No, they weren't looking for babesia, it was just a routine CBC. The Bowen's babesia test was negative, but I thought it was an odd result. I have been reviewing medical records to find something...anything. I was aware that babs caused irregular RBCs, so I wanted to get the opinions of everyone...
I looked into Vit B12 deficiency as well as babesia. I definitely have Babs.
Posted by Cate (Member # 8787) on :
i have RBC abnormalities too -- not sure if it is the same as "poikilocytosis."
my CBC pattern for several years has been: RBC (number of cells): high MCV (mean corpuscular volume): low MCH (mean corpuscular hemoglobin): low RDW (red cell distribution width): high
in other words, lots of RB cells, but of varying sizes and not enough hemoglobin in them. often B12 or iron deficiency can cause this, but i've supplemented with tons of both for a long time and it makes no difference in the CBC results.
one doctor I saw though it could be due to "thalassemia" though that is a genetically based illness that i never had growing up. another doctor thought it possibly connected with infection, though my tick-borne tests are so far negative.
which tick-borne infections are most likely to cause this pattern, and why?
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Cate, were you tested thru Igenex?
Posted by Cate (Member # 8787) on :
hi lymetoo,
yes, my lyme test (twice) was thru igenex. other tick-borne tests from other labs (my doc is a well-known LLMD). waiting for results on a babs test now.
i know there are a lot of false negatives, so still treating but not getting much better.
cate
Posted by mikej2323 (Member # 8913) on :
Well, I'm pretty sure they weren't looking for babesia, but for some reason, in addition to the general CBC, they did a WBC and a RBC morphology test. My medical dictionary states that "poikilocytosis" is an abnormal degree of variation in the shape of the erythrocytes in the blood.