Has anyone ever had an urgent call following a blood test?

[HariboFrenzy]

Idly musing as went for a blood test this afternoon. I know I'm anaemic (keeps coming back when I stop iron supplements). Just wondering how serious it would have to be to get an urgent call from your GP if something serious showed up? Has this happened to anyone?

Very similar here OP. Had blood taken yesterday and had a call this afternoon to go in tomorrow. Like you I'm anaemic (he said this when he phoned today but it's also what I suspected when I went in), and I think he's concerned because I said I was taking an otc iron supplement.

I was anaemic a coupl of years ago and prescription iron sorted me out. I do take otc iron but probably not very consistently and I feel like I failed to communicate this well. So he's thinking I'm anaemic while on iron.

He certainly didn't mention anything other than my iron being low, and wanting to do some further examination, so we'll see tomorrow.

Blood tests early Friday afternoon and had a phone call at 7pm to tell me I was very anaemic. Had two iron infusions in the following weeks.

A bit different was an unexpected trip to a&e occurring after visiting the gp about a weeping wound on my leg (many weeks after an op to fix a badly broken ankle). Told to go straight there and had to be admitted for iv antibiotics and another operation to have the metal work removed from one side of my leg. Thought I was healing really well prior to that.

Many times in both pregnancies. Meaning an overnight stay or longerfor obstetric cholestasis.

Same for me with a grossly underactive thyroid

Yes, had a blood test and was told if all ok, then would hear in 7 days. Otherwise, it would be sooner.
Had a call the next day. Low B12. I self manage it with sprays as I am needle phobic.

Yes! GP called to say to go to hospital straight away for a repeat blood test as the first result had come back with high potassium levels. A bit scary but he did also say that it was probably a mistake at the lab - which it was, in the end, luckily! I think the samples must be quite sensitive to how they're handled and stored, and how quickly they're processed.

@CarrotsAndCheese yes already mentioned upthread. You’d think they’d warn .

Yes I did, low iron. I was a bit bemused by a call at 7pm at night.

Last year I had bloods done, took 2 weeks for them to call me and ask for more bloods, then 2 weeks later I got a call from the hospital asking me to come in for an iron infusion as my levels were dangerously low. So 4 weeks total. I couldn’t call myself as they were ordered by the hospital and no one answered the phone, my dr couldn’t see the results. I remember my ferratin was 2, can’t remember the other results. I was surprised at how long it took overall and that they didn’t call immediately.

I have fibro and before full diagnosis had some bloods done when I was mid episode. Got a call back that afternoon as inflammatory markers which should be less than 10 were 156. Apparently that’s sepsis level but just had to do another test few days later by which time I was down to 92 then so on. It’s been the only test that’s actually proved something on the fibro journey,so much has been just ruling things out

Not an urgent call, but was in A&E on Monday, had a blood test done.

As soon as they saw the results, I was moved straight to the Surgical Assessment Unit and wired up to 3 lots of antibiotics and then a CT scan (that contrast stuff is freaky when it hits your lower regions!!).

And they say the NHS aren't quick, they were pretty rapid then.

Is that the one which makes you feel like you're going to wet yourself? My mum had that and said it's so strange. Hope you're better now xx

@AlwaysTheRenegade that's the one. They told me they were going to pump it in and I may feel like that's happened.

After it was done, they came in and asked if I felt anything. I said to them, it feels like I've shit myself, made them laugh.

I had a call at 8am for bloods taken previous afternoon
My ferritin was 4 and had iron infusion week later (hb 90 I was pregnant and at risk of haemorrhaging)

To answer your question about iron levels, mine were 2.1. It was a while before I had a transfusion but it made a huge difference

Yes, in 2016 my dad was told he had AML (a type of Leukaemia) following a blood test and that he was weeks away from death. He started chemo the next day and turns 70 this year :)

Not me but GP phoned husband to say blood test back (one of those routine well man checks) you need to go straight to urgent care as the calcium levels in his blood were off the scale, he was admitted to hospital and put straight on a drip to reduce the levels. Discharged and then had another blood test at the gp's another call same day, need to go back to hospital this time no wait at urgent care go straight to the ward as they'd already got him a bed. More drips and put on the waiting list to have his parathyroid gland removed (it's about the size of a grain of rice) as it had a tumour on it. Have a photo of us celebrating our wedding anniversary having a brew in the hospital cafe with him hooked up to his portable drip!

I got a call quite quickly when some inflammatory markers were oddly off - the (very shit locum) GP said it likely meant I was coeliac, but they'd need to do some proper testing, but I should stop eating gluten in the meantime.

As it turned out, the inflammatory marker had nothing to do with coeliac, though it can sometimes also be high if you have coeliac, and even if that was the case, you shouldn't give up gluten before testing anyway! Thankfully, I researched all of this myself after I got off the phone and was able to follow up with an email. I think the urgency was less about what was in the results and more about that I'd been having GI symptoms they couldn't figure out for some time and they thought they'd hit on a possible explanation. In the end, it was a completely different diagnosis, but the urgency was more in response to my level of concern than anything about the results themselves. And maybe just that locum felt she had time to call and give me bad advice.

I was anaemic once and was offered an iron transfusion with levels at a 6. I didn't take it in the end and decided to try supplements instead (which worked), but I felt like absolute hell in the meantime.

Yes after checking with .e I was still alive and ambulatory she said clearly your coping let's just double your meds

Borderline thyroid storm technically I should have been hospitalised but my thyroid has run hot for 20+ years I only noticed I was steaming up the car so I thought it was a "little" high or menopause lab results shows it was REALLY high they thought I was already in hospital with labs that high freaked out when they realised I wasn't the Dr found it funny (after she checked I was still ok)

Thank you x

Aw glad your husband was sorted quickly. I'm still waiting after years of regular blood tests. Sometimes calcium and pth are out of range by loads then they drop again. I'm poorly all the time but they keep say it's fibromyalgia and the parathyroid levels aren't bad enough at the moment to consider surgery 😭

Oh that sounds rough. He’d no idea how ill he was but had been tired all the time but he put it down to being a Bobby working shifts and being over 50. I think his were off the scale.

@FormerlySpeckledyHen ooh how scary!
What are ppis?

My sister had an emergency blood test years ago. Results were so serious, she had the lab on the phone. They apologised for ringing directly, but she had to get the gp on the phone straight away and then go straight to the hospital for scans.

Luckily, she was fixed pretty quickly.

I work in ED and have people every day sent by their GP with abnormal bloods.

Usually high potassium (heart attack risk) or very low sodiums.

The odd d dimer (blood clot).

We re check them and then act on anything that needs treatment