Forgive me if I've wandered into the wrong thread—I honestly wasn't quite sure where to drop this question. Could someone please help me make sense of my mother-in-law's thyroid biopsy results?
Microscopic appearance: moderately cellular punctate, featuring clusters of thyrocytes, a significant amount of pigmentophages, and some colloid.
Thanks for getting back to me. I’m a smoker and carrying a few extra pounds—I had my third child about 9 months ago, and since then, I've managed to drop 25 kg. Currently, I'm sitting at 72 kg and standing 168 cm tall. My blood work looks fine overall; my Platelet 232 (!) Leukocyte 6.0 DKS was actually a bit different, with platelets at 350. Should I perhaps plan to have these tests repeated after some time passes? thanks
Dear all, after my third pregnancy, I dealt with thrombophlebitis—so, naturally, I’m now stuck with varicose veins in my legs. Since I've been having some breathing issues lately, I went in for a bronchoscopy and ended up getting a coagulation panel done while I was at it. Could someone please help me make sense of these results? PV 0.99, INR 1.00, APTV 26, APTV RATIO 0.8 FIBRINOGEN 4.3
Dear all—after my third child, I dealt with a bout of thrombophlebitis, and since then, I’ve been struggling with varicose veins in my legs. Because I’ve also been having some breathing issues lately, I went in for a bronchoscopy and had a coagulation panel done. Could someone please help me make sense of these results? PV 0.99, INR 1.00, APTT 26, APTT Ratio 0.8 FIBRINOGEN 4.3
Thanks so much for the response. Based on those results, a CMP was performed, and everything looks perfectly normal here: Creatinine 61 (49-90) eGFR >60 Uric Acid 391 (134-337) Total Bilirubin 9 (3-20) AST 20 (8-30) ALT 25 (10-36) GGT 17 (9-35) ALP 108 (54-119) AMS 52 (23-91) CRP 6.1 I’m honestly not sure if this covers all the specific tests you were assuming I had already undergone. Thanks
Hello everyone. I’m reposting this because I’m honestly not sure if I should be looking in a different thread or elsewhere—does anyone here have the expertise to help me make sense of these results? I gave birth to my third child about a month ago, and since the delivery, I’ve been dealing with this nagging pain and general discomfort under my right rib cage. I went in to get some blood work done specifically because of it, and for the most part, everything looks perfectly standard, with a few exceptions: MPV 11.1 (6.8-10.4) Urate 391 (134-337) CRP 6.1 And then there's the urine analysis:
Interestingly enough, the urine culture came back sterile... Over the last month, I've already had to take three different courses of antibiotics to deal with phlebitis and an inflamed Bartholin's gland. Now, I'm staring at these urate levels and wondering what on earth they actually signify. Is there anything I should be doing about it? And is it even possible for these levels to be thrown off by the physical toll of childbirth? My doctor did give me a referral for an Abdominal Ultrasound, but I won't be able to get that scheduled until December... thanks.
So, I finally went in for my checkup, and the doctor basically gave me the classic "we can't guarantee anything" speech—you know, the one where they play both sides of the fence by saying everything *might* be fine while leaving the door wide open for things to go sideways? They essentially left the whole decision up to me, which, if we're being honest, doesn't exactly make me feel any more enlightened than I was before. So, thanks for nothing, I guess—I'm still just as stuck in limbo as I was yesterday. Thanks for all the advice, though, truly.
Thanks for getting back to me. I actually called my OB-GYN to explain the whole situation, and she told me to come in this Friday for a full exam. Honestly? I am incredibly anxious about all of this—between the various medications and the idea of being put under, it’s a lot to process. On top of that, I’ve been on Citalopram for anxiety for about a year now—though, to be fair, for the last three months I’ve only been taking 0.5 mg every third day—so I have no idea if that could potentially harm the baby either.
My apologies if this topic has already been covered somewhere—I just couldn't seem to track it down. Here is my situation: I was expecting my period about ten days ago, but it hasn't shown up, so I went ahead and took a pregnancy test myself... and it came back positive. Now, here is where things get complicated. On February 1st, I had to undergo surgery under general anesthesia to have some dental work done. Then, just five days ago, I went back in to have some dental X-rays taken. Does anyone know how risky this actually is for the baby? If you have any advice or insight at all, I would truly appreciate it. thanks
Colonization by this particular bacterium is actually incredibly common—so much so that depending on which study you happen to be looking at, anywhere from 30% to 80% of adults might carry it in their pharynx. It’s practically a staple.
And honestly—don't forget that kids can also frequently deal with colonization from this specific bacterium, essentially acting as asymptomatic carriers. It's one of those things you just have to keep on your radar, right?
When we're talking about colonization, you generally don't just throw an antibiotic at the situation—does that even make sense? No, typically, you don't.
However, looking at the primary care level—think your local family practitioners or GPs—it seems like there’s a recurring trend where any kind of bacterial isolation results in an immediate antibiotic prescription. Is it because of a genuine knowledge gap? Or perhaps it's just a defensive move to satisfy a demanding patient who’s insisting on "doing something"? There are plenty of other reasons, too, but it really makes you wonder about the standard of care we're seeing out there.
If you ask me, given how subpar that sample quality was—which frankly, speaks volumes—you really ought to start by having them redo the sputum collection. But this time, there needs to be some actual education involved beforehand. We have to walk them through exactly how to produce a proper specimen and emphasize the importance of staying properly hydrated to ensure they can actually generate enough phlegm to be useful. Is it too much to ask for a usable sample? Apparently so.
Greetings to everyone. 🙂
Thanks so much for all the replies! Greetings to everyone!
As you can tell from the snarky little note—"more than 25 epithelial cells and fewer than 25 PMNs per field indicates poor sample quality"—your sample isn't quite hitting the mark. Since you have about 20-30 epithelial cells per field but only 5-15 mononuclear or polymorphonuclear cells, the specimen just doesn't meet the standard. Essentially, instead of getting actual sputum (you know, the deep respiratory secretions we actually want), most of what was collected is likely just saliva and debris from the mouth.
Do I need to take antibiotics for this bacteria? And is it dangerous for my family? I have two kids, ages 3 and 4... my 4-year-old son actually had surgery yesterday.
Could someone please help me make sense of these sputum results? Isolate 01: *Haemophilus influenzae*—less than 1/3. This isolate is considered part of the normal physiological flora. Gram stain: 20-30 epithelial cells, 5-15 neutrophils and polymorphonuclear leukocytes, along with some Charcot-Leyden crystals. Interpretation: Having more than 25 epithelial cells and fewer than 25 PMNs or neutrophils in the field of view indicates the sample quality was poor.
I decided to get this checked because I’ve been dealing with this cough for four weeks now—hacking up greenish and yellow mucus the whole time. Thanks
Could someone please help me make sense of these sputum culture results: isolate 01: haemophilus influenzae—less than 1/3. This isolate is considered part of the normal physiological flora. Gram stain: 20-30 epithelial cells, 5-15 neutrophils and polymorphonuclear leukocytes, with some Charcot-Leyden crystals present. Interpretation: Having more than 25 epithelial cells and fewer than 25 PMNs or neutrophils in the field of view suggests the sample quality is poor.
I decided to get this checked because I’ve been dealing with this cough for four weeks now, hacking up greenish and yellow mucus. Thanks
The real issue here—and it’s a bit of a headache, honestly—is that these tablets aren't designed to be split into quarters. You can manage a half, which happens to be my standard dose, but trying to get down to a quarter? It’s nearly impossible without turning the thing into useless powder. So now I'm left wondering how on earth I'm supposed to execute this correctly.😢
Thanks so much for the input. I think I’ll head off now and take my 10 mg dose—then I'll try spacing it out to every four days, then five, and see how that goes. I’ve heard you aren't supposed to just quit cold turkey, and while my gut is telling me to just stop since the dosage is technically low, even at this level, I’m dealing with this intense pressure in my head that makes me feel absolutely terrible.
I’ll start by apologizing—I’m not entirely sure if I’ve landed in the right sub, but I could really use some perspective and advice here. For the last eight months, I’ve been on 10 mg of Citalopram, though for the past three months, I’ve actually been tapering myself down to 10 mg every other day. My psychiatrist gave me the green light to stop the medication entirely, but now I’m second-guessing everything: Is it actually safe to just quit cold turkey, or am I being reckless? I’m currently on my third day without any medication, and honestly? I feel incredibly strange. There’s this constant pressure in my head, a general sense of confusion... is this just what "weaning off" feels like, or should I have been more gradual—maybe stretching it out to every fourth or fifth day instead? Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks for getting back to me, but I’ve gone ahead and pulled up my actual blood work results—so perhaps you can give me a more concrete idea of what we might be looking at here. SE 32 MPV 10.9 BASOPHILIC GRANULOCYTES 1 (0-1) LYMPHOCYTES 18 (20-46) ATYPICAL LYMPHOCYTES 2 (0) URINALYSIS ALL CLEAR EXCEPT FOR LEUKOCYTES 2-3 SQUAMOUS EPITHELIAL CELLS a bit BACTERIA rare AMORPHOUS URATE SALTS a bit
So, I finally made it to my doctor because this sore throat is absolutely brutal—and keep in mind, I don't even have tonsils. On top of that, I’ve been running a fever of 100.4°F for three days straight now. My lungs feel like they're burning, and I’m dealing with this dull, nagging ache right under my right ribcage. Plus, my lymph nodes are noticeably swollen. I just got off the phone with the clinic, and she mentioned my white blood cell count looks fine, but my ALT is at 78 and AST is at 61. Since she didn't comment on those specific numbers, I'm assuming they're "normal" enough for her? She also suggested that since we're looking at liver enzyme issues, it might not be wise to jump straight to antibiotics just yet, so she told me to check back in on Monday. I’d really appreciate any insight you all might have. This isn't a one-off, either—my liver tests have been coming back elevated several times over the last five months.