Blood Tests showing Inflammation-I've no idea what is going on

[CleverLittleViper]

Lately, I've been experiencing on/off abdominal pain and digestive issues. I've mostly put it down to poor diet and anxiety/stress. I lost my grandad to cancer in October and my mam is recovering from cancer at the moment.

I decided to go to the doctor because I was a little worried and thought it was better to get it checked as it hadn't improved in a few weeks.

She sent me for routine blood work, asked for a stool sample from me. I sent in the stool sample today. Last week I went for the bloods. Today, I decided to call in and see if they had the results. I was fully expecting them to say they were perfectly fine.

They said the doctor had placed a note on the system about the results, stating that they were still awaiting the stool sample results, and they needed to have an appointment with me to review.

Naturally, I start panicking. As the receptionist wasn't sure about the message left-did I need to come in right away or after the sample results came back? She left a message with the doctor to clarify.

She said my bloods are fine. So, I hung up and started crying. Obviously, my brain says that only something serious would prompt them to need another appointment. I speak to my dad who calls them up, trying to get an appointment to stop me panicking. The receptionist quickly speaks to the doctor to make sense of the results. They told her that it means there's an inflammation and they need to get my other results to get a clearer picture and see if further tests are needed.

I am so scared. I Googled. I performed the cardinal sin. I can't make sense of this. It could be an infection, of course. That's what they seemed to hinting at that it wasn't anything serious.

But my brain says that it is. Considering I've been experiencing digestive issues, I know it's likely some infection there as I also get reflux frequently and this can be treated with antibiotics. So, of course, they can't just go "You've got this, go on with your day!" They would need me to come in for my prescription and provide advice.

My other doctor did previously request a stool sample to see if bacteria or a bug was causing my reflux to help me get rid of it. I shamefully didn't send it in because I find stuff like that icky. I know chances are that it's all linked and related. I know if it was cancer, or something serious, I wouldn't be typing this now. I can rationalise that, but my mind tells me its something to be scared of. I haven't been "right" for a while now. I've always popped it down to stress. Because when I'm busy, and my mind is busy, I don't feel bad at all. It's just the waiting, I think. Not knowing the answer.

I know I shouldn't Google. What it says there has no bearing on me whatsoever. If it was serious, I'd be in with the doctors now. I'd be at the hospital. My parents have tried to calm me and reassure me that that is the case. It's nearing Christmas so my fear is that this is just going to get dragged out. I guess if it was serious, they wouldn't allow that to happen, would they?

[Fishmanpa]

Listen to your parents.

Positive thoughts

[CleverLittleViper]

Listen to your parents.

Positive thoughts

Thank you.

I know that I should and it makes sense. It's hard because I keep imagining the worst case scenario, but I know it's not likely. Anything majorly troubling would have caused the other bloods to go off (I imagine) and would have caused the doctors to drag me in-not wait for my other samples to come back and then arrange an appointment from there.

I'm just scared, I guess. I've never had blood results come back anything but normal. I think it's probably more common than I think it is, and because it's never happened, I'm catastrophising. I just want to know what's what so I can get on with it.

[CatLady1]

By 'inflammation', do you mean that the stool sample you sent off was tested for levels of calprotectin? An elevated calprotectin level (which is a sign of inflammation in the gut) is potentially a sign of IBD, which is obviously unpleasant, but it's *not* cancer.

Also, I hope I'm not being presumptuous, but as you mentioned your parents, am I right in thinking that you are on the younger side? Because gastro-enterological cancers (colorectal, stomach etc) are VERY rare in people under 30, and pretty rare in anyone under 45.

[CleverLittleViper]

By 'inflammation', do you mean that the stool sample you sent off was tested for levels of calprotectin? An elevated calprotectin level (which is a sign of inflammation in the gut) is potentially a sign of IBD, which is obviously unpleasant, but it's *not* cancer.

Also, I hope I'm not being presumptuous, but as you mentioned your parents, am I right in thinking that you are on the younger side? Because gastro-enterological cancers (colorectal, stomach etc) are VERY rare in people under 30, and pretty rare in anyone under 45.

Thank you for your reply.

I'm 32, but still live at home-saving up for a mortgage at the moment.

My blood test results showed some slight inflammation. The receptionist consulted the doctor to make sense of my blood results and they said that there's some signs of inflammation in my bloods-I'm assuming that means my protein levels are up but it's nothing serious.

I've sent my stool samples off today. So I should hopefully hear something soon about the results from them. I know it's not likely to be anything serious like cancer, but my mind immediately goes there and I don't know why.

I know the kind of cancer I'm fearing is most common in people over 60. Very rare in people my age. So rationally, I know I can probably rule out cancer. I feel like it's probably going to be something silly like an infection and I just need to get some antibiotics or something.

[CleverLittleViper]

I'm also freaking out a little bit and I know this is TMI, but when I got the blood results today, I was told I needed to send in my stool samples before I could have an appointment so they could have the full results. So, I did, but the issue is, I'm on my period. So, that will probably mess with the results, won't it?

Oh god.

[ankietyjoe]

Slight inflammation is part of the human condition, and signifies a million things or nothing at all. Stress causes inflammation, anxiety causes inflammation, poor eating causes inflammation etc etc etc.

The mantra you need to keep saying to yourself is that you are worrying about nothing, and compounding it with completely unnecessary Googling.

[CleverLittleViper]

Slight inflammation is part of the human condition, and signifies a million things or nothing at all. Stress causes inflammation, anxiety causes inflammation, poor eating causes inflammation etc etc etc.

The mantra you need to keep saying to yourself is that you are worrying about nothing, and compounding it with completely unnecessary Googling.

Thank you.

I have been feeling a bit better today. A bit more balanced. I think the issue is the confusion. The first receptionist I spoke to said my bloods were fine, but there was a note left by the doctor that they were awaiting my stool sample results and then they'd have a review with me.

She hinted that they were looking for an infection. So, I naturally blew up because that's just what I do. I've never had bloods come back as anything but normal and I didn't understand how she could say my bloods were fine but I needed a review?

So rang up again and the next receptionist said there was signs of inflammation and they needed my stool sample to get a clearer picture to see if they needed to do anymore tests. I have acid reflux and my other doctor has suggested that I may be suffering from a bug in my stomach which I suspect could be causing the inflammation. Possibly why they needed the stool sample to make sure. Of course, I still keep going back to the "other tests" and thinking the worst, but that's just something they have to say, isn't it?

[ankietyjoe]

Thank you.

So, I naturally blew up because that's just what I do. I've never had bloods come back as anything but normal and I didn't understand how she could say my bloods were fine but I needed a review?



Just pick apart this sentence a little.

"I naturally blew up because that's just what I do" - You don't have to do this, it's just a learned behaviour. Next time, instead of 'blowing up', just tell yourself that things will be fine. Repeatedly.

"I've never had bloods come back as anything but normal and I didn't understand how she could say my bloods were fine but I needed a review" - You're not qualified to know what normal means, but not being 'normal' still doesn't signify anything to worry about. For example, if you have a splinter...your bloodwork may well show inflammation.

And going back to your first post. These tests are all based around you experiencing one of the most common physical symptoms of stress, digestive issues. You have a clear and obvious trigger (grief) and an incredibly common reaction. That's all that's happening here. It will pass, but it will pass a lot more quickly if you stop ignoring the obvious and stop looking for sinister reasons for the obvious.