Need help! Ruminating over low normal blood work

[LilyLabVA 56]

Hi all- I really need help! I am ruminating and therefor panicking about my blood work which came back ALL NORMAL aside from very minor anemia. Well once I actually saw the papers I can see that my so called Norma levels are borderline low! Ive compared them to my bloods the past 5 years and so many things that we stable are moving down for example calcium is 1 point away from abnormal and has always been middle range, my creatinine was low and has always been average before, sodium etc. I don’t know what’s going on and it’s scaring me! I have been working so hard through CBT and prayer and trying to get my life back but I’ll take two steps forward one step back.I know that all of these blood work came back within the normal range and that lab to lab varies  and that my doctor is not concerned, but I can’t help but look at these with concern. Yes I have called the nurse and asked for more detail especially about the anemja which settled me down a lot. It’s hard to ask about other things because they are like it’s normal and I don’t want to argue and say something like well it’s way different than it used to be. I have not had any substantial changes so I’m just wondering what is going on with my body I feel like it is deteriorating.  I’m 35 and slightly overweight for my age and very sedentary I know that needs to change every day something on me eggs right now my fingers and toes ache and my muscles are sore.  

[Holls 1464]

2 hours ago, LilyLabVA said:

Hi all- I really need help! I am ruminating and therefor panicking about my blood work which came back ALL NORMAL aside from very minor anemia. Well once I actually saw the papers I can see that my so called Norma levels are borderline low! Ive compared them to my bloods the past 5 years and so many things that we stable are moving down for example calcium is 1 point away from abnormal and has always been middle range, my creatinine was low and has always been average before, sodium etc. I don’t know what’s going on and it’s scaring me! I have been working so hard through CBT and prayer and trying to get my life back but I’ll take two steps forward one step back.I know that all of these blood work came back within the normal range and that lab to lab varies  and that my doctor is not concerned, but I can’t help but look at these with concern. Yes I have called the nurse and asked for more detail especially about the anemja which settled me down a lot. It’s hard to ask about other things because they are like it’s normal and I don’t want to argue and say something like well it’s way different than it used to be. I have not had any substantial changes so I’m just wondering what is going on with my body I feel like it is deteriorating.  I’m 35 and slightly overweight for my age and very sedentary I know that needs to change every day something on me eggs right now my fingers and toes ache and my muscles are sore.  

It's normal for those numbers to fluctuate.. it changes on what you ate the day before to what medicine you were on.. etc etc. If you can't move forward I would call and ask questions so that you get some relief over this worry. I personally wouldn't worry if my Dr wasn't worried. I was worried about my kidney function levels once Bec I went through old old blood work and was comparing. I went to my Dr and she said no no no!!!! If I was concerned I'd tell you but I'm not Bec it's all normal. Since then when she does blood work I don't look at the breakdown.. I trust my Dr to care for me. 

[lofwyr 215]

The important thing to remember is that our bodies fluctuate constantly. We are never static. Age changes us, so does hydration, and sleep the night before. What we eat or don't eat. We are very complicated machines, and test values can and will fluctuate, sometimes wildly. 

The normal range is still normal. And even a small percentage above or below the normal range is rarely looked at as concerning by medical professionals.

Sometimes I think it is amazing we can log into patient portals and see our results, but sometimes I think those of us with HA get into a spot of trouble over-analyzing things which we are not qualified to do so. 

I lost my mind over the finding of two lung nodules in a routine CT for another condition. They were nothing. I lost months of worry to them.

[bin_tenn 1237]

Indeed, these numbers change all the time. From day to day, probably even hour to hour for some of them. Mine fluctuate all the time. Sometimes they're low normal, sometimes high normal, sometimes mid normal. And sometimes, they may even be slightly below or above the reference range. It happens. Normal is normal.

[Iugrad91 492]

Borderline low is not low, and I’d argue that slightly below or above range is also not low or high. The range is created by compiling test results of a certain percentage of healthy people who have had that test. It is not defined by doctors as absolute values, it’s what a majority of healthy people would fall between if they had a CBC done. It does not mean that you are not healthy if you fall above or below as the individual tests don’t mean much in the absence of health history and other test results.

This is taken from a reputable medical site: “For example, if you're otherwise healthy, results slightly outside the normal range on a complete blood count may not be a cause for concern, and follow-up may not be needed.”

As an example, my bilirubin is often slightly above normal, and in the absence of other test results being off (liver enzymes mostly) the result is unremarkable according to the doctor. People with certain medical conditions have high bilirubin, but just because I have it doesn’t mean I have any of those conditions. Because I am otherwise healthy and none of my other numbers are off means it’s just normal for me.

If you had blood drawn and tested every day for a week your results would be all over the range depending on what you ate, drank, exercised, time of day blood was drawn, stress, amount of sleep you got, etc... the doctor is not concerned and they review blood results all the time. Put this worry to rest, you are fine!

[LilyLabVA 56]

Thank you all. If someone else was posting this I would feel confident in telling them to relax yet I feel so unsafe about it. Normal calcium should be above 8.5 (for  my lab- other labs cut off at 8.8) and mine is 8.8.... last year it was 9.2 so it’s dropped. Same with creatinine, it should be above .50 and mine is .56 but has been at .67,.66 all other years so that has “dropped” as well. Am I loosing muscle mass due to some horrible issue? Sometimes I wish I never got the blood work. I may start a multivitamin . Anyone know anything about calcium in vitamins? Something about how I need vitamin D and magnesium to go with it?? Ugh if you all had these results what would YOU do? What would YOU think? 

[lofwyr 215]

5 minutes ago, LilyLabVA said:

Thank you all. If someone else was posting this I would feel confident in telling them to relax yet I feel so unsafe about it. Normal calcium should be above 8.5 (for  my lab- other labs cut off at 8.8) and mine is 8.8.... last year it was 9.2 so it’s dropped. Same with creatinine, it should be above .50 and mine is .56 but has been at .67,.66 all other years so that has “dropped” as well. Am I loosing muscle mass due to some horrible issue? Sometimes I wish I never got the blood work. I may start a multivitamin . Anyone know anything about calcium in vitamins? Something about how I need vitamin D and magnesium to go with it?? Ugh if you all had these results what would YOU do? What would YOU think? 

Eat more lean protein and drink more skim milk. If there was anything to be concerned about, they would definitely let you know. I need to stress again, those results are *normal.* They may be different based on what you ate the day before and nothing else. I have had blood work over the years for my annual physical, and mine has swung in both directions much more significantly than yours and I have never been advised or concerned about it because it has always been normal.

The question that comes up, is, are you doing anything about the problem you know you *do* have, being the anxiety? Seeing anyone for it?

[Iugrad91 492]

Your results haven’t dropped, it’s not like a temperature where you’re usually around the same number. They can be anywhere in the range and even slightly above or below and not one doc would look at it as anything but normal. You see a trend, they do not. They see blood test results every day or the year. You see them perhaps once a year. They went to med school. Trust the doctor that they know what they are doing.

[LilyLabVA 56]

Thank you all so much for your replies. It has helped me very much. 

I am taking meds and I am in weekly CBT. Most days better than others. 

[Mike L 84]

I know this fear all too well. Just remember, normal is normal. It doesn't have much clinical significance if it is on the low or high end of normal. Your doctor is not a dummy! They are required to carry malpractice insurance and would never risk their years of schooling and money they've spent by not spotting something on a routine blood test. Also, the doctor isn't the first one to see your results. The lab tech is who reports the results to the doctor at the lab and if that doctor sees something urgent, he/she would be on the phone with your doctor so fast it wouldn't even be funny! Believe me when I tell you that you're fine and that nothing is wrong. I know it is hard to do that, but try and know that we are all here for you!