Blood test positive for sickle cell anemia doctor said she is not sure if it is the trait or the actual illness! what do i do next?

Medical Testing: If your physician did not complete this testing and provide you with appropriate information you may need to change physicians or see a sickle cell specialist (usually a hematologist).

Depends: If your doctor did a sickledex that was positive, this might not distinguish between sickle trait and sickle cell disease. The next test is a hemoglobin electrophoresis. If this shows mainly HGB a with HGB s, this is sickle trait. If both a and s but more s, this is sickle/beta+ thalassemia. If only s, sickle cell disease or sickle/beta 0thalassemia. Your doctor can explain what these mean.

Better test: Trait would have little long term effects on the patient. If this is about you, it would be exceedingly rare for you to reach age 46 with sickle cell disease without a diagnosis. It is usually quite symptomatic in childhood. Get a better test (hemoglobin electrophoresis) and get educated based on the results.