What Is Causing My Blood Work To Change?

By TheLongPointGirl

3 min read

I went for a diabetic check-up recently. I asked for this as I wasn’t convinced I was giving my injectable medication properly. It is a once a week non-insulin drug. Along with that drug, I take one other pill daily for my diabetes. I just wasn’t seeing the results I hoped for. Was it my diet? Was it the meds? I would get the support at the diabetic education center.

When I saw the nurse to discuss the meds I’m on, I found out they are considered the last chance before insulin. On one hand, it was a punch to the gut. I guess I kinda knew that but I didn’t want to hear it at that moment. I just wanted to make sure I was giving the med properly. I learned two things. First, the injectable is not seen much at this diabetic education center but that I could trust the way I was injecting the med. Second, I wasn’t rotating my sites enough. That surprised me since I only inject once a week. I should not be injecting in the same area within a month. This was all good information. I was happy with the information I received.

Increase of red blood cell count

My philosophy has always been ‘no insulin before my time.’ Not ‘no insulin’, just no insulin if there were things within my power I could do to keep my diabetes in line. Paying attention to my diet was certainly part of that. There were things I could still fix. Lately, I was coming to the conclusion that I may need insulin but not for the reason I thought. I may need to come off both meds because of something that showed up in my blood work.

Over the last few times, the results were showing my red blood cells were increasing. The endocrinologist volleyed that to my family doctor when it first showed up. However, I wasn’t happy with my current family doc. She shrugged off the result. I found a new family doctor. He did not shrug it off but he did talk to me about how at this time, there was no reason to worry, it is not uncommon. After 2 more lab tests, 3 months apart my red blood cell count was still slowly creeping up with no explanation. My doctor told me he wanted to speak to a hematologist that he trusted to verbally consult but that the hematologist would likely just say it was all ok and to monitor. Sure, I support that. Long story short, the hematologist wants to see me.

Causes of increase to red blood cell count

As I sit here waiting for the date of the appointment my mind is going to all kinds of dark places.

Dehydration

One cause of the rise can be dehydration but that is usually from illness. I have been chronically dehydrated for years but not from illness. I travel for work and do not have access to clean washrooms so I tend not to drink a lot during the day. To add to that, the two meds I need for diabetes can cause dehydration. This is why I have been coming to the realization that I may need to come off the meds I’m on to go on insulin. However, this is a guess on my part.

Polycythemia vera

A second cause is something called polycythemia vera (PV). It is a blood cancer. It is one explanation for the rise in red blood cells. PV happens slowly over a long period of time. I have some of the other signs but they are vague and may be attributed to other causes. It is more common in men than in women but that didn’t give me much comfort considering my alarm bells rang when the hematologist decided he wanted to see me. I can’t imagine the hematologist would be thinking it’s dehydration. Wouldn’t that be in the endocrinologist’s purview if he was the one prescribing the meds?

Unknown

A third cause may be unknown. Sometimes we have to admit that the medical community doesn’t know why some things happen. This could also be the case. According to my family doctor, there is no glaring reason why my red blood cell count is rising.

All of these scenarios potentially fit my picture. Right now I am a jumble of nerves. I am quite frankly terrified. I hope I get some answers soon. My mental health depends on it.

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dmulley Member
I know this post is almost a year old, but I was wondering if your doctors were ever able to figure it out? I am going through the same thing now and my previous GP just ignored this and said that it is because I am overweight. My current GP seems a bit more alarmed. I'm pretty nervous after she told me what it could be.
TheLongPointGirl Moderator & Contributor
Hi <inline-mention user-id="3544101" username="dmulley"/> Thanks so much for contacting. I know what you are feeling having gone through that. Yes! It took quite a while but I have now had a consult with the hematologist. He did a thorough intake with me. After that he spent quite a bit of time by phone helping me to understand. When all was said and done, he felt that this was going to be my ‘new normal’. Sometimes as we age, he said we can see changes. My changes are not worrisome because I have no other risk factors and I wasn’t experiencing any of the signs or symptoms of the ‘bad’ things. He also mentioned, which I did not know, that there can be variance in the the range of normal for the test results based on which lab does them. For example, if I had gone to the hospital lab, my results each time would have fallen into the high end of the range of normal. That was different than the public lab I have been going to which reports that my results were outside the normal range! Who knew?! In the end he told me there was nothing that alarmed him in my results or my history. He again said he felt this was my new normal. But he also said that he instructed my family doctor to contact him and send on any lab results that show increases beyond what we are currently seeing. I hope this is helpful for you. My GP was also the one who was alarmed and sent me on to a specialist to work through what really could be an issue. Thank goodness for our family docs! I know it’s hard but try to stay positive. We always tend to go to the really bad stuff, I know I did. You are certainly not alone! Let me know if you need anything else. I’m happy to support you through this!
1. TheLongPointGirl Moderator & Contributor
 TY. I’m so glad <inline-mention user-id="3544101" username="dmulley"/> that you are here with us. We are a very caring community and willing to support each other. I know how hard the wait is for you until you get answers, hopefully soon. It can be scary but know you’re not alone. You will get through this. Keep me posted on how you’re doing. Hugs!
2. lauren.mullin Community Admin
 Hi there <inline-mention username="dmulley" user-id="3544101"/>, I see it's been a little over a year since this last post. I'm wondering how you are making out. Have you had any additional lab draws recently? Wishing you all the best, Lauren (team member)