Will the receptionist think I'm mad??

[emlica]

So a couple of weeks ago I had blood tests to rule out 'anything else' after having ongoing gastro issues after a stomach bug (doc pretty sure it's just my gut taking a long time to recover). All came back completely clear. At the time, the doctor didn't really tell me what they were testing for - she just said it would rule out anything else other than slow recovery from stomach bug (or mild IBS caused by said stomach bug). Well, when I heard everything was clear I was very relieved, but it's been a couple of weeks now and not a huge amount of improvement (some, though, I think), and although I'm trying to stay calm and tell myself things will improve, just slowly - and that stressing out about it is almost certainly making gastro symptoms worse! - I kind of think I might feel better if I knew what I definitely didn't have, if you know what I mean! Can I ring the doctor's and ask them to tell me what the blood tests were actually testing for, or is that not something the receptionist would know/tell me - or would they just think I'd lost the plot?? (might not be an unreasonable assumption...)

[steveo]

No not at all!!!

I love to know what the tests are for and always ask. It's something you have the right to know. It's very common for some patients to call up and ask the exact results of the blood test and what the tests were. They normally don't bother telling patients because it might not mean much to them.

Chances are the receptionist won't be able to tell you but she will put you through to a nurse or GP or they will call you back.

It's VERY normal for that type of phone call!

[emlica]

Thanks, Steveo! I'll give them a call, then. I'm sure some of the tests won't mean much to me but my other half is likely to understand... just didn't want to have the GP's surgery mark me down as a weirdo

[Daisy Sue]

I agree - you have a right to know. Sometimes I can't read, or understand, all the tests my consultant writes on the blood test form, so I ask the nurse

I would imagine that they were checking for inflammation markers, to rule out things like Crohn's & Colitis.

It might help you to know that I had a similar thing - food poisoning - and it took absolutely ages for my digestive system to return to normal.

[steveo]

If you're confused about any of the tests then write them in here and I'll do my best to explain them. I still remember a few things from my nursing degree.

[emlica]

Hi Daisy Sue - I think mine might have been food poisoning, or at least a bacterial rather than viral thing. I think I remember the doctor mentioning checking for inflammation and infection, and perhaps anaemia, but I saw the nurse's screen when she was taking my blood and there were a good 6 boxes ticked so am sort of intrigued to know what else they tried!!

Do you mind if I ask how long 'ages' was in your case, before you got back to normal? I think my digestive system is getting there, slowly, but oh my it's frustrating, and some days I really think I'm back to square one. Though I have, I think, worked out that I can't currently cope with milk. I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing, but it seems that if I have milk my guts are a little bit worse again for a day or so. And stress, obviously, makes it worse...

[nomorepanic]

We can only call our GP surgery between 1pm and 2pm to get blood tests results so maybe you should check when you are able to call yours.

[Daisy Sue]

Hi Daisy Sue - I think mine might have been food poisoning, or at least a bacterial rather than viral thing. I think I remember the doctor mentioning checking for inflammation and infection, and perhaps anaemia, but I saw the nurse's screen when she was taking my blood and there were a good 6 boxes ticked so am sort of intrigued to know what else they tried!!

Do you mind if I ask how long 'ages' was in your case, before you got back to normal? I think my digestive system is getting there, slowly, but oh my it's frustrating, and some days I really think I'm back to square one. Though I have, I think, worked out that I can't currently cope with milk. I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing, but it seems that if I have milk my guts are a little bit worse again for a day or so. And stress, obviously, makes it worse...

Well, my food poisoning was round about early February, and my wedding was due that August - by early July I was convinced I wouldn't be well enough and have to postpone the wedding. Luckily I began to 'normalise' by August so all went as planned. So yeah, about 6 months before virtually all the symptoms left me.

However, and you've touched on this also, I was left lactose intolerant after the infection. Going on a total lacto-free diet helped enormously, in fact I turned the corner within 24 hours of starting the altered diet. I think it's quite a common after effect and may well go back to normal in time. Now I can eat some dairy with no ill effects but not loads.. so I have lacto-free cheese & milk at home, but can have a normal cuppa if we're out somewhere.

I hope this gives you encouragement, and I hope you start to notice that bit by bit, each symptom is abating... that's what happened with me once I was on the healing side of things.

One of the things they could've been checking in your bloods is electrolytes.. if you've had diarrhea for any length of time, these can be depleted and are really important (like sodium, glucose, potassium etc).

[emlica]

Hi Daisy Sue - thanks so much for this! Although on one hand the thought of potentially several more months before I feel more normal is a bit depressing, it does actually reassure me - I was starting to think that as I still wasn't 'right' 6 weeks on it was either going to be permanent or it was something more serious than just slow recovery. So did you not realise it was the lactose until late on? I think I've only just twigged. It sounds like you had it worse than me, though - I've not had consistent diarrhoea or anything and I think if I was meant to be getting married in a month, I'd be OK with that

With me, I just have - sorry TMI - 'mushy' stools in the mornings, too much gas and some bloating after meals, a bit of gurgling and some soreness on and off in my abdomen. I've assumed the bug has damaged the lining of my intestine and it's taking a long time to heal up. My appetite isn't what it should be, either. If I drink milk, though, I have diarrhoea.

I think it's improving, but it's so slow. If I ask myself whether I feel better than I did last week, I'm just not convinced, but if I ask myself whether I feel better than I did three weeks ago, then I think I do. So I presume the improvements are just tiny! A couple of weeks ago I thought things were on the up - appetite was definitely better, things were more solid in the mornings if not completely right, etc. I'd been keeping really milky stuff to a minimum pretty much since I'd been ill as I just didn't fancy it (was having hard cheese and yoghurt, though), but then at the start of last week I thought, well, I feel better. Let's get back on the lattes. Took a few days before I made the connection between them and the bad reactions!

Gave it a bit of a test at the weekend - no milk products Friday, Saturday, or during the day Sunday, felt pretty good (stools still not right but just limited to the morning, and I can cope with that!). No diarrhoea, didn't feel too bad in general. Had hot chocolate Sunday night - an hour later I was in the bathroom feeling rough. So I think reintroducing the milk might have set my guts back a bit as although I've had no milk since then things aren't back to where they were at the start of last week. But I don't think cheese and yoghurt really affect me - I was still eating small amounts of those when I thought I was feeling better at the start of last week/end of the week before. Seems to only be the milk (well, and probably cream and icecream, I imagine) that really gets me badly and as far as I can tell - I'm keeping a food diary! - the cheese and yoghurt aren't related to the other symptoms ('mushy' stools, gas, etc.).

Thanks again for your post - it really *is* encouraging. I'd read so many stories of people being left with really long-term (years rather than months) problems and was starting to despair a little bit.

[Lost2010]

Hi emlica,

If you want to know any of your results, you can always ring up or pop in and ask them to print you out your results. I've done this before and although some receptionists can be a bit funny about it, you're entitled to the info and it saves them reading it out over the phone if you've had a lot of tests