Blood Drug Testing

Hyperventilation and CBC levels (HGB, HCT)?

I have a strong phobia of needles and therefore hyperventilate EVERY time I give blood. On occasion I also have full blown panic attacks. My CBC count is off and the many tests that have been run have shown normal results with no reason for the slightly off numbers. The numbers that are off are my HGB (16.4-high) and my HCT (47.4-high). I was tested for the JAK2 and that came out negative and I did a red blood cell mass test in which the numbers came out normal. My hematologist can't figure out the problem. Could the HGB and HCT be slightly off because I hyperventilate? I know that causes my CO2 levels to drop (they are low on the blood chemistry) which can cause O2 to drop, so wouldn't that affect the HGB because HGB carries O2? Thanks so much for your help!

Public Comments

1. The most common reason for a normal red cell mass and high HH's are volume depletion dehydration. Another problem can be artefactual hemostasis due to leaving the tourniquet on too long. If you are hyperventilating then that might create a delay in sampling the blood in order to calm you down. I would suggest drawing the blood without a tourniquet if you have large veins.