Antibodies in blood - but not possible as AB+

[bloodnotright]

I'm having surgery and had blood tests as part of the pre-op, mainly due to very low ferritin levels.

I've been told that my ferritin levels are still very low, but more concerning are the fact that I have antibodies in my blood and they will need a blood test a few days before in case they need to get special blood in.

I'm confused as I'm AB+ and afaik the hallmark of my blood type is not having antibodies, so I'm not sure why?

I told the nurse that I have AB+ blood and she confirmed this, saying it is AB+ with weird antibodies and was actually classed as weird blood. I've had 4 blood tests saying I have AB+ blood.

I did have a blood transfusion when my youngest was born and my uterus ruptured and I lost 3.5L of blood and they transfused mainly A blood (can't remember whether + or -, but know it was definitely A and that was fine as AB can receive blood from anyone).

I was actually fine after the transfusion and had thick hair for about a year after (always been thin enough to see my scalp, but guess due to anaemia).

I did test positive for Lupus twice after the birth (she died just before birth), but then had a negative test, so they discounted it.

I thought to start with the antibodies were due to infection, but I've been told that it was usually after having a baby or having a transfusion (I've had 3 babies), and I'm sure I'd have reacted before now.

Google is no help, it only mentions that all blood groups except AB have antibodies, but that's not relevant to me.

There are lots of different antibodies, not just Rhesus which is what the + is denoting. You can have anti kell, C or others.

AB+ has plenty of antibodies? Are you referring to the one relevant in pregnancy?

If AB+ people had no antibodies they'd be dead very early in life!

Apparently I have some weird antibodies in my blood too ,because I had the anti D injection when pregnant with ds2 it's never been an issue

My blood group is different to yours but I have anti c and anti e antibodies since having a blood transfusion

@GuyFawkesDay AB+ doesn't have antibodies to the other groups, which means they can receive blood from any blood group, O has antibodies to A and B, so can only receive from other Os, I was just referring to ABO, I wasn't aware of any antibodies except ABO and rhesus. I really thought they'd have been noticed when pregnant, but I guess the other antibodies may have been triggered by the transfusion.

@pinkpixie83 Thank you, it sounds it was something triggered by the transfusion, I'd never heard of them, only the Rh and ABO system.

You have to speak to a haematologist about this because you've already got some crap advice on this thread. I speak as someone who has major issues with antibodies in their blood.

However as I understand it, they're only really a potential issue to the foetus in pregnancy. If you have the op, they just need to make sure they have compatible blood on standby for you so they need to be sure what's going on.

As an example, they wouldn't induce my labour until they'd biked the right blood to the hospital.

Sorry I have no idea about AB though.

@obsessedwithsleep AB+ is the universal reviewer blood type. Can literally have anything!!!

The ABO blood groups are not the only blood groups.

Speak to your consultant and ask them to explain to you until you understand fully, it's impossible for us reading what you've written to piece together what exactly the issue is. Ask if them getting the special blood in is routine or if there's a special reason? Hope your op goes well.

There are hundreds of antibodies for blood, we lay folk only know the common rhesus one.

I’m A+ with kell antibodies, it caused havoc in my last pregnancy. If I have a transfusion now I need k- blood. DC2 had to have A+k- transfusion hours after they were born.

I have odd anti bodies, anti CW and anti E. I have to have their levels monitored regularly in pregnancy and they’ve had to order specific blood for when I give birth from the National Blood Bank well in advance.

@GuyFawkesDay That's why I was wondering why they needed to get special in blood in. I now see from here, that there are lots of different kinds of antibodies, that I've never heard of.

I think they're more worried about the low ferritin, even though I've been taking supplements for a while.

To be honest blood transfusions (and hospitals in general) terrify me. My consultant thought I'd been put to sleep when my uterus ruptured, but they didn't. It was early hours when the clocks had just gone back. I remember the music going off and my monitor beeping as my BP fell. Then I felt thirsty, so very thirsty, then they called a consultant from home to stop the bleeding. I still faint whenever I have cannulas, even though I'm fine with blood tests.

Yeah it's not that you have no antibodies. Everyone has them, and different combinations.

Whatever you have means they need to sort you out, possibly related to earlier transfusion or could be just an antibody you have. It's unlikely to be related purely to your blood group.

I think that the thing with AB+ blood is that the pregnancy makes you produce certain antibodies. I know that AB+ positive is the universal plasma donor but it’s usually only men that can donate plasma because women who have had pregnancies have made antibodies so they can’t donate the plasma then! But other than that I have no more info

I have anti K likely due to previous transfusion. So "foetal"dad needed his blood typing to see the likelyhood of baby having certain blood group (having the K antigen) My antibodies could potentially be harmful against baby.

AB pos means you can receive any of the ABO/Rh types. You can still have other antibodies and having had transfusions in the past means that’s more likely.

a lot of hospitals have guidelines about correcting iron deficiency pre-op to reduce the risk of needing another transfusion, which is probably worth at least asking about pre-op (may not be poss if the surgery is to manage the iron deficiency, but worth asking if that’s not clearly the case).