Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

I would think the test for anemia would do it - it might even be just a check of your red blood count - but I'm not sure. I'm seeing my Family Practitioner next Wednesday to talk about what my low RBC and high MCH actually mean - if I find out anything I think might be helpful, I'll post it then.

My low RBC and high MCH turned up in a pretty standard test series called "CBC W/DIFF & PLT", which I think means "Complete Blood Chemistry with Differential and Platelets" (thank you, "ER" and "House"). My guess is that if your docs did the big blood tests for diabetes, liver, and thyroid problems, they probably did this anyhow - it might be against the law to do any blood work without also doing a CBC. (Just kidding, but it sure feels that way sometimes as the techs draw that one extra vial of blood.)

You should be able to call your doctor(s) and ask for a copy of your lab reports. I do that all the time anyhow, just to make sure the docs haven't missed anything. Every lab report I've ever seen gives my score on each test, the "normal" score on each test, and flags pretty clearly anything out of "normal" range. I have had docs not mention tests out of "normal" range. Most times when I checked it was nothing - slightly off, we'll check again in a few months. Once, though, when my thyroid went bad, they missed a real biggie. So now, I always check the test results myself.

As for your hip, I hope it's nothing. I've had some of my doctors tell me that if you ran a full spectrum of tests on 1,000 apparently perfectly healthy people you pulled off the street, you'd find something that looked a little "off" in at least 900 of them - and it would almost always turn out to be nothing meaningful. That's one of the reasons doctors don't like to order tests unless there's a good reason for them.

Sorry, sort of a long answer to a pretty simple question.

I hope some of it helps.

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

Edited by Sand (06/08/05 07:50 AM)

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