Hi everybody,
I am so stressed over the fact that I was diagnosed with borderline anemia about a year And a half ago. I had a colonoscopy to rule out that that was the cause of the anemia. Colonoscopy was ok. Mild diverticulosis. I might say I am 60 years old. I have been going thru a very stressful time with what I believe is sciatica and it really has me depressed for 2 and a half months, it literally has me crippled at times. My worry is that because I'm so stressed I have been losing my appetite and my ankles and lower part of my legs feel stiff and tight like I'm retaining fluid. I did one of those home anemia tests a few weeks ago and the results looked like at about 11 hgb. But I'm so obsessed that a couple of weeks after that I did another one and it was a little lower, like 10.3. I'm always asking my hubby if I look pale to him and he says if I did he would tell me, but of course i can't see the color. I'm faired skin to begin with. I was just wondering if anyone could give me some insight to how I feel which is totally miserable. I don't get headaches or shortness of breath.

Back in !998 I was having terrible headaches and couldn't walk to the bathroom without my heart pounding, thats not happening.

Thank you for any responses. Sorry for the long Post but I needed to vent.

Did they pursue the anemia any further than the colonoscopy? Did they do an endoscopy or anything else? Do you know what your Ferritin level is? Ask you Doctor about the Ferritin level. That will tell you if it's iron deficiency or not. There are different kinds of anemia that would cause different symptoms. Weakness in general, I'm not sure about the stiffness. I have stiffness but it's just aging. Our bodies are so complex. Just proof of our wonderful Creator!

Thank you for your reply dh2. On October 12, 2005 my ferritin results were 185.
Does this mean I was iron deficient? According to the printout its supposed to be between 10-291 ng/mL.

Your ferritin level is good. What about TIBC, serum iron, and B12 levels? What was your MCV? Sometimes medical professionals overlook mild anemia, not a wise choice. However, if it was borderline within range, they would have good cause to not look further.

I don't know how reliable those home tests are. Maybe you should go into your medical provider and ask for a CBC (complete blood count). The peace of mind would be worth it. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Back in October 2005 TIBC was 271, MCV was 69.3, in March of 2005 B12 was 415. What is serum iron?

Serum iron is the amount of iron in the blood. Your MCV was definately low. Your B12 is great! Your TIBC is good, towards the lower end of normal. I can understand why they were looking for bleeding, but there can be many causes of low MCV: Lack of iron in the diet, thalassemia (a type of hereditary anemia), and chronic illness are the most common causes of microcytic anemia (low MCV). Chronic illness encompases so many things. Any medications you are taking can affect MCV also.