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blood test results identifying anaemia

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Bev18

Well-Known Member
Messages
181
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Does anyone understand anaemia blood results, because i cant find information that makes sense having tried Mr Google.

Its for my mum, blood test 2 weeks ago was 98 (whatevers) , tests took last week she got them back today are 88. Doctors are worried, referring her to local hospital as an emergency and said usually readings that low result in a blood transfusion. They told her average reading should 130 (don't know in what measurement).

They will also refer for endoscopy and colonoscopy to rule out internal bleeding i suppose as she does have a hiatus hernia.

They're not even putting her on iron tablets as it wouldn't work fast enough. In the old days they would give an iron injection, she remembers having them when she was pregnant with me, so maybe there's an anaemic pre-disposition anyway.

She made me laugh saying that she's even been trying low carb (her version anyway) and has eaten more veg and protein. My DSN is her practice nurse and said no amount of Spinach or high iron veg is going to help with this.

Thanks
 
What I would suggest is asking the surgery for a print out of her blood results then you know exactly where you are. It sounds like it may be her haemoglobin count, but can't be certain on this. If it is, it should be between 115 to 165g/l but please don't take my word for it, ask for the details.
 
Will do Bluetit, as half the time she gets mixed up with it as well.

thanks
 
Usually they think about a blood transfusion around the 8 mark for haemoglobin depending on other symptoms like oxygen levels. There's different types of anemia and different reasons for it developing, so it isn't always iron deficiency which is the cause of it especially if her ferritin level is within normal limits.

They'll need to investigate if a small intermittent bleed in the stomach is the reason behind the anemia. This can happen without noticing any visible blood from the bowel as such, and is a common cause of it , so they tend to rule it out first, in the absence of other irregular blood cell results like certain white cells, and size and shape of the red cells.

A blood transfusion meantime is the quickest way to restore normal levels and should help in the short term with symptoms of tiredness., breathlessness etc. and hopefully your Mum will feel a bit better after it. But obviously if there was a bleed ithe level will eventually go back down again, which is why it's important to rule out the cause, as anemia is a symptom of something not working somewhere in the body.

I've been anaemic for years now, told it's anemia of chronic disease caused by effect of diabetes, but usually this type idoesn't drop as low as 8, and the lowest I've been was down at 9, but I felt awful at the time.

Hope they get to the bottom of it and get her sorted soon.
 
Thats really helpful Adele, i've asked her to get a blood print out. She was having these extreme sweat attacks has them on and off for couple of years that i remember, one stupid GP at her old GP said it could still be remnants of menopause, mum's 69 now so even couple of years ago was highly unlikely.

What she does suffer from is suddenly nodding off with no warning, and being really confused when she wakes up and is very tired then sleeps, then cant sleep at night and she has painful legs which is they start hurting at 3pm she knows she wont sleep all night due to the pain. Possibly its all linking to each other.
 
Has she had folate and vitamin B12 checked? As lack of them can cause anaemia, leg pain and tiredness, among other things.

You will need to check her lab test print out for MCV, MCH, EPV, Ferritin and some other tests relating to blood cell size and iron stores.
 
She had about 8 bottles of blood taken including calcium she said. The hospital rang her with an appointment it's on a Sunday 24 August which I was surprised about I thought she'd misheard, so will wait for the letter confirming it. I'll go with her.
 
That level of anaemia can cause several horrible symptoms dependent on other factors in the persons health like narrowed arteries etc, because basically the blood doesn't contain enough oxygen , so anything physical is much harder to accomplish . And if there is also the problem of narrowing in any of the arteries it makes things worse. That's why it affected me so much.

Also possible to feel really tired after eating or falling asleep as blood is diverted to the stomach so less going to brain etc. may also contribute to her being a bit confused, it's hard to say as other things can cause this and a lot could depend on her general state of health. Ie other conditions which can interact etc. certainly even my level of anaemia affects me, to a certain extent and my current level is 10.4 higher than your MUms.

If you mum is diabetic, high blood sugars thicken the blood making it harder to get anywhere and will make things worse, so important to keep them steady .

Meantime don't let them off the hook with getting to the bottom of what's causing this, kidney problems can also cause anemia if levels of erythropoietin are reduced as they stimulate I the manufacture of red blood cells, but they should be able to tell from other blood tests they do whether this is a possible cause or not. The sooner it's fixed or improved the better she'll feel.
 
many thanks Adele for your advice, it helps me understand a lot more. I know diddly squat about anemia but am sure she's had it low like this before

At the moment she isn't diabetic but has attacks of drinking a lot then needing lots of wee's.

But nowhere near as bad as i was so now i randomly do the finger prick test for her just to see.

Then when i've moaned at her to get HBA1C done just in case they always say its borderline. i've never seen the results though so its quite frustrating. And of course she wont think to ask for more details, i've even written a list for her lol of what to ask or could it be this, that or the other but then she forgets.

I must say though that this surgery she moved to are 100 times better its just a shame she didn't move years ago.
 
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