i see other people have posted their different results and was wondering if any of you kind folks who understand all this stuff could help me make some headway to understanding what's going on in my life! in dec 05-10 months ago my results showed: iron 13;tibc 413;transferrin saturation 3;ferritin 1 it says confirmed by repeat analysis.
wbc 12.6;rbc 3.72 hemoglobin 5.7 -and it again says confirmed by repeat analysis. hematocrit 20.9; mcv 56.1; mgh 15.4; mchc 27.4 platelet count 567;neutroprils, absolute 9766-everything else was in normal range.
as of 9/28 my results are: wbc 12.8; rbc 4.99; hgb 10.5;hct 37.1; mcv 74.4; mchc 29.4 plt 412 and mpv 9.7.
they said its iron deficient anemia but after 10 months of receiving venofer 200 mg on a weekly basis does this make sense? should my numbers (hemoglobin) be much higher? is there anything they might have missed? my b12 was 246 @ end of april. my ferritn was 17 june 22. they still have not been able to find a source of bleeding-i've had every gi workup and its not gyn-is there something the hematologist should be looking at that he hasn't. i'm going nuts already ! if anyone has any ideas i would be forever grateful.

Have they done a Coombs test on you to see if you have Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia? That's what I have - when my hemoglobin went low, my platelets went up and they tested my reticulyte(sp?) count and did the Coombs antibody test. I tested positive - thats why my hemoglobin count was so low - my body was attacking my red cells. No amount of iron would've helped - it took Prednisone.

The other thing they tested me for was lymphoma - I had a cat scan with contrast, and then they did a fine needle biopsy of a suspicious lymph node, but found nothing and determined it's "just" hemolytic anemia.

Hope this helps.
Jill

Your counts DO show significant improvement. I realize that 10 months to you seems like a long time but it takes your body a long time to build a healthy blood supply. Results are never immediate and some take quite a while. Is your dr happy with these results? Are you feeling better? By all means quiz the heck out of the medical staff. That's what they are paid for!

thanks for all responses-thay are happy the numbers seem to be going up but then they slide right back down-maybe now all the iron will start working and i'll feel better i hope so. the dr just called to say my ferritin was 103!
i hope it all just keeps going in the right direction. he said they might give me procrit to boost the red blood cells-ever heard of that? also maybe i'll only have to get the iv every other week or so! take care:wave:

grandkids,I think the OP is right. With a ferritin of 1(no iron stores in the bone marrow) and a hgb of 5.7/Hct of 20.9 to go to a hgb of 10.5/Hct of 37 is pretty good(although I'm sure it seems like an eternity to you!). I am currently getting the Venofer IV weekly too. My hgb was 6.9 and Hct was 24 to begin with in early Sept. Today they drew it and it's on the upswing-hgb is 9 now but I still have to keep going for it every week. I saw my hematologist today and he told me it will take a long time to build back the iron stores because like you,my ferritin was only 2. We'll see how it goes. I have heard of Procrit used to boost up the RBC count. I have a good friend whose Mom is iron deficient and after a bone marrow biopsy and all kind s of tests they determined that she just has pure iron deficiency that doesn't respond to the oral meds. She goes in and sees the hematologist once a month and they give her a shot based on her CBC results. I'd rather do that than have to go every week but they want me to keep getting the Venofer first. I'm perimenopausal and I also have tot ake Prednisone for another medical issue I have. Prednisone eats up your RBC's after taking it for awhile.I hope I don't get another heavy period on top of it all. I can't take BCP's because of high blood pressure and I really don't want to have to have surgery. Oh what a joy! lol. Good Luck with it all! :)

hi shamrock
firstly thanks for responding-i know this sounds terrible but it really feels good to know someone out there can really understand what i'm going through!-although I do hope your issue gets resolved faster and smoother than mine has gone so far! i spoke to another allergist the other day-since the last treatment i had was three weeks ago and they are afraid to treat me again until they know i won't have a bad reaction again-and he scared me silly about all the pred i need to take-he says i'm just exchanging one issue -the ironn deficiency- for another i.e. the prednisone is eating up all my calcium so i'll be at risk for osteoporosis and high blood sugar-diabetes and all the mood swings etc. he suggests i just stop the iron iv force the oral iron down and live with the horrible iron taste- i know i can't live with it but when i try wxplaining it sounds so immature!! i's so tired of not feeling like my old energetic selfe and wish this would all just go away. thanks for listening:(