No action required

[Juggsy]

Hi I've recently had bloods back and receptionist said no action required for any of the tests, however when I seem them today my transferrin saturation says 17% low (20-30) I assume it should be between 20-30

Why is no action required if its not at the normal level, and can I do anything to make it better
I'm currently worrying about bowel/stomach cancer and fearing this could be a sign as anaemia can be a symptom

[PanchoGoz]

How have you even got to see your blood test results, I've always just been told on the phone if anything was wrong. If they say no action, then nothing is wrong that needs to be dealt with - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

[Juggsy]

I have an appt with specialist tomorrow and need to take a copy with me,
Wish I hadn't looked now, everything else was within range just this transferrin saturation was 17% and the range was 20-30% so it said low by it
Not sure if this means I have iron deficient anaemia

[PanchoGoz]

There's no reason to find out as it isn't be anything worth worrying about or they would have put on supplements. Slight iron deficiency is very common anyway, I've had it a number of times and I'm probably deficient now. I'm not even sure that's iron. Anaemia is much more serious, you would need very low levels for that and it has obvious symptoms. What is the specialist for may i ask?

[Juggsy]

I've had stomach ache and loose stools for about 6-8weeks now,
Doctor ran bloods but like an idiot I googled my symptoms and came up with stomach/bowel cancer
Got a consultation with colorectal specialist tomorrow my GP said he's not too concerned but I'm in major panic mode,

One of the signs of the above is anaemia caused by blood loss in stomach

[PanchoGoz]

Rationalize it...is that likely? Are there other soltions to your symptoms that are more likely? If you're in a lot of stress or anxiety, the main symptoms are stomach upset so it's most likely that, or could be a tummy virus. Remember that that number of that level was only slightly low and they didn't think anything was wrong, and you would have to lose a lot of blood to get anaemia. Iron deficiency is also caused by not eating enough, something you might be doing as you are having stomach trouble? Try to take into account the other solutions and weigh them up, and say "no" to your panic.

[emlica]

I've had stomach ache and loose stools for about 6-8weeks now,
Doctor ran bloods but like an idiot I googled my symptoms and came up with stomach/bowel cancer
Got a consultation with colorectal specialist tomorrow my GP said he's not too concerned but I'm in major panic mode,

One of the signs of the above is anaemia caused by blood loss in stomach

If you've had loose stools etc for 6-8 weeks, it might be that you had a bug and it's done a bit of (temporary) damage to your guts/gut lining - did it start quite suddenly with diarrhoea and stuff? This is what I have currently. Slightly low iron in your blood is much more likely to be the result of you eating differently/less than an effect of blood loss caused by cancer. It might also be that you're not quite absorbing as many nutrients from your food because your guts are struggling a bit, which could cause levels of iron (and other things) to be a bit on the low side. But the doctor - who is qualified in these things! - obviously didn't think it was worryingly low or you'd have been at least put on supplements or told to modify your diet.

[Juggsy]

Well I had my appt with specialist, he said he wasn't concerned that the transferrin saturation was slightly low as my other iron levels were adequate, also said my haemoglobin red cells were far from low at 15.5 so said everything with bloods was normal

It started with going the gym and having back ache and mild constipation, however after google and my anxiety I've since developed softer than normal stools

Had a sigmoidoscopy today which was completely normal, waiting for barium enema as precaution but specialist seemed not to be concerned about cancer

[PanchoGoz]

Dr google is bad!