At my recent gynecologist appointment, they did a simple finger *****. My hemoglobin was 10.2 and they told me that it generally should be around 12-15. I do have some health issues going on such as possible leaky guy syndrome/candidiasis and I do have quite a few symptoms of low iron, so I was wondering if I should follow up with a blood test from my doctor. I was told that the finger ***** test is not always accurate. I do eat quite a bit of iron-containing foods so should I just up the amount of iron I consume, or should I follow up on this with a blood test? I honestly don't know too much about anemia, but was surprised to learn that I do exhibt many of the symptoms.
Thanks,
Katalina

At my recent gynecologist appointment, they did a simple finger *****. My hemoglobin was 10.2 and they told me that it generally should be around 12-15. I do have some health issues going on such as possible leaky guy syndrome/candidiasis and I do have quite a few symptoms of low iron, so I was wondering if I should follow up with a blood test from my doctor. I was told that the finger ***** test is not always accurate. I do eat quite a bit of iron-containing foods so should I just up the amount of iron I consume, or should I follow up on this with a blood test? I honestly don't know too much about anemia, but was surprised to learn that I do exhibt many of the symptoms.
Thanks,
Katalina
If you have IBS or leaky gut syndrome you may be losing more blood than your test indicates. If you can you need to follow up just to be on the safe side. Once the anemia takes over completely you won't have the energy to follow through on things that are important to you.

Losing blood? That confuses me. I didn't think that I was losing blood, just not getting enough iron. I didn't think my hemoglobin was low because I was bleeding, but maybe that's the case? I do have IBS, but I have IBS with constipation, and have never seen blood in my stools. I just figured that I wasn't absorbing my nutrients as well as I should be, and that's why my iron is low. Could you explain what you mean by losing blood? Sorry for my ignorance:)
~Katalina

First of all, you may not be experiencing blood loss, however, if your hemoglobin is low, it means that there is some reason that your iron is low. It is usually from blood loss of some kind, menstrual periods or having a baby, or intestinal bleeding. Microscopic blood is not visible to the naked eye and stool samples can be analyzed for this at a lab. A colonoscopy can locate other areas of inflammation or concern that could contribute to your low hemoglobin.
When you have anemia, or a hemoglobin of less than 11, there is usually a blood loss involved or a failure of the body to replace old blood cells.

Marimac,
Thanks for that. Soon I'll be getting health insurance and will be able to go back to the gastroenterologist, so I will get all of that checked out. I was supposed to have a colonoscopy done quite a while ago, but couldn't due to loss of health insurance. For now, I will try to load up on more iron-rich foods. I sure hope that I don't have blood loss of any kind. Thanks for clearing everything up, you were extremely helpful.
~Katalina