Scared About Blood Work Results

[callie12]

i am a 20 y.o. female diagnosed w/ Crohn's last December. I am on Pentasa 3x per day 2 tabs. I just got back blood work results that precede a physical I'm scheduled for, but not for another 3 weeks. I am terrified at the results. My lymphs % was very high 55%, neuts very low 36% , just slightly low on MCH and MCVH-(?) don't know if I used the correct letter for those two. Other results were within normal limits- WBC, HCT, HGB,platelets etc. I generally feel okay, some cramping and diarhhea, tired at times, but nothing severe. Everything on the internet says my results could mean leukemia or some issue with my bone marrow. Could I have something worse than Crohn's? The lymphs and neuts in December were all normal I was diagnosed through a colonoscopy and bloody stools.
That's why I'm very upset. Are these lab results to expected for Crohn's? Could I have some kind of anemia or be bleeding internally?I admittedly don't always take all 3 daily doses of the Pentasa. Could this have to do with it? MY GI doc is out of the office until next week, so I will call him. MY PCP is not much help with anything out of the ordinary. I don't know if high lymps/low neuts mean I'm having a flare-up or it has to do w/ chronic inflammation. Sorry to ramble on. Just afraid... Any and all thoughts very appreciated. Thanks!

 

[D Bergy]

Weird blood work is pretty common for this disease. Leukemia always seems to come up when you start trying to connect the dots, at least it did for me, along with Stomach Cancer. My blood work was completely different when I was flaring compared to a year later. You would not even have thought they were from the same person

It is unlikely to be anything but your Crohn's, but it would not hurt to ask your doctor for an explanation If for no other reason than to reassure yourself. Your treatment may not be working as well as it should and that needs to be looked at anyway.

I would be concerned about the treatment not working, but not too much about it being anything else.

Dan

 

[drew_wymore]

Callie if it makes you feel any better my lymph count is 66% and I have elevated Neutrophils as well. I wouldn't worry too much honestly. I was referred to a Hematologist for it and tested for Leukemia and it came up negative. The fact that most research on the 'net leaves out is that patients with Leukemia often have WBC in the range of 100 to 200 so the fact that your WBC is reassuring. From what the Hematologist told me it's just another sign of your immune system acting all ghetto.

 

[AIjen]

I admit that I was led to cancer many times by looking things up on the internet as well. Seems any blood test that is off can mean cancer. I had an elevated Calcium a couple years ago and all I could find was cancer. Everywhere I went - cancer. Then one website showed me Hyperparathyroidism. Turns out, that's what it was. Except when I went for my pre-op, they did blood work again and my calcium was normal that day, so they said, "Well, maybe those to areas in your neck that we found on the Sestimibi Scan were just lymph nodes". Yeah, OK. And maybe they weren't, huh? So I still have all four of my parathyroid glands. For now.

Anyway, it seems any symptom you look up on the internet leads you to cancer, so I wouldn't get too freaked out.

 

[forum contributor]

Hi, Callie.
I'm sorry I really can't add anything useful. I just wanted to say :welcome:

 

[cheeky]

hi callie,

don't be scared, try to think positive... your results don't seem unusual for crohn's... before i was diagnosed with crohn's, my blood work had my doctor very concerned, she referred me to a hematologist, and was almost going to send me back again, but before she had a chance, i was in emerg and IBD was the culprit.

the internet can be helpful but also scary... try not to get too involved in self-diagnosing or reading about other cases... just research with caution.

take care and good luck.

 

[NatalieMT]

Hey Callie, I wouldn't worry yourself too much, to put you mind at rest perhaps ring your doctor and ask for the tests to be reported on to you.

My doctor gave me copies of my last set of results and I sat looking at them thinking 'argh' because most of the values said 'lo' or 'hi' next to them. But really I think most of it can be related back to Crohn's and I'm sure my doctor would have changed treatment or suggested things I might need to do, if they thought it necessary. I think most of the results that were out of the ordinary could be put down to something simple.

My neutrophil count is low too, neutrophils I believe are referred to in simple terms as the most abundant type of white blood cells in a healthy adult. Having Crohn's naturally health deteriorates and low neutrophil counts are I believe associated with low weight, anemia and a compromised immune system. High lymphocytes suggest you are fighting an infection perhaps. I was also told, by my GI that a low white cell count in general for me is associated with being underweight.

MCH, mine is is high, reflects the amount of carrying hemoglobin in each red blood cell. It relates to MCV, again it's high here too, which is the average size of the red blood cells, this is elevated in anemia associated with low B12 and low in those who are iron deficient. MCHC is the average concentration of hemoglobin in a red blood cell, again this would be low with something such as an iron deficiency.