SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT (LEUKEMIA OR OTHER BLOOD DISEASES?).  I AM A HUGE WORRIER WHEN IT COMES TO MY HEALTH AND I HAVE SEVERAL HEALTH CONDITIONS I'M CURRENTLY DEALING WITH LIKE A-FIB, COPD, ACID REFLUX DISEASE AND SINUSITIS TO NAME A FEW.  ALSO AM ABOUT 30 LBS. OVERWEIGHT AND AM NOT VERY PHYSICALLY ACTIVE.  IF ANYONE CAN OFFER AN OPINION OR ADVICE TO SHED LIGHT ON THESE NUMBERS I WOULD APPRECIATE IT MUCH. THANKS.

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • sweetmelissa
    sweetmelissa MaggieMuffin

    Posted

    The Neutrophil% and Lymphocyte% are actually meaningless.  To get a better picture you need to look at the Abs. Neutophil and Abs. Lymphocyte count.  The abs stands for Absolute number.  The % is actually takin into acount with your total white blood cell count and that is normal on your blood work, so they are okay.  Most blood work has the % and absolute for the Neutrophils and Lymphocytes.  Some don't.  If your's doesn't, it just means that the doctor figured out the absolute amount of each of the types of white blood cells themselves.  But, yes, if your total white bllod cell count is in normal range, then your results are normal.  Best wishes!

    • MaggieMuffin
      MaggieMuffin sweetmelissa

      Posted

      Thanks sweetmelissa for shedding some light on this for me.  After reading your comment I went back and logged on to my chart online and looked at the other numbers.  My WBC was 7.07(I guess this would be the White Blood Count)  and it shows the standard range is 4.50-10.70 10*3/mm3.  Further down in my blood results was Neutrophils, Absolute and my number was 2.29 10*3/mm3 with standard range being 1.90-8.10 10*3/mm3 and the Lymphocytes, Absolute was 3.62 10*3/mm3 and it shows the standard range being 0.90-4.80 10*3/mm3.  So if those are the numbers that I really need to look at I'm guessing they're fine?  Sometimes I wish my medical records and test results were not so readily available online as I find myself getting caught up in what everything means and then I work myself into a panic.  I'll just follow up with my primary care doctor and she will let me know if there's anything to be concerned about.

    • sweetmelissa
      sweetmelissa MaggieMuffin

      Posted

      Yes! You got it.  Your numbers are actually normal!  I hope you feel better  and that I helped ease your mind.  Also, yes, the 7.07 on your blood work is actually the Total white blood cell count, the other one, like the neutrophils, lymphocrytes, monocytes ,basophils and eosinophils are actually the 5 types of white blood cells that make up your total white blood cell count.   Why they even use the %, I'm not sure.  Doctors know how to calculate the absolute total that way, but it's just so much easier to just look at the absolute numbers..lol.  Best wishes!

    • MaggieMuffin
      MaggieMuffin sweetmelissa

      Posted

      Thanks again for helping put my mind at ease; when I don't obsess about my health all of the time I don't seem to experience the symptons as much - today I haven't had any palpitations and my pulse oximeter shows normal saturated oxygen levels and heartrate at 60.  So I'm going to try not to worry as much and just put more effort into doing what I can to take better care of myself through diet and exercise.  I don't have much of a support system at home as my family and children have busy lives and I don't want to burden them with my health concerns so coming on this site helps tremendously!  Again, many thanks for everyone who's helped me find answers and kept my thoughts positive!

    • sweetmelissa
      sweetmelissa MaggieMuffin

      Posted

      Your welcome.  I have to say that I get anxiety about my health sometimes also and when I do, I actually feel worse too, so I know what your talking about.  I started positive talk with myself and every morning, I wake up and tell myself that I am healthy!, I feel great!, Today is going to be an amazing day!, I am full of energy to do all I need to today!  Things like that, and it really helps me.  Just though i would share.  The mind is a powerful thing and we can actually make ourselves sick, if we keep telling ourselves that we are and the opposite also, we can make ourselves feel better with positive talk when we are sick!  Have a good day!
  • Nanners53
    Nanners53 MaggieMuffin

    Posted

    I have everything you have besides COPD I have sinus tachycardia which makes my heart beat extremely fast at times I also have degenerative arthritis throughout my bones and I just turned 41, however I have had these issues for a long time. On my blood work the lymphocytes and a few others were noted as high and low which really concerns me. If there high what do I do if there low what do I do. They were in red for a reason but it wasn't my Dr who called me with the results or her nurse. You could tell she was new because she read through them all individually so that's when I went online to look at my results and am going to talk to my Dr the 5th.

    • MaggieMuffin
      MaggieMuffin Nanners53

      Posted

      I wish you the best with the things you're going through and I can relate as years ago I had several incidents with tachycardia - at one time my heart was beating almost 200bpm which then started me on beta blockers which I've now been on daily for 25+ years.  I do still experience the PVC's and palpitations from time to time but I find that on days when my stress level is high the palpitations are more frequent.  You are much younger than I am and the best advice I can give you since you don't have COPD is if you smoke,PLEASE QUIT  and if you don't smoke please don't pick up the habit!  I never thought about how bad smoking was damaging my lungs until my Sleep Doctor did a Spirometry earlier this year and diagnosed the COPD.  I smoked for about 15 years and my Sleep doctor knew I smoked but since he'd diagnosed my obstructive sleep apnea 9 years ago after 2 sleep studies he always atttributed my excessive sleepiness to the OSA even though I was using CPAP every night.  So I insisted back in February that it seemed unusual for me to still be so fatigued even with CPAP therapy and that's when I was finally given the breathing test (Spirometry) and later a full pulmonary test.  So, consider yourself lucky if you don't have COPD.  I also have arthritis and tendonitis and have had 2 rotator cuff surgeries but I seem to deal with that OK since that's all secondary to the COPD and Respiratory problems.  

      sweetmelissa explained the Lymphocytes numbers to me and said that the absolute values were the numbers to go by and not so much the percentages as well as the WBC.  I hope yours are all in a normal range.

      My best to you!

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