Arsed off with doctors ignoring blood results

[Outsidetheclickclack]

…because they are “just out of range” - therefore don’t need actioning

At some point, I presume some very clever people got in a room and decided the “normal” range for every blood test conceivable. So why is it ok for a doctor to look at results outside of the range and say “don’t worry about it”, “it’s only just outside”, Presumably the clever people have already agreed what is normal and what isn’t? So why does Dr Smith get to decide it’s actually ok and doesn’t need any follow up or treatment because it’s “nearly there”

My ferritin was 4 and Hb 130.

I was given ferrous fummate.

can you get some spartone or similar to increase your iron?

Out of range ferritin absolutely DOES need investigating....with FIT test at the very least.

Kinnel.
Ferritin less than 7 should be considered for transfusion.,...

My ferritin level is 13. But I have got very heavy periods. Take 100 mg supplement + vitamin c every day.

As for being slightly out of range for blood tests it's fairly normal and not worrisome per se. GPs now what to look for and if something is out of range but something else is normal they now it's not serious. I had something that could indicate tumoral growth (had cancer so still doing check ups) but with the other tests being normal it was nothing to worry about. I think we tend to judge GPs too much- we are not experts- they are.

The iron issue drives me round the bend. I read a paper once that actually we should be aiming for around 50 so even 30 is on the lower side.

You can buy the prescription iron from the pharmacy without a prescription. You just need to ask for it, say your levels 17 and take 1 a day. If it doesn’t feel like it’s making a difference you can take 2-3 a day but I would recommend starting lower as it can mess with the GI track.

Because they tend to go together I would pay for a private b12 injection it’s around £20.

@StatisticalStitches i know this isn’t your thread but if your iron level isn’t increasing with tablets it a big ted flag for coeliac disease. You can have no symptoms but one thing is taking supplements and your levels don’t increase. I would ask the GP for the blood test just to rule it out.

Loads of my levels are out of range (ferritin; haematocrit; RBC; mean corpuscular something or other; several others). They don't give a shiny shit because they know why they're low. I'm also in absolute agony. I mean crying and writhing in pain from 1am every night, bleeding all day every day and barely able to function type agony. I genuinely don't think they'd leave a man like this and if I left an animal like this, I'd be prosecuted for cruelty/neglect.

I'm waiting for surgery which will cure the problem but it's been a year of this so far and despite being on the "urgent" list where surgery should be within 12 weeks, they've said it'll be July at the earliest.

I'm sorry to post my woes on your thread but the way women's health is handled in this country is absolutely appalling. I am genuinely considering walking into traffic to get them to notice me. If I don't, I may very well crash my car through pain/exhaustion. It's ruining my life.

My ferritin was 7, GP wasn’t concerned as I had been tested for Coeliac and it was negative and I’d had a Colonoscopy. I have very light periods so not caused by that either. I am a vegetarian so that probably contributes somewhat but still seems very low. I haven’t felt well for as long as I can remember but I can’t tolerate iron tablets

Year’s ago my ferritin was 2 (yes, 2) and it was still ignored by gp. Had to take matters into my own hands at A & E and got diagnosed with cancer! That was twenty five odd year’s ago.

Even recently my gp was unconcerned by blood test results similar to OP’s range so got a second opinion by a gp who has referred me for further investigation (not cancer related thankfully).

OP can I ask is your gp male and ‘old’?.

Oh my god thought this thread was going to be that you were just barely WITHIN range. Scary and terrible. I always laugh when I hear people say about issues and how ‘they came out of nowhere’- chances are higher something was missed/ ignored :(

Well you have low iron but are not anaemic. What else is there to say?
Iron supplements might help, they might not - limited evidence of benefit when not anaemic

https://gpnotebook.com/en-GB/pages/haematology/iron-deficiency-without-anaemia

Triggered by this thread Ive just checked my recent blood tests. Im on very high supplements anyway due to a different medical need but interestingly, my B12 result, while in range, is vastly lower than it was the previous 4 tests. It was very high and out of range on those previous tests due to the supplementation but Im still on that supplementation yet the recent result is down by half, a drastic reduction

So then I go nosing around my other results, the ones beginning with M (cant type them all out) and while they are technically in range, they are at extreme ends and when I researched it, those extreme ends can be indicators of b12 deficiency. I have symptoms of lack of concentration, dizziness. So one might think that my body isnt absorbing the b12 very effeciently any more

Im going to order some more b12. Also I noticed that my selenium, copper and zinc was low, again, just on the borderline of ok.

The RDA of b12 I take at the moment is over 20000% and similar with the other minerals that I seem low on so something isnt right.

More medical misogyny

It’s genuinely terrible how disregarded we are. The ferritin is definitely too low.

so many threads over the last few days exactly the same. I have had it too in my own health journey over the last year

@Outsidetheclickclack have you been back to the drs, said you have rwviewed the blood test results and done a bit of research and you feel you need medication to adjust so that your overall blood profiles are optimal. Suggest that you need x and y and would like it orescrubed or to be given advice of what dose to supplement and buy otc so you feel better. And better means more energy to work and manage your life.

I recall a GP once saying to me that if I gave up work I might find menopause symptoms easier to manage. When I asked if she thought women should give up careers they enjoyed because there was optimal treatment available because she didn't want to prescribe it, she went bright red, said that wasn't really what she meant and moved her fingers over the keyboard to produce the prescription suggested by a consultant gynaecologist and which I was entitled to receive on the NHS. Sorry that was a long sentence, I also recall noting that if I gave work, society would lose my hefty tax and NI contributions for the sake of a £30 a month prescription.

Honestly, many GPs can't see the wood for the trees and disregard the fact that women, often other women, have as much purppse as them.

I went more drastic - I had a hysterectomy 🤣

seriously though they were discussing iron infusion but I got a surgery date very quickly and was put on northisterone so it did raise to 11 before surgery.

Was 54 a few months later.

For those that are not getting joy with the GP, and not saying we should have to because we shouldnt, and I know this comes with a cost implication - why not get supplements. Very high strength, take for 3 months and then ask for the tests to be repeated. Do not rely on your GP

Op I'm not sure if anyone has suggested it and I was dubious when someone gave me this advice BUT copy and paste (or type) all your blood results into chatGPT and then write why you had the test done.

My hair is thinning and I'm missing periods. My Dr wasn't concerned with any blood test results I received because they were "lower end of normal range". Put it all into chatGPT and it broke it all down for me, said ferritin needs to be at least 70 for hair growth. Wrote me a script/message to send to my Dr for next steps. Gave me options for vitamins to help etc.

Now I'm not saying you should base all your medical advice off AI but it was incredibly insightful and where the Dr ruled out PCOS in my case, I now have reason to believe I do have it and which blood tests I'd like to investigate further.

This is such a sad read…

Blood tests were ordered because of multiple unprovoked stress fractures in a very weird place. Google tells me even one would be odd but to have bilateral is incredibly rare

B12 is fine
Vit D is fine
Awaiting DEXA result (ordered by T&O consultant)
FIT test was abnormal (300+, but colonoscopy was fine)

Can anyone weigh in on a decent iron supplement, I can’t see the wood for the trees when I google.

Do you have any stomach issues like pain or heartburn? Because fit test can show bleeding from stomach ulcers which obviously won't be seen on a colonscopy.

No stomach issues at all.

Follow up FIT was less than 10. All very odd

Because medical knowledge and experience tells a doctor that these "ranges" are a bit too rigid? Most of us would be outside of "normal" on lots of things if we were tested, which is why it needs a professional to properly interpret results, not just a member of the public with access to Google. Don't bother wasting a doctor's time if you're not willing to accept their advice.

So women can have low ferritin levels and be symptomatic but that's OK because they menstruate and it's only to be expected!

If a man produced those low results and similar symptoms then they would be all over it.

I would seek a second opinion ....

Peer reviewed studies and guidelines outside the UK say ferritin should be 50. Ferrous fumarate tablets are cheap and easy to buy OTC (online).
If you want/ need an iron transfusion then you'll have to pay for that yourself. One of my friends did this and it made a massive difference.

I paid for my own DEXA bone scan because i wasnt eligible on the nhs despite them having dismissed my (with hindsight) classic perimenopause symptoms for almost a decade leaving me with incredibly low oestrogen and testosterone, and knock on endocrine issues. I think it was about £200.

Also, do you have heavy bleeding, if you do, are they doing anything about this?

I take Vega Vitamins 50mg, Iron Blys.... (whatever, the gentle one)

I take 2 a day

Which maybe fine if the doctor clearly explains the results and reasoning to the patient.

Also, Drs are not always right. I was exhausted in my late 20s, tired but wired. The first time I went to the GP he told me to modify my life style (rude actually), the second he sighed and ordered a blood test for anaemia.

Two years later, my legs swelled like balloons and I saw a GP privately. Tests indicated my thyroid overactivity was so great it was impacting my heart. Only when diagnosed did I realose I'd struggled for three or four years with: weight (loss), overheating, feeling on edge, trembling a bit when hungry and a gripey tummy.

Five years ago when I wedged (badly) my T12 and the pain was exactly the same as when I did the L1. The hospital A&E didn't take me seriously, the junior Dr when rwviewing the Xray told me there were no new breaks (despite writing in the notes fracrures to L1 and T12). She clearly didn't want to lose face because she argued so strongly there was no need for an XRay (principle injury was a severe wrist fracture that needed pins and plates). It was compounded by the hospital sub co tracted radiology report referring to old fractures.

I was in extreme pain after 3 to 4 weeks and went to the GP who asked me to touch my toes and said "no way is anything broken if you can reach your mid shins" and handed me the XRay report which I put straight in my bag. Only did I look at otna few days layer and see old fractures to L1 and T12. The T12 had never been broken before and that was clearly noted in my recorda.

A private MRI identified a new fracture and the result was a referral back to my rheumatologist to have teriparatode replace zolendronate maintenance infusions for my osteoporosis.

With the greatest respect, please don't peddle nonsense that all doctors always know best. They don't and sometimes their lackadaisical approach is not good for the patient. Sometimes patients shoukd be listened to rather than dismissed.

As you were and perhaps you coukd afford your patients a little more respect moving forward.