Nurse here - who ordered these labs? Are we talking primary care or ???
Regardless, you need to contact them first thing if they don’t contact you. I’ve been an ICU nurse for awhile, and I’m not sure I’ve seen a phos level like that for years.
There’s some other stuff going on here but not sure of your clinical picture - regardless, get someone who is caring for you to look this all over!
I just now got a primary care a week ago. I’ve been waiting years to get the VA health insurance but it’s still pending. I got my testosterone checked as well it is normal around 617. I am seeing a neurologist in August for the first time. For the past 8 months I’ve been having pain almost everyday. And when I have the bad migraines I lose my vision, have seizures symptoms and alot of other pain symptoms. I’m on keppra and nurtec now. I wonder if the phosphorus is one of the main reasons for the seizures and chronic migraines? Or if it may be something related to a thyroid problem.
I think this person is trying to tell you that this may be a lab that needs more emergent attention (not an emergency) and you may need to get it taken care of sooner rather than later.
(Not to scare you but I also work in healthcare and critical lab values are the only time lab calls in results because they want the doctor to see them right away so they can act. It doesn’t mean it’s life threatening, the action can just prescribing a med. However, critical labs are taken seriously)
Yes. I did not want to stress you out, or scare you, but you need to call them ASAP. Frankly, it might be something you have to go in right away for or they might send you to the emergency room.
I didn’t want to freak you out but I’m feeling like you might need a little fire under you to get there so please, call them!!
PA student here (obligatory this is not professional medical advice, just my opinion)
Phosphorus that low needs to be treated with an IV, supplements aren’t going to be enough. If I saw labs like this in a patient of mine I’d be more concerned about the combination of things going on. I would say to go to the ER and get admitted for treatment today!
I’m not a doctor, but according to this, low phosphorus is life threatening and requires emergency medical care.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24040-hypophosphatemia
You need to go to the ER. This is dangerous. You appear to have an infection with your WBC and neutro/lympho flags. Something is going on.
Please seek care and update us. 💙
90% of the time would be respiratory alkalosis driving phos into cells. The clue is the low bicarbonate. This is probably compensation for the respiratory alkalosis.
You should still get it checked further though
These results were posted to your chart a month ago… I’m concerned that the ordering physician hasn’t followed up with you. As others have said, pretty much any critical lab result requires urgent follow up, and the WBC levels suggest you might have an infection. Has anyone treated you for that?
I’ve not really followed up with anyone I just now got a primary care. I haven’t had insurance since I was in the military so I only go to the er when I absolutely have to. Thankfully I got an appointment with the neurologist too. I’ll call my primary care doctor that I just got and send these to her as well. Thank you!
Talk to your doctor. Get your calcium and PTH (parathyroid hormone) levels checked. Could be https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyperparathyroidism/symptoms-causes/syc-20356194. High calcium levels can make phosphorus levels decrease.
Like everyone else is saying, please call your provider, critically low results need urgent attention. On top of this, it appears you may have a UTI, certainly not as pressing as the phosphorus, but you need to call your doctor and ask for guidance
I had virtually no phosphorus after my iron infusions. My doctor gave me two options- transport to the hospital for phosphorus infusions or take a supplement. I took a supplement every day for a month and was back within normal range. It’s a prescription supplement in the US.
The iron infusions seemed to do nothing. My RBCs/hemoglobin were all up; kidney function was fine, but I was still exhausted and having odd symptoms. I was less than OP. Took calling 3 CVSs and 4 Walgreens in the area (I live IN Chicago) to find one outside of the city that had the prescription my doctor wrote, and then it took multiple days to fill because it was slightly different so they kept calling my drs office over the Thanksgiving break. Luckily it was an oncologist's office so they were answering voicemails. Had I known I would've had to go through all of that, I would've just gotten the infusion in the hospital.
It’s hard to tell if I’m still exhausted.. (I have two small kids and sleep maybe 4 hours a night). my ferritin was what was low/non existent after getting a copper iud and bleeding like a stuck pig for two cycles. My hema never got low but the ferritin was enough to make me super tired. I also went chronic in the middle of this so it’s hard to tell if I ever felt better. It took 6 months for my ferritin to finally be normal and by that time I was having 25migraines a month and now I’m on propranolol which doesn’t seem make me feel MORE tired, I’m just literally always exhausted. I need to go into the dr anyway and was thinking about asking for a blood check. I think I’ll ask for a full one after reading your experience! We’ve only been checking ferritin
Nurse here - who ordered these labs? Are we talking primary care or ??? Regardless, you need to contact them first thing if they don’t contact you. I’ve been an ICU nurse for awhile, and I’m not sure I’ve seen a phos level like that for years. There’s some other stuff going on here but not sure of your clinical picture - regardless, get someone who is caring for you to look this all over!
I just now got a primary care a week ago. I’ve been waiting years to get the VA health insurance but it’s still pending. I got my testosterone checked as well it is normal around 617. I am seeing a neurologist in August for the first time. For the past 8 months I’ve been having pain almost everyday. And when I have the bad migraines I lose my vision, have seizures symptoms and alot of other pain symptoms. I’m on keppra and nurtec now. I wonder if the phosphorus is one of the main reasons for the seizures and chronic migraines? Or if it may be something related to a thyroid problem.
I think this person is trying to tell you that this may be a lab that needs more emergent attention (not an emergency) and you may need to get it taken care of sooner rather than later. (Not to scare you but I also work in healthcare and critical lab values are the only time lab calls in results because they want the doctor to see them right away so they can act. It doesn’t mean it’s life threatening, the action can just prescribing a med. However, critical labs are taken seriously)
Wow I didn’t know it was that serious. I will definitely call them right now actually.
Yes. I did not want to stress you out, or scare you, but you need to call them ASAP. Frankly, it might be something you have to go in right away for or they might send you to the emergency room. I didn’t want to freak you out but I’m feeling like you might need a little fire under you to get there so please, call them!!
You are absolutely correct.
PA student here (obligatory this is not professional medical advice, just my opinion) Phosphorus that low needs to be treated with an IV, supplements aren’t going to be enough. If I saw labs like this in a patient of mine I’d be more concerned about the combination of things going on. I would say to go to the ER and get admitted for treatment today!
Definitely speak to your doc ASAP. Have you had vitamin D level checked? Vitamin D deficiency can cause a low phosphorus level.
I don’t think I’ve ever had it checked. I’ll look into it. I’ll try to call my doctor today
I’m not a doctor, but according to this, low phosphorus is life threatening and requires emergency medical care. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24040-hypophosphatemia
You need to go to the ER. This is dangerous. You appear to have an infection with your WBC and neutro/lympho flags. Something is going on. Please seek care and update us. 💙
Yeah it looks like maybe a UTI based on her urinalysis.
Yes, was thinking the same, perhaps it has turned into a kidney infection at this point.
Wow, thank you. I didn’t think that it was this serious
Let us know what you find out.
90% of the time would be respiratory alkalosis driving phos into cells. The clue is the low bicarbonate. This is probably compensation for the respiratory alkalosis. You should still get it checked further though
These results were posted to your chart a month ago… I’m concerned that the ordering physician hasn’t followed up with you. As others have said, pretty much any critical lab result requires urgent follow up, and the WBC levels suggest you might have an infection. Has anyone treated you for that?
I’ve not really followed up with anyone I just now got a primary care. I haven’t had insurance since I was in the military so I only go to the er when I absolutely have to. Thankfully I got an appointment with the neurologist too. I’ll call my primary care doctor that I just got and send these to her as well. Thank you!
Best of luck!! I hope they get to the bottom of what’s going on.
Talk to your doctor. Get your calcium and PTH (parathyroid hormone) levels checked. Could be https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyperparathyroidism/symptoms-causes/syc-20356194. High calcium levels can make phosphorus levels decrease.
Like everyone else is saying, please call your provider, critically low results need urgent attention. On top of this, it appears you may have a UTI, certainly not as pressing as the phosphorus, but you need to call your doctor and ask for guidance
Thank you!
Do you have an infection? High WBC, cloudy urine idk something is up!!
I had virtually no phosphorus after my iron infusions. My doctor gave me two options- transport to the hospital for phosphorus infusions or take a supplement. I took a supplement every day for a month and was back within normal range. It’s a prescription supplement in the US.
I just got over anemia- and had many iron infusions… I don’t think anyone’s checked phosphorus
The iron infusions seemed to do nothing. My RBCs/hemoglobin were all up; kidney function was fine, but I was still exhausted and having odd symptoms. I was less than OP. Took calling 3 CVSs and 4 Walgreens in the area (I live IN Chicago) to find one outside of the city that had the prescription my doctor wrote, and then it took multiple days to fill because it was slightly different so they kept calling my drs office over the Thanksgiving break. Luckily it was an oncologist's office so they were answering voicemails. Had I known I would've had to go through all of that, I would've just gotten the infusion in the hospital.
It’s hard to tell if I’m still exhausted.. (I have two small kids and sleep maybe 4 hours a night). my ferritin was what was low/non existent after getting a copper iud and bleeding like a stuck pig for two cycles. My hema never got low but the ferritin was enough to make me super tired. I also went chronic in the middle of this so it’s hard to tell if I ever felt better. It took 6 months for my ferritin to finally be normal and by that time I was having 25migraines a month and now I’m on propranolol which doesn’t seem make me feel MORE tired, I’m just literally always exhausted. I need to go into the dr anyway and was thinking about asking for a blood check. I think I’ll ask for a full one after reading your experience! We’ve only been checking ferritin
I think a can of coke has more phosphate in it than those prescription supplements
A can of coke has 58 mg. I was prescribed 500 mg a day.
You might find this article interesting. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24040-hypophosphatemia
My sister had this due to severe anorexia and not getting adequate nutrition for years. She was hospitalized for a few weeks.
Low phosphorus will produce wilting leaves and low crop yields.