I have had several types of morphed red blood cells over the years with my anemia. The last blood test showed teardrop cells and polychromasia. Anyone out there with the same thing? Were you able to get a good, clear answer out of your doctor about these types of cells? I have researched them as much as I can, but my doctor "pooh-pooh's" them everytime I ask. He just says that I'm anemic. No duh!!! I remind him that anemia is not a diagnosis...but a symptom. Anyone with extreme anemia like mine should at least know why. Don't you find it funny that we all go to doctors for our condition but beg each other for answers that we can't get from them. (p.s. I am in the medical field.:rolleyes: )

Hi Steph!

I don't know much about those cells and I have not heard that mine are teardrop. But you are correct about the physicians. They really do not have an answer for you. They do all the required testing and if that doesn't show anything, then oh well, you just don't absorb iron or you are just one of those people. Unfortunately, as we can see by this message board that there is a lot of "those people" with no answers. I am convinced that medicine is trial and error and if they can not find anything with the typical studies then they do not know what to do with you. I too work in the medical field at a children's hospital with many specialist, one who calls me a medical nightmare :dizzy: Well I guess we need to keep on and be our own advocates. Good luck and keep us posted.
Phyllis

Phyllis, I am lucky that I work in integrative medicine...at a wellness center. We are always thinking outside of the box. I do my best to answer ALL questions not answered by the doctor. The doctor I work with is an EXCEPTIONAL doctor. He is an OB/GYN and he spends as much time as he can answering questions for hormonal women! He is great at it...so don't get me wrong, SOME doctors are trying to help people. Unfortunately, my anemia has both of us scratching our heads. I lie when I go to the doctor and don't tell them that I am a physician, too. I absolutely hate it when they talk down to me and withhold information from me. I simply want an answer to why I am anemic. I eat organic, take vitamins, get IV vitamins weekly! I even took RX iron for over a year - and my iron continued to drop. It is so hard to compassionately listen to people tell me how tired and run-down they are when I can hardly drag myself out of bed in the morning. My family is sick and tired of hearing about how sick and tired I really am. (I am laughing while I write this!) A patient was telling me how her family doesn't listen and blah, blah, blah, and that she joined a medical health board and writes with other that have her same condition. Actually, I thought "what a wonderful idea!" I used to think that these message boards were for people who wanted to whine about their condition. Now I know that information and support is being exchanged. What a concept! Take care.

Hi Steph:

I really appreciate these message boards. It just nice to know that you are not alone and you can get a lot of info. They are very therapeutic.

I was bummed yesterday. I have been getting IV venofer for 6 weeks, my hgb got up to 10.1 and yesterday it went down to 9.8. Whats that all about?
I just don't know and neither does anyone else. Oh Well. Keep on plugging.
Take care.

Phyllis

Do you still have cycles? Did the same lab company perform both lab tests? What is venefor? I am not certain of the iron IV that I receive. All I know is that it looked like prune juice!!! Is venefor like that? I am just a week into my first infusion and haven't even thought about drawing any bloodwork so I don't even know if it is normal for the levels to go up and down during treatment. Is your ferritin level going up?

Hi Steph:

Yes I still have cycles and I don't think that they are that heavy, compared to some other people I know. I am not running to change every hour.
I could have spelled it wrong, but its Venofur or something like that. It does look like prune juice. The infusion is done in the hem/onc office and takes about 45 minutes to run. They monitor my blood pressure and I usually just take a little nap. I do feel kind of yucky the next two days, tired and achy.
They run a CBC before each infusion. Now that I finished that round, in two weeks the physician wants a complete iron workup, with ferritin, CBC and TIBC. I am curious to see if the ferritin went up, but I know it can take a long time. Take care.

Phyllis