Low Hemoglobin and quite weak. How long before I feel normal? (blood pressure, arm)
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That's a lot of stuff to ponder and it appears you have chronic bleeding in addition to the one acute event. I hope your problems get resolved.
The next time you have your iron checked don't take any iron that day.
Not much one can do with your medical. history. You don't want to go overboard with exercise with your symptom complaints and subpar hemoglobin. One hopes you will turn the corner with time. You are responding in that direction.
That's a lot of stuff to ponder and it appears you have chronic bleeding in addition to the one acute event. I hope your problems get resolved.
The next time you have your iron checked don't take any iron that day.
Not much one can do with your medical. history. You don't want to go overboard with exercise with your symptom complaints and subpar hemoglobin. One hopes you will turn the corner with time. You are responding in that direction.
There's the iron panel in addition to ferritin. The ferritin takes much longer to normalize. You have a lot to talk to with your doctor. He has all the info. Some people report that fatigue correlates better with ferritin levels. One wants it up to 50 ng/ml or even better up to 100.
I got my iron supplementation level dialed in -- which was not easy. And I started taking a b complex with folic acid.
Thrilled to report hemoglobin at 11.9 from recent bloodwork. Much improved stamina/fitness. Back to my trainer 2x/week, 23 mile bike ride today. Almost there and has only been about 6 1/2 weeks.
I'd like to ask a quick question (or 3 ) on this thread, I don't want to start a new thread, hope that's okay!
I donate blood every 6 weeks. I donated on 1/15/2024 and had blood tests done by a cardiologist on 1/22/2024. My hemoglobin was 9.4 L (reference range 11.7-15.5 g/dL). He basically told me I have severe anemia and to go to my PCP to get retested. I called the PCP that day and she told me to start taking a low dose of over the counter iron which I did. I had a follow up with the PCP on 2/5/2024 and my hemoglobin number was 11.4 L. PCP told me the number was up which is good but she still wants me to have a colonoscopy done to see if I have any internal bleeding. I had one done 2 years ago and she said I'm on schedule for another one now.
My questions:
1. Did the iron increase my hemoglobin level?
2. Did the fact that it was 3 weeks after my last blood donation contribute to the higher better level?
3. Do I really need another colonoscopy immediately? I have to find the results of my 2022 colonoscopy but I believe the doctor who did it then said I didn't need to come back for 5 years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike1003
Along with what your Doc recommends, eat liver
You would have to put me under general anesthesia and force feed liver to me. It's not going to happen when I'm awake!!
I'd like to ask a quick question (or 3 ) on this thread, I don't want to start a new thread, hope that's okay!
I donate blood every 6 weeks. I donated on 1/15/2024 and had blood tests done by a cardiologist on 1/22/2024. My hemoglobin was 9.4 L (reference range 11.7-15.5 g/dL). He basically told me I have severe anemia and to go to my PCP to get retested. I called the PCP that day and she told me to start taking a low dose of over the counter iron which I did. I had a follow up with the PCP on 2/5/2024 and my hemoglobin number was 11.4 L. PCP told me the number was up which is good but she still wants me to have a colonoscopy done to see if I have any internal bleeding. I had one done 2 years ago and she said I'm on schedule for another one now.
My questions:
1. Did the iron increase my hemoglobin level?
2. Did the fact that it was 3 weeks after my last blood donation contribute to the higher better level?
3. Do I really need another colonoscopy immediately? I have to find the results of my 2022 colonoscopy but I believe the doctor who did it then said I didn't need to come back for 5 years.
You would have to put me under general anesthesia and force feed liver to me. It's not going to happen when I'm awake!!
Thanks!
No help on your questions
Liver is a great way to boost Hg. Fry it with liver and you'll love it
I'd like to ask a quick question (or 3 ) on this thread, I don't want to start a new thread, hope that's okay!
I donate blood every 6 weeks. I donated on 1/15/2024 and had blood tests done by a cardiologist on 1/22/2024. My hemoglobin was 9.4 L (reference range 11.7-15.5 g/dL). He basically told me I have severe anemia and to go to my PCP to get retested. I called the PCP that day and she told me to start taking a low dose of over the counter iron which I did. I had a follow up with the PCP on 2/5/2024 and my hemoglobin number was 11.4 L. PCP told me the number was up which is good but she still wants me to have a colonoscopy done to see if I have any internal bleeding. I had one done 2 years ago and she said I'm on schedule for another one now.
My questions:
1. Did the iron increase my hemoglobin level?
2. Did the fact that it was 3 weeks after my last blood donation contribute to the higher better level?
3. Do I really need another colonoscopy immediately? I have to find the results of my 2022 colonoscopy but I believe the doctor who did it then said I didn't need to come back for 5 years.
You would have to put me under general anesthesia and force feed liver to me. It's not going to happen when I'm awake!!
Thanks!
Without looking at the actual labs one is just speculating here as to what is going on. In general when one donates blood or when one has blood loss of any sorts they lose the red blood cells which contain iron. Most of the body iron is located within the red blood cells. One sees an immediate drop in hemoglobin with a loss of iron that can have consequences down the road. With chronic blood loss one can see depletion of iron resulting in changes of the size and color of the red blood cells implied in iron deficiency. I can tell by the CBC if there is anemia and what type of anemia it is. Iron is needed to increase hemoglobin levels yes. If you don't have enough iron then it becomes a limiting factor.
The body producing 20 milliliters of blood (RBCs) each day. The rise of about 2 grams in hemoglobin is consistent with that production. It is equivalent to 2 units of blood given if a transfusion had taken place. This also calls into question that you lost 2 units of blood down the line. If you have microcytic hypochromic cells then that would indicate a negative balance in iron for some time. If the cells were normochromic normocytic then iron would not be a factor. With the history of many donations the actual iron balance is questionable.
The doctor is concerned about possible masking of anemia from donations vs occult GI bleeding. The rule out scenario of colon cancer in the presence of possible iron deficiency vs low risk negative screening at 5 year intervals. It's like coming up with a positive occult blood and telling the doctor you have hemorrhoids. His take is you go by the rule out scenario via high risk status screening rather than low risk screening.
I don't have a definitive answer for you. The recommendations for colonoscopy are based on low risk vs high risk patients.
I'd like to ask a quick question (or 3 ) on this thread, I don't want to start a new thread, hope that's okay!
I donate blood every 6 weeks. I donated on 1/15/2024 and had blood tests done by a cardiologist on 1/22/2024. My hemoglobin was 9.4 L (reference range 11.7-15.5 g/dL). He basically told me I have severe anemia and to go to my PCP to get retested. I called the PCP that day and she told me to start taking a low dose of over the counter iron which I did. I had a follow up with the PCP on 2/5/2024 and my hemoglobin number was 11.4 L. PCP told me the number was up which is good but she still wants me to have a colonoscopy done to see if I have any internal bleeding. I had one done 2 years ago and she said I'm on schedule for another one now.
My questions:
1. Did the iron increase my hemoglobin level?
2. Did the fact that it was 3 weeks after my last blood donation contribute to the higher better level?
3. Do I really need another colonoscopy immediately? I have to find the results of my 2022 colonoscopy but I believe the doctor who did it then said I didn't need to come back for 5 years.
You would have to put me under general anesthesia and force feed liver to me. It's not going to happen when I'm awake!!
Thanks!
Not to mentioned trying to force you to eat liver while you're sleeping would make you choke on it.
Hard to say if the iron ( especially low dose iron?) itself was able to raise your hemoglobin by two grams within a month, as Medical Lab Guy alluded to it's a multivariable system with lots of players in the mix. Sounds as though your doctor was assuming the anemia was due to iron deficiency, ( that IS the most common type) in instructing you to take iron. Though it's a good idea to run other tests such as iron studies ( serum iron levels, ferritin levels, total iron binding capacity, couple others) to see if it really is iron deficiency before that assumption is made), serum B12 and folate levels ( to rule out these deficiencies as the cause of anemia- in which case, taking additional iron won't help) and going from there.
If I recall correctly the most common cause of iron deficiency is continuing blood loss over time- most often it's GI bleeding in otherwise healthy people, although in younger women it could be caused by excessive menstrual bleeding, increased demands for iron and other components during pregnancy, or in children during periods of rapid growth, not met through diet.
I think they assume it's most likely GI blood loss ( though it could be diet, or decreased absorption of iron) in older people, or post-menopausal women, hence your doctor's thoughts turning to colonoscopies.
Though in your shoes, especially if it's only two years or so since your last one and it was clear, I'd probably ask to have at least one fecal occult blood done ( doesn't have to be a Cologuard, you're looking for blood coming from your colon) and see if those results are positive before I signed up for that colonoscopy- unless the doc is instructing you to get it for some other reason or you're at high risk for colon cancer or some other GI condition. If not, and your occult blood tests are negative, and waaay especially if repeat blood counts show your hemoglobin/hematocrit levels closer to the normal range ( as your last one was), I'd question the need for a colonoscopy at this time.
So if it were me at this point, I'd ask for a repeat blood count maybe in another month or so, see where I was, and get those occult blood tests done, before I went on to further testing.
Hope that helps.
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Update
) on this thread, I don't want to start a new thread, hope that's okay!
I called the PCP that day and she told me to start taking a low dose of over the counter iron which I did. I had a follow up with the PCP on 2/5/2024 and my hemoglobin number was 11.4 L. PCP told me the number was up which is good but she still wants me to have a colonoscopy done to see if I have any internal bleeding. I had one done 2 years ago and she said I'm on schedule for another one now.
