 Iron Deficiency Anemia help. Recent labs.
I was diagnosed with IDA in July due to having gastric bypass 5 years ago and not supplementing. I've been taking 250mg elemental iron and 3 Proferrin for 8 weeks now. Actually I've been taking 300mg elemental a day for the last two weeks, but it took some time to work up to these levels so 250mg is about average. I wonder if these results are about typical? My Hemoglobin and Hematocrit are coming up nicely, but ferritin and serum iron sucks! Many of my symptoms are going away though. No more restless legs or heart palpitations. Sometimes I get short of breath, but only on exertion. I still get tired easily, but I can run errands all day. In July, I had to take a nap after making myself a sandwich! I also live and work at altitude (9,000ft-11,000ft) in the Rockies. I'd love some input on these numbers.
Here’s my before and after numbers:
7/29/2012
WBC: 4.3
RBC: 5.13
Hemoglobin: 10.6 LOW
Hematocrit: 34.9
MCV: 68 LOW
MCH: 20.7 LOW
MCHC: 30.4 LOW
RDW: 15.9 HIGH
Platelets: 422 HIGH
Lymphs: 44%
TIBC: 428
UIBC: 410 HIGH
Iron, Serum: 18 LOW
Iron Saturation: 4% LOW
Ferritin: 3 LOW
10/1/2012
WBC: 6.0
RBC: 5.73 HIGH
Hemoglobin: 12.0
Hematocrit: 38.1
MCV: 67 LOW
MCH: 20.9 LOW
MCHC: 31.5
RDW: 18.6 HIGH
Platelets: 436 HIGH
Lymphs: 48% HIGH
TIBC: 454 HIGH
UIBC: 429 HIGH
Iron, Serum: 25 LOW
Iron Saturation: 6% LOW
Ferritin: 6 LOW
Also! My B12 is normal at 1400 (Gastric bypass patients need to keep B12 between 1000 and 2000) and Folate is 11.5. I take all my vitamins like I'm supposed to, everything else is just fine (except K1 and D are a little on the low side but I expected as much from them two) but my surgeon told me not to take iron at all unless I was heavily menstruating and even then to limit it to about 30mg a day... boy was he dumb! Great with a scalpel though. Anyway, that's how I got to this point.
Is this good, bad, or what?
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