Should I worry?

[baronef]

Hello to all. I have been reading these forums for a few days and have a ton of respect for all of you.
I am worried about results from my CBC checks and don't think there is a better place to ask for advice. So here goes:
51 year old male in good shape. No major health problems. Results from the last 4 years of blood-work. First reading is 2011, second is 2015. Yearly results have not changed much. Started TRT injections in late 2014 which increased rbc and hemo.

WBC 4.2-4.1 (3.8-10.8)
NUET% 41.4-49%
LYMP% 48.7-41%
MONO% 8.3-8.9%
RBC 4.09-4.54(4.2-5.8)
HCT 40-43% (38.5-50)
HEMO 13.6-14.6(13.2-17.1)
MCV 97.9-94.8 (80-100)
MCHC 31-34 (32-36)
MCH 33.2-32.2(27-33)
PLAT 169-160(140-400)

Is it normal for a male of my age to be borderline low on the three major counts? Should I look for a specialist or take my family doctors word that I am good? Thank you for any advice.

[bailie]

I wouldn't think there is anything to worry about (naturally that is an internet guess). It is good that you are keeping track. Continue to monitor.

[DanL]

Your counts could be on the low end of normal for so many reasons that keeping an eye on them over time seems not only prudent, but really the only course of action in the absence of any other obvious symptoms. Infections, stress, diet, medications, too much or too little exercise, and vitamin uptake can all have an impact. There is also the possibility that this is just where your body produces cells - you might just be on the lower end of normal.

Although it is normal to have 150k platelets, I know people that are otherwise healthy that hang out in the 50k to 80k range. I have also met people who have a regular hemoglobin count of 11-13 whereas 14.2 is normal low for men.

I think the conclusion is that you don't want to ignore your counts, but that unless you see a trend that is moving downward over time, that normal, even low normal, is ok in the absence of other issues or symptoms.

[Cheryl C]

You might want to set up a spread-sheet for your CBC results and chart them so that you can easily identify any negative trends. Monitoring would appear to be a sensible option for you at present, if that is what your GP advises. Please try not to worry - it only causes harm.

[Data]

Cheryl had a good idea about the spread sheet. I never get worried about a single lab value. There is an old saying in engineering, "a single data point doesn't constitute a trend". I started the attached spreadsheet when my CBC counts were going down. I posted a version of it a while back but couldn't find it so here is the current version of it. The arrows in the individual cells will show whether the level is above or below the normal range. You can change the normal range to match your lab in columns C and D. The "Overall" tab has a graph of several CBC items. It got a little busy so I made some additional graphs of single items by themselves, e.g., Platelets, MPV, WBC, etc. Keeping track of where the CBC was done is important because if you notice a spike or dip and it correlates to a change in lab, it may just be the difference in lab equipment.

Hope this helps

Data

[Data]

Here is a revised version of the CBC Tracker.

Data