Ok, now I'm getting ticked!

[mommy4ever]

Perhaps reading too much into this, perhaps not. I'm ready to kick the dr. in the kneecap, but my ankle hurts so I won't.

I got blood tests last week. Thyroid is doing great, right where I like it, where I feel best. HOWEVER, my iron sucks. I have iron stores at my lowest right now. Sit down, get ready. My level is 1. Yes 1, not a typo, that is 8% of the lowest "normal" range. So nearly non existant. My hemoglobin is low, cell size is small. So over all pretty crappy blood. So the dr asks if I'd like to investigate why, if there were any family conditions, was I vegetarian, etc. Family conditions, hypothyroid(mom, bro#1 and me) and I'm monitored and at excellent levels. MS(bro#2)-not sure that is anemia related. Vitiligo(bro#1) - no link to anemia. Not vegetarian, eat a pretty well balanced diet. Asked if stools were black, nope. Was there blood during bowel movement-nope. Did I have heavy period, used to be extreme, lately not so bad..... maybe cause I have none! Ok, and he sends me on my way.

WTF? that was investigating?

So I asked for a copy of my test results and move on.

Anyone have any ideas? Am I tired, sure, I have 4 kids, run a home daycare, team manager, school volunteer, cadet volunteer, bingo worked. Who wouldn't be tired. Am I exhausted to the point I can't function, hell no. It is possible that I've always been low(first tested at 17 and was anemic badly then) so just function as I am, and it's my personality to just work through it, perhaps I am sick and just don't acknowledge it??

I don't understand why my iron is soooo low. I don't feel sickly. Not usually..lol. Perhaps I don't have time.

Is there anything I should be investigating? Anemia is usually a symptom of something. I don't have cancer at this point in my life, no chemo, no ulcers. I need to know what questions to ask.

I have an appointment with my TDCM tomorrow, he'll get a copy of the test results. He's gonna shake his head, and then we start investigating, because the conventional dr. isn't doing much for me.

[Debbie-cat]

Anemia is not necessarily a sign that something is wrong. I have been anemic for about 18 years. You need to take iron. That is why you are so tired. With your blood so low, it affects your energy level. I take over the counter iron pills and it helps alot.

[mommy4ever]

I take iron 3 times a day, as per the dr recommendation. My body doesn't absorb it. There's something more going on...

[IntlMom]

I freak my docs out every time I get blood work done....low iron, low potassium, and low white blood cell count. they've done MRIs, Xrays, more tests than I knew was possible. the result?? humph! that must be normal for your body?? sheesh!! I paid how much money, and the doctors went to school for how many years to tell me that????

[mommy4ever]

IntlMom, so I'm not alone.

Other things are fine in the blood. B12, Potassium, wbc, not rbc(but not size..lol). I've been told, that might just be your norm too, I don't accept that. Sometimes, they are total morons. See what the TDCM (traditional Dr. of chinese medicine) says tomorrow. I've been low but NEVER this low before.

[mauimagic]

Over 35 years ago, I needed to take iron and the dr. recommeded that I take something else with it to help absorbtion - cannot remember what that was, but it may be worth it to check on.

Please let us know what the Chinese Medicine Doctor comes up with.

[mamamia]

I was told for best absorbsion (sp?), to eat citrus fruit or drink citrus juice with iron tabs. If not, at least high vitamin C supplements.

Hope you feel better soon. I have low iron too (for years), and understand the sluggishness only too well

Theresa

[Palooka]

Funny thing they ask if you are a vegetarian. I have been one for years and my blood work is perfect and I had it checked last month. Even people that eat meat can low levels of iron and b12 just like vegans don't always deal with low levels also.

Is your iron pill a slow FE kind? That makes it better for your body to absord and yes to the vitamin C with it. They work together.

[quilting2day2]

I have had annemia , Why who knows just did. my count was just a number or 2 above yours . My dr. put me on an over the counter iron called Slow FE . 2 x a day for 3 months than a blood check . ect. till it was up. I finally realized mine was low when I went to bed with flannel pajamas, socks (which I dont wear to bed), my house coat, 4 blankets and a sleeping bag. My husband freaked . but I was so cold. lol
It is better now though

[Jayne]

You say you had bad periods?..but now none...Hysterectomy or menopause?...It can take a while for iron to build back up in your system...sorry your feeling so crappy

[madhen]

I am not technically anemic, but my iron count is always below normal. Apparently, there are other issues that have to be at play for you to be considered medically anemic. I get deferred about every other visit when I try to donate blood, because I fail the iron count test.

I took iron supplements for a while (close to six months), but never really noticed a difference in how I felt, so I don't anymore. I have also been told that Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron.

My doctor has also blamed my low iron count on my diet - very VERY little red meat. But it is not life-threatening, and while low iron count can be an indicator of something else going on, it can also be an indicator that NOTHING else is going on, and you just have a low iron count. I am healthy as a horse, and every year, when I get my comprehensive physical, they fuss around me and say they wish ALL their patients were as healthy. I just have very low iron, a larger-than-average thyroid gland, lower-than-average body temperature, and lower-than-average blood pressure.

Every once in a while, a doctor gets it into his head to "investigate," and I am put through a series of unnecessary and costly tests to get to the bottom of my "different than average" count, and it ultimately results in them finding nothing of concern. I have had more thyroid tests that I can count, because every couple of years, I'll get a new doctor along the way who decides that there just HAS to be something going on, despite my history, and I get to start popping radioactive iodine pills to prove him wrong.

So I don't know if I'd be ticked off at your GP. He asked the really important questions, basically trying to determine if there were any nutritional or disease-related reasons for your low count. You answered in a way that made him comfortable that you aren't bleeding internally or genetically predisposed to a blood-related illness. A lot of people just flat out have low iron, for no reason other than that they are built that way.

[mommy4ever]

I've used the slow FE, it didn't do anything. I've had injections, it didn't do anything but make me look battered. I had luck with a Iron complex)iron, b12 and folic acid), that's no longer working. They gave a prescription that I"ve been on, taking it 2 tables 3 times a day. No change.

I take it with orange juice, tomato juice. doesn't change. Something has changed in the last few years that I can't recover from this. Before my last baby, I'd lost one, hemorrhaged, and had emergency surgery.

I recovered in just 6 weeks from the massive blood loss. However, a few months later is started going down, and I've not been able to recover(except during the last pregnancy...go figure, only time I don't need to take iron, I'm fine) After that it's been a steady decline of iron stores. My strongest in the last 6 years was an 8. 1/2 of where it should be.

[mommy4ever]

You say you had bad periods?..but now none...Hysterectomy or menopause?...It can take a while for iron to build back up in your system...sorry your feeling so crappy

Sorry, I wasn't clear, I have all my body parts, but the violent periods have stopped, they are more "normal" now, still one heavy day but after that really light.

[mommy4ever]

We got more lab tests today. I'm vitamin C deficient, protein deficient. the TDCM is sending me to back to the Dr to get some other lab work done. He suspects I have an intestinal infection that is preventing me from absorbing nutrients. He's giving some acidopholus to start, with vitamin C to supplement the iron. And wait on the next lab results from the next series of tests.

But I feel better knowing that action is being taken to resolve this.

And we go from there.

[IntlMom]

Thanks for checking back in with us. Doesn't sound like anything too scary, but still glad they are on top of it!