Posts by mellowraven32

wearyrider92 said:What does it mean when fibrinogen levels are really high?

It could mean a lot of things. It all comes down to age, gender, what symptoms you're dealing with, and even if you were fasting during the blood work...

Kimberly Gonzalez2 said:I've been dealing with constant E. coli urinary tract infections for about five years now. I even ended up with kidney inflammation once. Since I’ve been feeling some lower abdominal pain lately along with an occasional sting when I pee, I figured it was just another UTI and went ahead and got my urine tested. The results have me confused. Everything came back negative and sterile, except for proteins at 15. What should I do? Should I see a doctor... maybe a nephrologist?

Proteins at 15 what? If you actually have significant proteinuria, you definitely need to see a nephrologist. One more thing... if you're going to lay out your symptoms, you really ought to include some key medical history. For instance, how old are you? Proteinuria in a 20-year-old vs. an 80-year-old follows completely different diagnostic protocols and criteria

And maybe you just breathe through your mouth while you sleep, which means you're snoring and drying out your membranes...

northernviper12 said:The title just reflects the blood test results.

Values outside the reference range:
WBC 10.9H (3.4-9.7)
Neutrophils 6.59H (2.06-6.49)
Eosinophils 0.60H (0.00-0.43)
Neutrophil percentage 60% (44-72)
ESR 22H (2-13)
Fibrinogen 4.3H (1.8-3.5)

Can someone explain what this means?
Thanks in advance!

From what I can tell, this CBC was flagged by the analyzer automatically, which makes it prone to errors and essentially useless data... WBC and ESR are slightly elevated, but it's negligible and doesn't mean anything regarding the op

Just reading through this... keep it coming, you're on a roll 🙂

Grace Smith said:Your results look fine. Your cholesterol is barely elevated—not even considered high by medical standards. Sedimentation levels are also normal... the real issue would be if they were way outside the reference ranges, which isn't the case here. As for your prothrombin time, that’s just your blood clotting speed; yours was slightly lower, but nothing to worry about. Things like aspirin or Tylenol can drop those numbers...

Your urine test looks good too... the mucus isn't a concern... it might depend on where you are in your cycle, as that can affect things... and that dark yellow color? Not a big deal either. It happens if you had a lot of protein yesterday or if you're taking certain B-complex vitamins...

All in all, your labs are solid and I don't see anything concerning. 🙂

That 0.98 value is likely your INR, and that 2-3.5 range isn't a standard reference but rather a therapeutic window, so don't sweat it. There's a chance 0.98 refers to 98%, which would be the prothrombin time itself, though I've rarely seen an American lab report it that way... usually, they use percentages.

Ryan Wilson95 said:I need some advice...
With results like these, should I be looking for a specialist instead of just sticking with my GP...

A hemoglobin level of 68... that's dangerously low. You need to get to an ER immediately...
Hematocrit at 0.240... definitely concerning...
MCV at 60.7...
MCH 17.1... looks low...
mchc 282...
RDW at 17.6... definitely worth looking into...
Still stuck on that 2,3 thing... maybe later...
TIBC 70... too low...

Where is my iron going? I’m not dieting, I don't drink, and I don't smoke. Maybe I'm just working a bit harder lately, but that shouldn't be an issue, right...😉
My legs are constantly swollen... could that be related to this?
Thanks in advance...🙂:

I don't see why she needs to jump straight to a hematologist. And Mary really needs to cough up some more details about herself... for example...
How old are you...
So, how's your cycle looking...
How long does this stuff actually last? That constant exhaustion and being short of breath...
How’s your digestion holding up? Any issues with black stools...

Maybe it's a bit premature to jump to conclusions... With an Hgb of 68 and no symptoms, this has likely been going on much longer than you think. It’s tough to make up that kind of iron deficit just by taking supplements. You really need to find out what's actually causing the anemia...
Just go see your doctor... they'll know what to do...

It's honestly a disaster how people think...😂

Usually, when you're testing for Hepatitis B, they'll run tests for Hepatitis C and HIV too...

Don't freak out.....
If everyone here actually has diabetes, then you all have glucose monitors. Just check your levels tomorrow morning when you wake up, before you even brush your teeth, and let us know the number. We're talking fasting levels, not what you get three hours after eating.
Make sense? 😛

Hannah Bishop said:So, I just checked my blood sugar at home. I haven't eaten anything, but it hit 130. I can feel this awful stinging sensation whenever I go to the bathroom... it's miserable. My OBGYN appointment isn't until December 12th.

You should NEVER be checking your glucose levels at 4:10 PM unless you've been fasting for at least 12 hours.
Don't stress yourself out over nothing. Just head to your doctor first thing tomorrow morning on an empty stomach and ask them to run a test...

The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) involves blood draws from a vein
Patients need to stick to a standard diet for at least three days, hitting about 200-250 grams of carbs daily. You’ve got to maintain your usual activity levels—don't go changing your lifestyle suddenly. Avoid any medications that mess with glucose or sugar metabolism. Also, stay away from anything containing the pyrazolone group or Vitamin C, and skip any X-ray exposure at least 24 hours before the test. Usually, we start the procedure in the morning, somewhere between 7:00 and 8:00 AM.
For adults, we use a 75g glucose load dissolved in tea (without Vitamin C), while pregnant women get a 100g dose.
We measure serum glucose levels right before the dose, then again at the 30, 60, 90, and 120-minute marks. No smoking during the test, and you need to stay resting...
Besides the blood work, we can also check glucose levels in urine at fasting, 60 minutes, and 120 minutes after the dose.

Maybe some FactSet hats too...
You could always try combining the suppositories and the ointment...

Olivia Ramos66 is right, paracetamol is just too weak for most people dealing with toothaches

Charles Cox8 said:Thanks for the heads-up. 🙂
It usually starts like this: first, there’s this weird flickering in my peripheral vision—could be the left side, could be the right, doesn't really matter—and everything just starts spinning. My field of vision gets totally blurry, too. It’s like I’m half-blind, though I can’t even describe it properly. The light and noise become unbearable, and sometimes, I lose the ability to talk normally. It isn't even because of the pain, per se, but more like some kind of mental brake is being pulled that just stops me from communicating. It might sound crazy, but in those moments, I basically go mute. Then, once that settles down a bit, the headache hits me like a freight train. Since I’ve never actually been diagnosed with migraine and other headaches, I just grab a 400mg Motrin and hope for the best. If I'm lucky, the pain stays manageable or maybe just stays mild. A few years back, I had this terrifying period where my entire left side—face, throat, arm—just went numb. Honestly, it was one of the scariest things I've ever felt. Thankfully, it just stopped on its own.
This whole thing started back when I was maybe six or seven years old, and honestly, it just hasn't let up since. Like I mentioned before, I actually went to see a neurologist last year, but the doctor told me straight up that it isn't even a migraine.
Has anyone else dealt with something like this? Seriously, if you have, or if anyone out there knows, I’d really appreciate some advice on who I should even talk to. I honestly thought I could just handle this on my own and get it sorted, but I failed. I guess since it isn't something that happens all the time, I wasn't exactly being super persistent about it. Especially after they told me my CT scan came back fine. So, yeah. Help.
Thanks!

An orthopedic surgeon I know deals with these exact migraines; whenever they hit, he has to head home because he literally can't talk to patients for that exact reason...

Look, if it helps at all, the kid is probably young and healthy with a strong constitution. Besides, mortality rates among children are usually higher because healthcare infrastructure in much of Africa is just nonexistent... there aren't enough hospitals to go around.

Did he get his malaria shot?

There’s enough evidence here to suggest TB; we’re looking at pleural effusion, not just some sharp pain in the chest.
Sandra Bailey89, medicine follows specific algorithms and clinical guidelines that dictate exactly how to handle certain symptoms or diseases. Doctors don't just wing it... (unless we're talking about bird flu or Ebola, obviously)🙂

frozenbison122 said:What else could possibly be going on if the blood work comes back clean? There has to be at least one indicator, right? Just one little clue to point us in the right direction. Where are our on-call doctors when we actually need some real advice... I mean, look, I read somewhere that with something like TB, you often deal with a low-grade fever. Since that wouldn't necessarily show up on a standard CBC, isn't that a possibility? Or is it just that every doctor we encounter is too lazy to actually order follow-up testing? Honestly, why couldn't stress be the culprit here?😕 🙏

Don't be disrespectful. This isn't the place for that. We aren't gods, and that’s why specialists exist for specific fields of medicine...

electricpanther82 said:Seriously, sorry to be a pain and keep bugging everyone, but if these stomach issues and gut discomfort just won't quit, would it be worth asking my doctor to check for things like high white blood cell counts, colon stuff, food allergies, or maybe even appendicitis? thanks!

Viral infections usually hit you with a massive fever, like 103 or 104, while bacterial ones tend to be lower. My advice is to see an infectious disease specialist for a full workup, because it isn't always just rotavirus or Salmonella. There are plenty of other bugs out there.
The fact is, there has to be a physical reason for a fever, and stress is NOT it...
Maybe try a different thermometer though...