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Has anyone experienced this lab work?
About 5 weeks ago I had regular annual bloodwork done by my PCP. Because I’m on hydrocodone continuously, my particular Walgreens (yeah, this is a hassle & my doctor even has argued with them) requires me to get my liver enzymes tested whenever they decide they want it. In order to avoid problems with them or delays in my prescription refills, I just give them updated lab results once a year.
Anyway, 5 weeks ago my lab results showed high B12 (btw, liver enzymes are okay). My Dr. sent me for a repeat of labs 2 weeks later after telling me to knock my multivitamin back to every other day. That 2nd set of results still showed high B12. The normal range is 900-1000; my 1st results showed 1992, and my 2nd results showed 1556. My Dr. wants me to wait until Nov 1 to have my bloodwork retested. I asked if she should refer me to a hematologist, and she said she would do that if my 3rd results show that I’m still high on the B12. She also said to keep the multivitamin to every other day. I looked at the nutrition chart for the vitamin, and there really isn’t hardly any B12 in it.
I’m a little nervous about it bc everything Google shows for high B12 is some kind of horrible cancer, including blood cancer. Since I’ve been feeling run down & otherwise puny since we returned from our cruise, it is making me a little more nervous about the B12. You would think having a high amount of B12 would be good for you bc they give you B12 shots when you are anemic. Supposedly your body excretes any that you have in excess. If your body has a high amount, then it isn’t excreting for some reason i.e. the cancer.
I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced these lab results or if they know anyone that has. If so, please tell me what the outcome was.
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7 Replies
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Hi Kelly. Sorry that you’re having to deal with this. I have not had this issue, but have you considered talking with a specialist? Or do you consult primarily with your primary doctor?
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I do have other specialists, such as pulmonology, pain management, urology, G.I. etc. My primary care has taken all the labs regarding this up to this point. I can’t really just go to a hematologist without a referral bc I’m not even sure I have an issue. My PCP doesn’t seem to be too concerned but said she would refer if the next labs show it’s still high.
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I’ve mainly heard of low b12. My aunt gets b12 shots because of it. Guess if your pcp isn’t too concerned I’d try not to be either, just keep tabs on it for sure. Sometimes doctors don’t like to admit when they have no clue. Is there anything in your diet that has a lot of b12? I don’t know what kind of foods even have it.
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I’ve only had my B12 tested once, but it did come back slightly high at 1200. My PCP was unconcerned, just shrugging and saying I’d pee out any excess. The results did have a note “high doses of biotin taken within 8 hours of blood collection may interfere with the results of this assay”, so maybe it’s especially affected by how much you fast before the blood draw? By my calculations, my diet has ~1500% of recommended B12, but there’s no listed maximum for B12.
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My doctor uses the range of 232 – 1200 pg/mL for determining a normal B-12 amount. On 9/12, my B-12 was 1917 pg/mL & on 9/25, the amount was 1502 pg/mL.
The 2nd date was done after stopping my daily multivitamin. It didn’t give me much B-12, but we wanted to double check to make sure there wasn’t anything skewing the results. As you can see, it’s still a little high, so we are testing again on 11/1. If it still high, she will refer me to a hematologist.
My PCP hasn’t ever had anyone with a high B-12 amount, so she’s a little bit of a novice when it comes to what to do about it. I’ve done some research and, along with all sorts of horrible things it could be, a high amount can also be masking an actual deficiency in B-12. I’ve asked her to do a specific blood test called a HoloTC along with the regular panel she will do. I haven’t heard back yet, but I have time before 11/1. I’m used to being my own advocate & my PCP is cool with that. I don’t take any supplements other than the multivitamin. I do take a beta blocker, but it’s a very low dose & shouldn’t be interfering; I’ve been taking it for many years without any problems in the past.
I didn’t fast at all before the blood draw. They said I didn’t need to since they weren’t checking glucose levels or cholesterol. I did read that high B-12 can be easily overlooked or underestimated by your average PCP and should always be checked out for cause. A nonchalant attitude is not acceptable to me, so I reiterated to her that I need a hematologist appt if it comes back high again. She was agreeable to that.
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I appreciate your proactive stance. I likewise research deeply, then tell my doctor what I need/want. Good luck!
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Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
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