got my blood work back! input please?

i posted a while back about feeling tired a lot...and wondered if i had anemia or some thyroid disorder.

just got my results back yesterday and it turns out i am pretty healthy!  only problems were:

high triglyceride level (non-cholesterol fat in my blood).  this is mainly diet based, but can also partially be caused by my birth control.

secondly, my red blood cell count is low.  now, hemoglobin was borderline ok (12).  this does not indicate anemia, but my dad said a b-12 deficiency?  does anyone have any information or experience with b-12 deficiency?

thanks so much!

My husband has a B12 deficiency. It causes tiredness and pernicuous anaemia. He has an injection every 3 months of B12 as his body can no longer ingest it naturally 

thanks rockydog,

how do you find out whether it just a deficiency in your diet, or if you cannot absorb it properly?

He was taking immune supressant tablets at the time for excema and the pernicuous anaemia was caused by that. He went to tthe doctor complaining of tiredness and went to hospital for various blood tests etc.

You'd probably need to ask your doctor more info

I have a question then a comment on the B-12...when they ran your blood test did they run a FULL blood panel...which would include the total picture?  The reason I mention it is low B-12 is a symptom and so is low folic acid.  Your blood test results can reveal those indications...taking increased levels of B-12 tablets arent a problem (based on medical reports) the excess is excreted through your urine (yellower) however, increased folic acid could be a problem if you over do it so its sort of important to make sure....I take a B-12 and B complex pill daily and the reason I know about the tests etc is I was initially diagnosed with a B-12 or folic acid deficiency however, a full panel blood test later proved that the initial assumption was INCORRECT.  Recommend tlaking to your doctor about the results.

dave98z3,

no i have not had further blood tests yet on the b-12.  it is just speculative at this time, both on the part of my doctor and my dad (who is also a physician)...now i have to get MORE tests done, i am assuming?

i have read that too much folic acid can negate b-12 absorption.

what did your full panel blood test reveal, then?

I recommend talking with your doctor...here is some web sites that talk about both...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folic_acid

http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/ cbc/overview.html

After my initial screening (and over several months) the results didnt indicate any differences so I was referred to a hematologist who has taken several samples and has found that the results that initially were thought to be bad were just my bodys "norm"...the way it was explained to me is the results (bands) are on a bell curve and based on samples, age, etc the machine gives a "normal" range for the samples etc drawn...which may or may not fall into the "normal" if your results come back good or bad...the hematologist can rule out anything by looking through the microscope at the different indicators provided.  Again let me say this only what I know...I am not a doctor so please please please go see your doctor to discuss the possibilty as well as other possibilities.

 

 

thanks!!!

Original Post by notalone:

thanks!!!

 I have been battling with a B12 issue for years now. I get a lot of bruising and I am tired all of the time... For the longest time my doctor just had me take 1000 mcg a day for a couple of months and then she would do another test to see if it went back up. When it did she said I could stop taking the pills and of course a couple of months later it would have dropped right back down again. Recently the bruising got really bad, I had bruises on the palms of my hands and my chest my sandals were even giving me bruises......Now I have to start getting the injections which I heard hurt a lot.

Hopefully you can just fix yours by taking the B12 supplements.

The shots don't hurt bad as long as you have a good nurse. Don't be afraid to ask if the doctor's nurse is good at giving injections. People ask me all the time & I'm not offended. I just tell them to relax their arm really good. You can usually tell because the patients shoulder is up & feels tense. Most people can just take B-12 1000mcg by mouth & do just fine. There are some who do have to take injections.