Blood test results - consistently low platelets

[LucidDream]

I've had low platelets since I was pregnant with my DS in 2013. Only a bit low, but consistently low. I've had a load of other bloods tests to find the reason why, and they've all come back normal.

GP keeps sending me for a full blood count every couple of months, the results come back "low platelets review in 2 months". But they never do anything about the results just send me for more tests.

Unfortunately my GP practice is massive and you never get to speak to the same GP twice, and no one seems to know why I need to keep going for tests, I think its just protocol to repeat them if the previous one was abnormal.

I'm just wondering what the point of the repeated tests are and if I can just stop going for them?

I would have thought that they're monitoring the level of platelets. If they drop below a certain level then they'll have to take action.

My DD's dropped dramatically and she was sent to hospital and kept in until they returned to a safe level. So maybe yours are low but not dangerously so.

No they're only a bit low, and haven't got any worse since 2013 as far as I'm aware. I just assumed this level was normal for me.

Mine are always low too (below range during pregnancy and right at the bottom of the normal range ever since). It was mentioned during pregnancy as 'probably a pregnancy thing' and no-one has ever mentioned it since. So I guess it's just normal for me. I don't bruise easily or catch many bugs...

You need to find out if the slide is machine read or manual. If machine read if the platelets are clumping anywhere on the slide it can inaccurate on the low side.

How do I find that out lonecat - I assume NHS blood tests are accurate?

They are in the abnormal range, but only by a small amount. I have no symptoms related to low platelets, and am in good health.

You need to ask the question very often if not horribly low they will accept the machine read results and request repeat test in 2 months as the man power to manual read a blood slide is much, much more expensive.
The lab comment on the original report will say whether it is manual or machine read.
Machines miss the platelets clumping at the edge of the slide which a human will check. There is a high chance your platelet count is normal they are just clumping at the edge of the slide.

I found out my platelets were low in 2022, they repeated the test in a month and it was still low, then I had to repeat it again in 6 weeks and again was still low. They were always between 119 -130. My doctor called me in to check my lymph nodes and asked if I had lost any weight, unusually tired or having night sweats. I wasn’t, but my doctor still contacted a specialist blood doctor to see what his advice was and he said didn’t want to see me unless my platelets go very low and just to monitor to make sure they are stable.

When I got pregnant my platelets went up funnily enough, as it seems to make most peoples go down 🙈

Anyway here I am now 2 years later and my platelets were flagged up again as low (129) and they said I have to repeat the test in a month.