Worried! - Anemia Message Board

supermom3 · 09-24-2007, 06:59 PM

Hi!

My daughter has had fatigue issues for several months (she's 17) we had her blood checked in February and it showed borderline anemia - the doctor we saw for that blood draw suggested going on iron - a month later, we saw her regular doctor, who disagreed because she was barely on the low side of the acceptable range and said she didn't need the iron.

I was recently concerned about the fatigue and wanted her blood drawn again - they called today and said her blood work came back "abnormal" and to call and make a follow-up appt! I called the nurse right away and said, "what is coming up abnormal"? She said her white cells, hemoglobin and hematocrit counts were low, and she wasn't sure what that meant, but that it was most like anemia and that the doctor probably wants to discuss vitamins and/or supplments for her. (I have health anxiety as it is, so I didn't appreciate a voice mail just saying "her results are abnormal, call for a follow-up!

) Anyway, her appt. isn't until Friday - the earliest we could get in - does anyone have any thoughts (reassuring or not) so we can make it through the week mentally?

thanks!
supermom3

Ccdarling30 · 09-24-2007, 09:50 PM

Dear supermom I have the opposite of your daughters counts mine are too high. Don't freak out there are alot of things that mess with cell production. Try giving her some cod liver oil supplements, these help stabilize cell production in the bone marrow and I have found them very helpful. Also salt brings up platlet counts, tomatoes bring up red blood cell counts, I know this because since I have the opposite problem I have to avoid salt and tomatoes. I will say a prayer that god gives you peace and makes your daughter well. I freaked out to and it has been several months and they found nothing but diet problems with me so it may be the same for your daughter, I am overweight so if she is thin and not eating healthy this may be the problem. Hope this helps and wish I could tell you more.

supermom3 · 09-24-2007, 11:16 PM

Hi!

I had my daughter checked in February by getting blood work done due to concern about fatigue - it came back saying she was slightly anemic - her regular doctor a month later said she didn't consider her anemic and to forget about needing to take iron supplements, which the weekend clinic had suggested. (where the blood work was done).

We had her blood work done this past Friday and today they called saying her blood work came back "abnormal" and she needed to schedule a follow-up appt.!

I called and asked the nurse for some explanation and she said her WBC, Hemoglobin and Hemocrit (sp?) were low and that the doctor would probably want to talk to her about vitamins and/or supplements - I made the mistake tonight of surfing the net and am very confused/frightened - everywhere I look on the net, it says low WBC could be a cancer, but my mom had leukemia and her whites were always too high! (she died in 05) - any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! (she has follow-up on Friday - I don't know how to get through the week!)

supermom3

ChristineVA · 09-25-2007, 06:15 AM

I wouldn't worry about a low WBC unless it happens all the time. You often get this little "blips" outside the normal range. It could be in response to anything. Mostly a very HIGH WBC is a problem and no so much a low one.

As for the other matters, she is probably iron deficient. You don't say her age but could she have heavy periods.

FLFLOWERGIRL · 09-25-2007, 07:17 AM

Hi Supermom3--Sorry about your daughters blood results. What a good thing it is that you had her blood tested. Lots of people put this off for one reason or another and end up really sick.

This first thing I would do is get a copy of February's results to compare to now. Also, be sure to get a current copy at her next apt. Usually, this shows a slow decline of HGB which results in anemia. Sounds like your daughter should have been on supplements (like the clinic said) in February. The good thing is that you caught it and CAN most likely fix it with supplements. Now that she is probably IDA I would also ask for a Ferritin test before you leave. That is the storage of iron in the body.

FYI----Let me tell you ahead of time, if they tell her to take supplements, please do her a (((((great favor))))) and ask for something that is well tolerated on the GI system. My daughter is 24, was anemic, they put her on Ferris Sulfate which is really harsh stuff and I couldn't get her to take them. At the time I didn't know there were options. My GI doc said this same thing happened to his daughter and he prescribed Poly Iron 150's for her and it worked well he said. I know first hand that it works also, that is what he prescribed for me. Just ask about this because some docs don't care and you can get really sick from the iron. It may not be an issue, many times it is.

Regarding her WBC I would recheck it later, this does change if your body is fighting something off and then returns to normal. See what her doctor says about it. Try not to worry so much.

Keep us posted and lots of luck to you both! FLFLOWERGIRL