High Blood Pressure & Anemia?

Can anemia and or hormone imbalance contribute to high blood pressure?

I don't know for sure (about the BP), but when I was anemic my BP went a little high. As I got better it only went high at doctors appointments. I also had bad palpitations and tachycardia which is normal I know for anemia. I think that it's all related. I had diagnostic testing to make sure everything was okay. My BP has returned to normal now that my anemia is resolved. FLFLOWERGIRL

Thank you for responding Flower. I think I became low on iron around 4 years ago. At that time my only sypstom was I had a strange craving for eating ice. I didn't give it any thought for about a year or so but the craving got worse. I would make special trips to the store to buy ice. (My ice maker still isn't hocked up). Also, I had hormone imbalance. Every time my docs would try to put me on progestrone I would end up having heavy heavy bleeding. I had blood work done by the GYN but nothing said about low iron. Several months after having some blood work done I had called the GYN office and the nurse mentioned that my iron was low. That was about 18 months after I started craving ice. I spent some time online researching this ice craving thing. No way could that be normal. I found several websites that state craving ice was connected to low iron. I mentioned to my Internist and she had never heard of it. Anyone I went on iron and the craving for ice decreased. This last September-October I got a couple of weeks of heavy bleeding, back came the craving for ice. I just had a cbc and was told the iron was okay but I was low on folic acid. I just don't get it. My chief complaints are fatigue, little energy, lightheadedness, and mild depression. My GYN wants me to increase my effexor but I don't want to. I want to see how the iron pills and prenatal vitamins go first. I think I have a problem aborbing food/nutrients.

That's a good start to try supplements first before increasing the anti's as long as you feel you can handle it. They tried to prescribe these for me but I'm not depressed just anxiety from anemia. Depression is very common from anemia too.

Have you had your ferritin checked because that could also be a problem. That is the iron storage. I have a feeling from your post that you very well may be low.

Maybe lack of folic is causing this I don't know if that's possible. I think that it works with the B-12 but don't know that for sure, maybe you can do a search on folic. Is that why they have you on prenatals for folic acid? Your not pregnant are you? I'm asking because you can have problems with pregnancy if you are deficient in folic. FLFLOWERGIRL

No I am not pregnant. I am 53. Just about 30 minutes ago I felt the racing pounding heart followed up by an axiety attack. Dang. Walking upstairs I even get out of breath and fatiqued. I wonder if these symptoms are related.

The hardest part of having health issues is not having a doctor who will listen. The GYN said he would listen. The 3rd time I saw I noticed he wasn't listening, just telling me what he wants me to do. Because I followed his advise, I ended up having to take time off work. I can't afford to stay home.

I wish I could get a doctor willing to listen and not just want to throw pills at me.

Your symptoms are very much related to deficiency. To be sure I would at least do a Cardio workup with an Internist at min. to R/O anything else. That may stop your panic. Folic Acid deficiency is linked to depression as well. I had to take Xanax for anxiety at doctors visits and for muscle pain in the neck. I took it until the symptom resolved, that one (neck pain) ,was 6 months.

I can't count how many of those doc's I had. I give up on them. They still can't tell me why my symptoms were so bad. My best advice is to do your own research and follow your intuition. Of course the docs tell you NOT to go on the net! Keep us posted! FLFLOWERGIRL

I made an appoinment with a gastroentologist/internal medicine dr. I have never seen this dr before. Oh boy. Bummer thing is I can't get in for 3 1/2 weeks, but it's than no appointment at all.

I made an appoinment with a gastroentologist/internal medicine dr. I have never seen this dr before. Oh boy. Bummer thing is I can't get in for 3 1/2 weeks, but it's than no appointment at all.

I have been very disappointed in the world of doctors. In my late 20's I had problems with dizziness and panic attacks. It took well over 20 doctors and a few misdiagnoses to get some help. AND the help ended up being in physical therapy for postural dizziness do to a horseback riding accident I had when I was 14 plus some emotional/physical child abuse. My PT saved my life, and she did it with the occasional tylenol, Motrin and tons of physical therapy. Had I listened to the doctors who misdiagnosed me, I know for fact I would be dead. The were good at throwing pills at me and draining me and my ex-hubby of our income. Out of 20 plus doctors I would say only 3 listened to me, some didn't even give me eye contact.

Do you know the difference between God and a doctor?

God knows he is not a doctor.

That's too funny! I also had to wait 3 weeks to get in. They are really busy because the also do the diagnostic testing on the days that their not in the office or both. It's good that you got an appointment with a gastro doc, I think they are rather good docs. The one that I went to dismissed me because I was a risk for him and he said he wasn't taking it. He is the one that sent me to a Hemo doc. I got really sick from the iron and then the GI gave me something for that and it made me worse. That was when he was about to prescribe iron injections and renegged and lied about it. I really hate to say negative things about docs (or anything), but it is the truth. I know that he IS a great doctor at diagnosing because my husband has HH an iron overload disorder and he treats him for it. He is the one that found it and saved my husbands life. He was told by his PCP that he had Hep C, NOT! So I understand exactly what your saying.

There are some good posts here on colonoscopy if you use the search box at the top. That is IF you have that procedure. Good luck to you. FLFLOWERGIRL

Terry,
I have hemolytic anemia, which when it's bad, it lowers my B12 folic acid and hemoglobin counts. I've never had high blood pressure until my B12 and folic acid levels started being low - I keep asking anyone who'll listen if they think it's related and they all say no, but it is awfully strange that when my B12 and folic acid levels are good, my BP is fine. The BP isn't awfully high, but my bp used to be low all the time. It's so strange! I get the heart palps, owl hooting in my ear when my counts are screwy.

I've come to the conclusion that all those things are related, and when one level gets out of whack, everything else follows.

Jill