Blood results from doc, scared

[KLP]

Ok, so I asked the doctor for a history for my Full blood count, going back as far as 2011. My white blood count has decreased, Nov 11 - 3.6 (low but nothing to be concerned about), then Nov 13 - 3.2, Jan 14 - 3.1, Feb 14- 2.9, starting to get worried now, been feeling breathless for sometime (weeks).

Scared. The only time it's been normal was when I was pregnant. But in. The last few months is the worrier.

[HoneyLove]

Hi KLP, if your doctor is not worried by this then you shouldn't be worried either - he is the best person to interpret the results for you.

[KLP]

Hi honey love, but when your doctor tells you they misdiagnosed a patient of theirs with meningitis, then one has to be cautious, no?

[Althea]

No. All doctors have misdiagnosed somebody at some point. Most of the time it doesn't matter.

And meningitis is unlikely to result in a *lower* white count.

[HoneyLove]

Meningitis is a totally different disease than one you'd look for through simply your white blood count, and one that can be easily misdiagnosed in the very early stages.

And just because they once misdiagnosed someone doesn't mean that they will consistently be bad at diagnosing illness. There's nothing to misdiagnose with a white blood count, if there was an alarming change any physician would see it.

But if you don't trust your GP then it would be a good idea to find one that you do.

[KLP]

Oh I no I don't have meningitis, I did have it as a baby. It's frustrating when there is something afloat but nothing seems to be of importance.

[cattia]

Hi KLP, I would agree that meningitis is very easy to miss, whereas reading blood results is very different, the results are black and white in front of the Dr, so I don't think you should draw any parallels between the two.