Kris4444 Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 Hi All,I've had really bad GI pain for a week. It has been unrelenting. I finally went to the ER where they did an ultrasound (even though I told them it was bowel pain) which was normal. My bp was low for me 101/53. I have high blood pressure but it's controlled with meds. I've never known it to be this low. At least my lightheadedness made sense.Anyway, they gave me fluids, a prescription for ativan and sent me on my way. When I got home I logged at my labs. They showed my sodium as being low and my mcv and mch being high. No mention of this was made to me and none of these values were skyrocketing ones. But I'm being tested currently for a neuroendocrine tumor and have me wondering. Does anyone know what these values may mean? Thanks, Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badhbt Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 Hi Kris,Hate to hear you are still struggling. I don't like when Doctors don't go over all the labs with patients. Even if something is a little off it warrants at least an explanation.From what I understand is that it can be a vitamin deficiency, maybe an absorption problem. Have you ever been tested for Celiac disease? I just went to a conference on it and it effects 1 out of 100 people so far. Even if blood tests come back normal that doesn't mean you don't have it. The best way to be tested is genetically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris4444 Posted October 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 Hi, Yes I had been tested for celiac and was negative.I think this has something to do with being off the prevacid for over a month. The prevacid gave a false positive chromogranin A result so I had to get off and needed to retest. I think that is what is causing the pain. The low Vitamin B doesn't make sense because my immunologist has me take it daily. Maybe the daily diarrhea has me depleated?Strange for me to have low bp too (I know that's a given for most of you POTsies) but I'm hyper-pots and tend to run high so that sent up red flags for me. When I told the doctor this he poo-pooed me and gave me fluids saying it was probably just dehydration. I drink more water than anyone I know and even the nurse who collected my urine commented on how well hydrated I was. I hate going to the ER. They just don't get us... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katybug Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 I learned on labtestsonline.com that elevated mch can be an indicator of mastocytosis. That's what made me start looking into mcas as a possible underlying explanation for my pots. Bowel pain can also be a symptom of mast cell issues as well. My mch was always just a couple of points over the upper limits and none of my docs would chase it down but I luckily had enough other reasons to get the mcas dx anyway. I'm sorry you're feeling bad and don't have any clear answers yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris4444 Posted October 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 Hi Katy! I was just thinking about you. Hope you are well. E mail me please when you get a chance. None of my doctors other than my EDS doc believe I have mast cell issues. They won't do any further testing. This pain is weird. It's completely left sided and under my ribs, spreads to my back. Gets much worse standing or eating. ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katybug Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 I know this sounds rudimentary, but did they order a CT without contrast by any chance? When I had my kidney stone that was lodged, the first hospital did ultrasound and ct with contrast only. Apparently, neither of these is sure fire for picking up a kidney stone. (Found that out once I arrived in another state after the attack started again on the plane.). Urologist in GA said a CT w/o contrast is the gold standard for finding a kidney stone. Just a thought if the pain is radiating into your back. Mine was lodged in my right ureter and it felt like I was having appendicitis if that gives you an idea of where the pain was. I'll email you later tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris4444 Posted October 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 They mentioned possibly doing a CT scan if the u/s showed nothing but wanted permission from mg GI doc who said no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 Do you have the specific MCV value? This represents mean cell volume, or the average size of your red blood cells. If it's just a little bit on the high side, like 98-110, that's usually a temporary swelling of the cell due to overhydration. This makes sense given your low sodium. If your sodium levels increase, your MCV would come down somewhat.MCH is mean cellular hemoglobin, or the amount of hemoglobin contained in each red blood cell. It is not an essential measure in itself. Rather, it correlates with MCV. If your cell size is large (MCV), your cell will naturally hold more hemoglobin (MCH).It could be something worse, but my MCV ran slightly high and it came back down once I increased my salt intake. It's something you might consider.Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris4444 Posted October 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 Thanks Carrie. My sodium was 132. MCV 100.1 and MCH 33.1None of them are crazy high or low but I've never had these values before or this pain. They said I was dehydrated which was why my bp was low so they gave me IV fluids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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