Blood Results Scaring Me!!!?

Question:

On Friday I had to take some blood work needed for my externship coming up in 8 weeks. I had to go back on Monday (yesterday) to have my PPD read, it was Neg. However, my doctor told me one of my blood results came back abnormal. The Carbon Dioxide Level in my blood was 17. The range was 21-33. He repeated it. Today he got the results and it came back 14. He referred me to a renal specialist since I had kidney problems in the past, but all the other blood work and urine were normal. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be b/c I am scared to death!

Answers:
The most important part of what you have stated should provide you some comfort. You were able to go home after your appointment. This means that your doctor thinks you are well enough to not be in the hospital. If something was terribly wrong, you would probably be in the hospital now, having gone for an ambulance ride from the doctor's office.

The normal range for bicarbonate is 22-26. I think you are stating your bicarbonate in your question. This would make more sense. A normal blood carbon dioxide would be 35-35 mm Hg. If your carbon dioxide was 14, you would be in the hospital.

Depending on how you are breathing, you may or may not have a kidney issue. When your body compensates for hyperventilation that occurs for a period of days, your blood bicarbonate would decrease. On the other hand, if your kidneys are having a problem, that can also decrease their secretion of bicarbonate into the blood.

I assume that your doctor drew an arterial blood gas, a sample of arterial blood from your wrist. With the information in a blood gas, your doctor can determine if your bicarbonate is out of normal because of a breathing or kidney/metabolic problem.

Having normal urine is important. If you were in diabetic ketoacidosis, where your body dumps bicarb because you are having a very serious problem with diabetes, there would be lots of bicarbonate in your urine. I have seen that happen before. That person was in really bad shape and needed mechanical ventilation to help her get through it.

I have no idea but good luck to you.

This could be a result of hyperventilation on a chronic level. Are you obese or living at high altitude. It is not common to see chronic CO2 increases.

Blood Results Scaring Me!!!?

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