Giving up on Google, MD for now

Last week, I had a ridiculously long order for blood work. Usually the order will just include lithium and lamictal levels but since I have been feeling so tired my psychiatrist wanted to check my thyroid, look for anemia, or any medical (non-psychiatric) reason. I went to yesterday's appointment hoping to be told that I simply need to take iron pills. No such luck, my tiredness cannot be accounted for by anything in my draw results. It is most likely do to "bipolar", as in depression, winter arriving, UFO's flying over my house, etc.

What did show up was an elevated platelet count. The normal range for this lab is 150-375. My number is 543 which warrants a trip to my family doctor to start finding the cause. Naturally, I had Mr. MFBA on Google before I was even out of the parking lot so that I would not drive home thinking I was dying. Then I came home and began my own search.

This is what I have discovered: it could have no cause or symptoms, it could be caused by my bone marrow making too many platelets or my spleen not removing enough platelets from my blood, again this may or may not cause a list of vague symptoms, it could be a rare blood disorder, leukemia, or cause blood clots, it could require no treatment or an aspirin a day or an anti-coagulant for a short amount of time or removal of my spleen.

In short, it could be anything, nothing, or something in between. The search only left me with more questions so I am going to remove the ccw, MD badge from my shirt and wait. Oh, how I hate waiting.*

* Sort of like when your pap smear results come back abnormal and you get the choice of waiting a few months to repeat or having a biopsy. I don't know how people can wait.