Is this normal for GP surgery re:blood tests

[Maruni]

Posting here for traffic. For the last week I have had a constant dull headache at the back of the as well as just generally feeling tired and run down, tingling in body, etc.

Had blood test yesterday at 10am, by 4pm I get a call from GP reception saying that a doctor is going to call me by 6pm to discuss my results. I can’t tell you the amount of panic that set in, I really don’t know how I held it together. An hour later, GP calls me and says that not all of my results are in but there is a ‘slight abnormality’ on one marker and he can tell me more when the rest of the results come in a few days.

I asked which marker it was and he said it is the ESR that is abnormal but he didn’t tell me the exact number and I was too flustered to ask.

I know that doctors only usually call that quick when something is serious and I just can’t think straight. I don’t know why they rushed to tell me this but then say they can’t say what the exact issue is until the rest of the results come through. I thought perhaps they would wait until all results are back. Is this normal?

I suffer with worry, panic and general anxiety at the best of the times and this waiting is just horrible.

It's very odd that they rang you back so quickly with partial results but with no action required until further results come in. Why bother and worry you like that?

The only time we had similar was back in 2019 when my daughter's platelet count was extremely low. But that was to tell her she needed immediate medical intervention.

I suspect the "phone appt" was instigated by a more junior staff member after the abnormality being flagged up but without your GP actually seeing it at that time. Then when the time came for the phone call, and your GP looked at your record for the first time, they'll have seen it's not complete but have to phone you anyway because you've been told to expect a call, but they've nothing concrete to tell you. Just a waste of a phone call really, but that's what happens when things like checking a blood test is farmed out to lesser qualified staff who can only flag up the abnormality without realising it's not the full picture.

My OH has had a couple of pointless phone calls like that when the doctor themselves have been pretty annoyed at being "set up" with a phone call internally generated by admin/nursing staff, when they can't actually do anything for one reason or another.

Thank you @BringBackCoffeeCreams I hope your daughter is doing well now and @Badbadbunny it is horrible isn’t it when they call you like that you only think of the worst possible scenarios and I have a problem with obsessive Googling anyway so this doesn’t help.

Thats exactly it, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with this information. I tried calling this morning to ask for the exact number of the ESR levels but was told I have to call after 12 and speak to someone from the admin dept. Coupled with the symptoms I’m feeling at the moment, I’m just so worried.

I got hold a of a print out of my results yesterday and there were some interesting readings:

Ferritin level is 12, normal range is 15-200
Folate is 3.1, normal range is 3.1-20
B12 is 418, normal range is 180-800
Haemoglobin is 121, normal range is 115-200

ESR which is what the GP originally called me about is at 24, normal range is 1-12.

GP called me today to say all my results are ok and nothing to be done despite the low ferritin and borderline folate. But 10 minutes later I got a text message from a different GP saying they are prescribing me some iron tablets.

Im glad I got the print out of the results so I could see the numbers for myself otherwise I would have just taken the first GP’s words at face value.

I’m thinking to get a folate supplement too. Can anyone recommend any?

When I had a folate level of 3 I was prescribed 3 months of folic acid 5mg/day (much higher than the supermarket etc standard supplements that are 400mcg or 0.4mg).
That did the trick.

Definitely take the iron tablets. If you look at the NICE guidelines here: cks.nice.org.uk/topics/anaemia-iron-deficiency/
You'll see that it states that a serum ferritin of less than 30 confirms a diagnosis of iron deficiency so you definitely need them. Do make sure to take them at least 2 hours away from any dairy, tea or coffee and take a vit c pill with them to boost absorption.