Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello,
I am new to the forum, so hello to everybody. I live in the UK and am in reasonable health. I can take my dogs out and walk 4,5,6 or more miles and I don't get out of breath. I am 60 years old and try to eat a healthy diet. Some days I do feel out of sorts and lethargic though.
My blood count figures tested out OK last time they were checked and my other bits all seem to function normally. I have normal levels of the important vitamins ( folate, B12, D, etc ). It isn't easy with the Covid restrictions that are in place to get to see a doctor unless the problem is urgent or puts you at real risk. I have just ordered and taken a sample for blood electrolytes from a reputable on-line lab. The results are at the bottom of this post.
They raise a couple of questions :
1) Is my sodium level just indicative of eating too much salt ?
2) From what I have found online the anion gap is too high and may indicate acidosis. This is based on the formula Anion Gap = (Sodium+Potassium)-(Chloride+Bicarbonate).
My digestion is not very good in general and I have trouble gaining weight. I often have a nap after eating. Do I need to also worry about these electrolyte numbers ?
Not enough info there to make definitive judgements. One starts off with symptoms which are important as to why you had the blood work done. It sounds as though you ordered the tests yourself. There isn't much point doing that and then wondering what the results mean.
In general terms the sodium is not really a reflection of the sodium body stores but more so of the water stores. The higher the sodium the more dehydrated one is and the lower the sodium the more water retention or hydrated one is.
The urea and creatinine is normal and so forget about those.
With regards to the electrolytes proper it is important to know how the blood sample was handled and if there were delays in testing which I would infer based on UK practices. If the blood sample is not immediately processed in separating the red blood cells from the plasma then seepage of potassium can go from the red cells into the plasma false elevating the potassium and your potassium is at the edge of the reference interval. Bicarbonate in the form of CO2 can also dissipate and become low with time with exposed specimens. One does not know for sure if the K and CO2 are artifacts or not.
Clinically as you mentioned acidosis can be associated with hyperventilation in an effort of getting rid of volatile acid thus the CO2 goes down and with acidosis one can also see the buffering of the acid in the blood that causes the acid H+ to enter cells and the K+ to leave the cells for iso neutrality. The question is respiration rates? Or conditions associated with acidosis?
The anionic gap is used to characterize anion gap clinical acidosis. By definition one would need a pH on the blood to say outright whether one is acidotic or not and then see if one has a normal anion gap or an increased anion gap.
"High anion gap acidoses are most often due to ketoacidosis, lactic acidosis, chronic kidney disease, or certain toxic ingestions."
I assume you have no symptoms thus no acidosis. I would also recommend that all unexpected results be repeated in a timely manner by that I mean the actual testing and not artifactual delays and done locally.
You should be consulting with your doctor if you have any health concerns.
Odd to have both Na and K to go up together unless you're very dehydrated....Mishandling of the blood sample more likely to be the problem.
Short term hypo- or hyper ventilation doesn't change the bicarb level significantly, and one doesn't hyperventilate to help compensate for metabolic acidosis until the acidosis is pretty severe, so somethin' ain't right with those results. They don't make sense. Repeat them to verify.
Last edited by guidoLaMoto; 09-08-2021 at 03:03 AM..
Hi,
Thanks to all for your comments/suggestions. I have managed to get an appointment with my doctor and I am going to have a talk to him.
R
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
