Quote:
Originally Posted by Birgitta-A
You know Chirley your Hb will go up if you have fever because your blood gets more concentrated when you loose fluid with body perspiration. It is not a real increase.
|
For the same reason, your hemoglobin can go up if you had been drinking a lot of liquid before your first blood test and not before your second blood test. Extra fluid dilutes your blood, lowering your hemoglobin count in an artificial way.
I have to watch out for this effect when I donate blood. They suggest drinking lots of fluids before donating, but I have to be careful not to drink so much that my hemoglobin will measure
too low. If it does, the routine HGB test mistakenly indicates that I'm anemic and therefore unqualified to donate!
So hemoglobin tests, like non-fasting cholesterol tests, can fluctuate from test to test. They may help you watch for problems but they aren't very accurate for precise diagnostics.