pls tell me i'm overreacting -blood test result

[lainey1981]

Hi guys,

am 31+3 and finally got my 28w blood test results through the post today, and while there was 'no action required' i was concerned that some of the checks had been indicated as being high or low and had changed since my first checks @ 10w.
so of course, working from home laptop in hand decided to ask DR google, and of course have now panicked myself that I have cancer or the like
for reference, my white cell count is High @ 11.19
my Red blood cells are Low @ 3.63, my Iron is slightly low @ 11.2 (down from 13.1)
PCV, and MPV are both low, while the
Neutrophils seem really high @ 8.99 (the upper limit or normal is 6.3)

now i know i probably have too much time on my hands and a hormonal brain
, but can someone pls tell me if this can mean anything or if it would definitely have been flagged had the results been anything to worry about non-pregnancy wise?

TIA

Don't worry.

It is normal for your red blood count to drop slightly in pregnancy, it's a touch of anaemia and the fact that the PCV and MCV are low too is reassuring because it's a straightforward type of anaemia. No signs of cancer in those results.

Your raised white blood cells and in particular your raised neutrophils, indicate infection and if I'd received these results for a pt I would want to rule out a urine infection (which can often go unnoticed) by doing something simple like a urine dipstick. Did they do this?

Any symptoms? Like pain/burning on weeing/cough/cold etc?

these are all changes that are quite normal in pregnancy! I wouldn't worry about it at all.

You may have had a mild urinary tract infection or cold recently which (sometimes urinary tract infections can be without symptoms and you may not even be aware of it) which would explain the very slightly raised WCC and Neutropils.

And it's completely normal to have a lower than normal RBC, PCV and MPV- it's becasue when you are pregnant you have more fluid volume in your blood and your blood is more 'dilute' than in a non pregnant person.

Although saying that, white cell count is only 11.19 (normal range is 4-11).

Hi both

thanks for reassurance - you've put my mind at rest

the midwife I saw last week looked the results up on computer and said nothing to worry about but spent all of 3 seconds looking. My urine diptest was normal. I have had some pain at the bottom of my bump for a while but nothing that would normally indicate to me a UTI.

feel stupid for thinking I had cancer now

lol, the joys of a pregnant mind's wanderings

All those results are completely normal in pregnancy.

Remember Google is a dangerous thing!

I know
I must repeat the mantra
"thou shalt not google" ...

Hi lainey1981 please don't worry! i know that everyone else has already told you, but google is so tempting and so bad! My DS2 had cancer (twice), and i remember being scared to bits after i googled the type of cancer he had! Also, just so you know, you would really only need to worry if your white cells and neutrophils were too low. I know this because when DS2 was ill he had weekly blood tests, if his white cells and neutrophils were low his body was unable to fight infection. Plus, for an adult i was told the normal range was 4 - 18 for WBC and 3.5 - 5 for RBC.
Hope this helps x

Have checked my notes for you. I haven't got my 28 week results for some reason in my notes, but was told they were fine.
My 16 week ones had my WBC highlighted and Neutrophils highlighted (WBC 13.3 and Neutrophils 10.17), nothing was ever mentioned about these. Have had a urine sample sent off recently which has come back with an infection, I am hoping that hasn't been there that long as I am now 34 weeks, might explain the kidney pain I've been getting though.

Not sure if or how that helps sorry, but as someone had mentioned a UTI I thought I would check what my blood results were for you.

cluds, I hope your son is now fine.

Just needed to add that high white cells/neutrophils CAN be a sign of something wrong (infections, blood cancers if very high) but that they alse go up quite normally in pregnancy, as the OP's results show.

cluds sorry about your son - I hope he's ok now?

nunnie thanks for checking your notes for me.

It's all very confusing as have have been so lucky (touch wood) in my life and never had any dealings with dr's other than couple of stitches in my knee. so to get pages of acronyms sent through the post to you without explanation can be daunting without pregnancy addled sleep deprived paranoid overdrive!

I know what you mean, I got my urine results sent in the post to me, haven't got a clue what it all means. I try to only read the parts of my notes that I understand which is non of them really the results slips and scan printouts just look far to confusing to me.

Sometimes it's just easier to ignore if no one has mentioned any problems, probably not the best thing to do but it works for me

The only one that I know anything about is the iron as mine was low and I was prescribed iron supplements.

I don't think you need to worry about that though as my doctor said they prescribe supplements for anyone scoring under 11.

Normal ranges for many blood tests change in pregnancy. Upper limit of normal for a white cell count is 16.

trust me your white cells would be really high to have blood cancer, DH was 414 when dx. Sound like you might have a mild infection, even just a cold.
and never ever google!

I had high WCC and neutrophils in pg- apparently it's totally normal. I did specifically ask the midwives.

Thanks lainey and MrsG, he has now been in remission for 2 years, so all good! Hope you DH lisad123 is doing ok?