Blood test on Thurs, rang back following day and told to make gp appt ASAP

[NicoAndTheNiners]

Dd who’s 18yo has been feeling unwell for ages. Random small stuff, she is frequently sick, heartburn, feels sick every day and vomits small amounts most days. Aches, pains. Has also recently started with headaches and she says some palpitations. She’s gone from a size 12 to a size 6 in the last 12 months with no diet change.

Last year she had blood tests and was vit d deficient and anemic. Started iron tablets and vit d and was meant to have a repeat blood test but refused due to needle phobia.

So she went back to the doctors last week by herself and told him she was worried she had lupus (she’s been googling). Dr also said he was going to test her for diabetes and some “other stuff” but would do a lupus test?

She had the blood test thurs lunchtime and got a phone call fri early afternoon from the receptionist saying she needs to see the dr ASAP. Dd told the receptionist she can’t come until Thursday and receptionist said can she not come sooner but dd said no. She has a free period thurs morning and doesn’t want to miss school my having an appt on an earlier day.

Friend of mine who works at a different doctors said the lab must have rung the result through to the doctors for it to be back that soon. So it must be something fairly out of normal range which needs a prompt review. I know when I’ve been anaemic I don’t get the results back that fast and even then it’s just like “go pick a prescription up for iron tablets”.

I’m worrying now. If it was diabetes they’d have told her it couldn’t wait until thurs wouldn’t they? I got her to wee on a urinalysis stick and she doesn’t have glucose but does have proteinurea.

Could be something like thyroid.

Hope she goes ok on thursday

Agree with the telephone consultation suggestion, if you can’t get in you can always ring your GP and ask to discuss your blood test results with a doctor and they should hopefully call you back the same day. So it takes away the anxiety of not knowing what it is or how serious it is

So it's gone from asap/urgent to routine, so maybe your DD didn't relate the conversation with the receptionist accurately in the first place. It's only another day so not long. I would feel reassured by the mention of 'routine' appointment although the problem clearly needs to be identified.

Well her ferritin is 6 which is really low. Though she's not actually anaemic as Hb currently ok. I know some people feel awful with low ferritin (mine was 9 once but I felt fine). So iron tablets prescribed.

But both myself and the dr don't really feel it explains her symptoms. He weighed her again today and she hasn't lost any weight in the last 2 weeks which is good because she's been struggling to eat for the last few days as she says she feels bloated, which we told him today as that's a new symptom. She's 53kg or maybe 52kg at 5ft 2" so he said a bit underweight but not at a point that we need to be worried about her actual weight. But needs monitoring to make sure she doesn't lose more.

I suggested a stool sample to check for H.pylori which he agreed with, said we can also check for inflammatory bowel issues via the stool sample although he doesn't think it's that as her bloods were okay.

He wants to see her again next week. And will then do a referral if her stool samples come back clear.

As a side note in regard to her weight - 52/53kg isn’t underweight for her height. It’s normal, especially as she’s only 17/18 so will naturally be more slender. I’m 5’3 (unfortunately) so a similar height/weight to her and I have never been underweight, it’s just my natural size. Do you know much weight has she lost in total?

To be honest, the weight loss itself doesn’t sound concerning as it was over a year - it could just be a natural occurrence due to puberty (sight body changes, different levels of activity etc) and going on/off the pill. So it might be a red herring to her other symptoms

I agree it's my height and weight at 48, always been this and it puts bang in the middle of the bmi normal range. I'm definitely not a size 6, not even always a size 8.

I agree too that if it took a year to lose it its mot too worrying IF she changed her diet. You've said that she isn't making herself sick but I would wonder if there is something going on. Bulimic people are usually very controlling and excel at deception. It could explain her low iron levels.

It would also explains her reticence to see the doctor.

At our surgery we often get some bloods back on the same day, particularly for some simple things like anaemia which is common in teenaged girls so not nec a cause for concern.

I do think the weight loss is down to her stopping the pill, maybe also down to becoming vegi. Which would also be a reason for the anaemia I guess.

She's definitely a size 6-8 on her bottom half, her waist is tiny. She was 52Kg fully dressed with big ankle boots on but I'm happy that her bmi is normal. She's also managed to keep her c cup/d cup boobs even with weight loss.

I'm hoping a lot of the generally feeling so unwell will be sorted by iron tablets.

My ds has just been put on iron for low ferritin levels. He was very unwell tired stomach pains pale not eating. He put on 700g in a year and with him only being 3 everyone was getting concerned. Hes been on the irom for 3 days now he has colour is eating and bouncing around the place again. Hope it helps your dd too.