elevated red blood cell counts

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Hello:
Recently I got a new doctor and he looked over my old bloodwork. He discovered that for the past 7 years I have had elevated Red blood cells, so he did another CBC. Well now, my red blood cell count is 5.51 and he is telling me that the normal range is between 4.0 and 4.9. He also checked me for carbon monoxide poisoning which was negative. Now he wants to send me to a hematologist. I have no symptoms of anything, and when I reviewed the studies I did notice that in 2002 while being in the hospital for a week, that my rbc's went back down to normal, which makes me think that perhaps its just because I get dehydrated quickly? All those tests in the hospital I had a constant IV going. I have read that there could be a link between elevated rbc's and leukemia so i'm trying hard not to panic here. Anyone with good information that they are willing to share with me can contact me at my email [email protected]

Thanks so much Crying or Very sad

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Take a peek here

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THANK YOU! What a relief seeing that, I have bookmarked it and can't thank you enough. I've been in a tailspin for awhile about this and that sure did answer some questions.
I appreciate you sharing that with me!

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No problem - welcome to A2K - hang around - lots of useful information and broadbased discussions going on.

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Quote:

A diagnosis of polycythemia vera is made when a patent fulfills all three of the major criteria, or any two major and any two minor criteria.

Major Criteria
total RBC vol men > 36 mg/kg; women >32 mg/kg
arterial 02 saturation > 92%
Splenomegaly
Minor Criteria
Platelet count > 400 x 10^9/L
Leukocytosis > 12 x 10^9/L
LAP > 100 (no infection)
Serum B12 > 900 pg/ml or UB12 BC> 2200 pg/ml

http://www.mcl.tulane.edu/classware/pathology/Krause/PV/PV.html

5.51 is nowhere near 36, which is diagnostic for polycythemia. I remember that I once had a few measurements in my blood that were ever so slightly out of the norm. The MD told me not to worry about it...that it meant nothing. For your own peace of mind though, it might be valuable for you to see a hematologist, just for reassurance.

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Thank you for the information, it is valuable to me. Just got off the phone with my doctor and I have an appt to see the hemotologist on the 3rd of May. My numbers were high according to him, heres what I do know
My red blood cell count was 5.51 according to this lab its high..average no more than 4.9
my hemaglobin was: 17.3 and their high end is 14.9
my hematacrit was:50.3 the highest end being 47.9
So I'll go and once again I'm scared to death, I've read about Polycythemia Vera, and I know its rare, but just my luck I'll have it! I'm on a ton of medicines already including a bloodthinner because my blood clots quickly. So, opting for the "bloodletting" once a month isn't in the cards and I don't relish chemo.

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rww777- I understand how you are feeling. It is important though, to keep things in perspective. You MAY have something that needs to be looked into, and then again, it may be nothing, or something very minor. You will not know until you see the hematologist. In the meantime, (I know that it is difficult), please try to put it out of your mind for the time being. Worrying will get you nowhere.

Who am I to give out this sort of advice? Someone who was given 4-6 years to live, in 1986!

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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003646.htm

Quote:

Normal Values
Hematocrit (varies with altitude):
Male: 40.7-50.3%
Female: 36.1-44.3%

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003645.htm

Quote:

Normal Values
Hemoglobin (varies with altitude):
Male: 13.8 to 17.2 gm/dl
Female: 12.1 to 15.1 gm/dl

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Gosh, thank you for telling me that, and your right, I need to stop this now. Its been going on for over a month now and I am making myself nuts. I cry, I disbelieve, I try not to scare my Dad who is 92.
7 days more won't kill me right? Then again, I'm betting I won't get answers that day. I guess I'm in denial, or perhaps its something really easy to fix and I just don't know that.
I want to thank you so much for the support, and hope that the dialog will continue

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rww777 - If you are looking for more info, or just need to ventilate, just give a yell!

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thanks

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Re: elevated red blood cell counts

rww777 wrote:

Hello:
Recently I got a new doctor and he looked over my old bloodwork. He discovered that for the past 7 years I have had elevated Red blood cells, so he did another CBC. Well now, my red blood cell count is 5.51 and he is telling me that the normal range is between 4.0 and 4.9. He also checked me for carbon monoxide poisoning which was negative. Now he wants to send me to a hematologist. I have no symptoms of anything, and when I reviewed the studies I did notice that in 2002 while being in the hospital for a week, that my rbc's went back down to normal, which makes me think that perhaps its just because I get dehydrated quickly? All those tests in the hospital I had a constant IV going. I have read that there could be a link between elevated rbc's and leukemia so i'm trying hard not to panic here. Anyone with good information that they are willing to share with me can contact me at my email [email protected]

.

Thanks so much

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Some medications can act to increase the RBC density and heavy duty aerobics ( like fast mountain climbing) and weight training excerices can also do this. This fact is known, as far as I can recall, to atheletes preparing for olympic-like activities. Diet can also have an effect but I would assume , the effect may be minimal.

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rww777 wrote:

Thank you for the information, it is valuable to me. Just got off the phone with my doctor and I have an appt to see the hemotologist on the 3rd of May. My numbers were high according to him, heres what I do know
My red blood cell count was 5.51 according to this lab its high..average no more than 4.9
my hemaglobin was: 17.3 and their high end is 14.9
my hematacrit was:50.3 the highest end being 47.9
So I'll go and once again I'm scared to death, I've read about Polycythemia Vera, and I know its rare, but just my luck I'll have it! I'm on a ton of medicines already including a bloodthinner because my blood clots quickly. So, opting for the "bloodletting" once a month isn't in the cards and I don't relish chemo.

One thing that you should know is that all clinical labs, in hospital as well as out, set their own limits of what is normal, based in part on the data collected from the patients, that frequent those clinical settings. What is considered abnormal to your lab, may very well be considered normal at another lab.

I've noticed that , for example, the "normal" limits for blood glucose levels is falling, on a yearly basis. Why? Don't really know, but would guess that it's , in part, driven to detect early diabetes.

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elevated red blood cell counts

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