Blood Test Results - High Protein. PLEASE help!

[chl_hobbs]

Hi all,
I havent been on here for months, Ive been doing really well. Ive been seeing a clinical psych for the PTSD (after my routine op went wrong+he cut my spleen+an ITU admission plus 2 blood transfusions), and am on citalopram and pregabalin for anxiety/depression.

On Sunday I woke up with a pain in my left side (lower abdomen) and I started passing loose black stools. I rang urgent care and they sent a paramedic to look at it and me. My obs were fine but he sent me into a+e anyway due to the stools. They did blood tests and xrays anad took temp (37.8) but couldnt do any endoscopy testing as it was a bank holiday... so i was kept in for observation. I left on the monday night after they said my bloods were fine, and id stopped passing black stools. I received no explanation for what happened, and went home.

I was still in pain (left sided lower abdominal pain-twisty feeling), felt bloated and had heartburn so went to my (brilliant)GP yesterday. He looked at my bloods from a+e and mentioned that my Blood Protein was up. He said the range is something like 15-80 and mine was 87. He then looked at my other bloods and they were all fine, WBC / Platelets were fine and my Haemoglobin was 13.8 (which it has NEVER been, even before my op - usually 11-12). He said that I could have been dehydrated when they took the blood which could have raised the HB and the Blood Proteins. I had only had a coffee at 8am that day, and the bloods were taken at 1pm. Id passed a lot of stools.

I keep reading online that high blood protein can mean all these awful things - like leukaemia/myeloma/hepatitus etc etc and Im really upsetting myself. I hate that the blood proteins werent normal. I feel tired, dizzy, my whole head hurts and I almost had a full blown panic attack last night. Ive got a retest on Tuesday but Im scared i cant wait that long - but thats the earliest they have.

Why was the blood protein levels up? Is 87 really bad? Please, does anyone have any experience/knowledge about this? I have a little girl and I cant spend the whole weekend thinking I might faint because of this... So scared.

Charlotte x

[potato11]

Hi chl_hobbs

do you mean the CRP, otherwise known as c-reactive protein?

it is a marker for infection, can indicate inflammation, so perhaps you had a gastrointestinal upset.. which explains the slightly raised temp, yucky feelings

are you on iron tablets at all? due to your history, just thought it was a possibility, they can make your stools black. as can a lot of other dietary stuff

what have you been eating lately? have you had any history of bowel problems

[chl_hobbs]

Well when I got home, I thought about it and thought 'does he mean my crp'? But i dont think it is that, as he's talked to me about crp before, and i think the range is <4 to 10 so 87 I would assume he'd be really worried. He didnt say crp he said protein, and didnt mention inflammation/infection, he said possibly dehydration. My sister haemorraged after having her baby and lost a lot of blood and her crp was 80 while she was in hosp so I assume if mine was 87 theyd have kept me in hospital. Ive looked up 'total protein' on google and it does mention dehydration so maybe its total protein that he meant??? Wish I had been clearer before i left the surgery now. x

[potato11]

True, I'd forgotten the range of CRP sorry

I think dehydration is pretty likely, esp. if your stools were loose

Like you've just said though - they know when a result is something to be worried about, and clearly your (good) doctor wasn't worried

Look after yourself until Tues, including plenty of fluids and rest :)

[nomorepanic]

Why don't you all the doc and explain these worries and find out which blood test was high and was it the CRP or not?

[countrygirl]

As Nicola says ring your Docs and ask for the Dr to phone you at home - just say you would like an explanation of your blood results again as you did not take it in when you saw him and I am sure your Dr will be happy to ring you and go through it again. Write down all the questions you want to ask before he rings.

Your results for whatever it is are only slightly raised and from experience if you have something seriously wrong then your results tend to be seriously wrong as well.

Did the hospital confirm that your black stools were actually containing digested blood or not - a simple stool test would determine this. As already said there are other reasons for this in supplements taken or some foods like liquorice etc???

It isn't long to Tuesday and they would need a gap before doing your bloods again - make sure you drink plenty this time before having them done!

[Taffy]

I have raised blood protien which was identified in a blood test last year. My highest reading has been 90.4! Like you I was freeked out about and imagined all the doomsday scenarios. But after have about half a dozen blood tests over the past 12 months and each one coming back as high, I've come to the conclusion that it must just been normal for me and the Doc seems unconcerned. It has come down a bit, my last one was 84 something I think. So speak to your Doc about it and ask his opinion but I wouldn't panic about it. If you do a search for high protien on the forum you'll find my previous posts relating to it.

[chl_hobbs]

Thankyou xx I rang the GPs surgery and asked the receptionist to read out the results again. She said it said on the screen that the GP had checked it too, and that he isnt worried. She said "Total Protein = 87" and she told me the range is 60-80 so am 7 over. She said not to worry (easier said than done) and that they will be testing again on Tues so to wait and see. It's just I feel so run down, headache is constant, i have pulling/sharp pains on my left side of my abdomen and generally achey. The GP yesterday referred me urgently to a Gastro consultant as no one thinks the pain is due to my surgery (10 months ago). It just worries me, it's one thing after another. If i had the high protein levels and felt fine i dont think id worry as much :(

Thanks again xxx