Haemoglobin of 3 - how bad is this?

[Bloodless]

Been called in to see Dr during the week so I’ll know more then.

Don’t think I’m loosing blood internally or anything like that (I feel far too well, although tired) - I think I just have bad blood. Think the best it’s ever been is borderline.

Literally just back from the hospital with my friend- she was found to have Iron level 2, Ferritin 5, on Thursday morning. Went straight in and has had 3 transfusions.
But to be honest, prior to the results being phoned through, she'd just been having headaches for a while and feeling a bit 'off'...
They've found no internal bleeding or other 'reason' as yet.

So maybe we are all built differently and you've coped somehow- but either way, get to the Dr/ A&E!!

Also- @Reallybadidea I haven't lived in the UK for a while, but I'm not sure which my money would be on TBH, had plenty of near misses when I did live there.

Iron infusions are much more common now than they were and you should probably have one.

It sounds like you never replaced your iron stores the last time, you just about got your Haemaglobin up but didn't manage to replace your stores (you need to carry on taking iron for a long time after your Haemaglobin is normal to replace your stores, not just the amount you have in your blood). And then when you stopped taking iron you just drifted back to a mess as your diet isn't adequate and you lose blood from your periods.

It is possible to have adequate iron from a vegetarian diet but you need to put the effort in to eat iron-rich foods and you clearly need to do that and radically rethink your diet.

Also you may not think your periods are heavy but then none of us really see what another woman's periods are like - so you could still be on the heavy end of the scale and just think it's normal for you.

Yes, but my point is that I think it's far more likely for a receptionist to have misunderstood the blood results. Particularly as they reported them as '3' which is not how Hb is normally measured now.

I wonder if the receptionist reported your red cell count, rather than your haemoglobin count? The haemoglobin count in an adult female should be at least 11.5, and 3.0 would be an emergency. The red cell count should be at least 3.8, so 3 would be low but not an emergency. (I'm ot a medic, but have sometimes been on medication that requires monitoring through blood tests.) But you need to discuss it with a doctor. If they're not seeing you instantly, it's unlikely to be a true emergency.

When did she ring? If today, phone back and clarify, if not and you're feeling ok phone first thing in the morning to clarify.

Also we tend to use the terminology hb of 130 instead of 13 these days it’s quite old fashioned to refer to it as 3 are you sure you didn’t miss the first half of what she said and it’s actually 83 ?

Haemoglobin of 3 is a life threatening medical emergency.

If you lost the equivalent of 4 pints of blood, you’d be very poorly. An average women has around 10 pints.

I think you need to phone back and get some urgent advice.

With this level, please call in at a&e or urgent care centre to get bloods taken today (especially if there is no clear instructions about the result). At worst they will re check the bloods and monitor you pulse, bp etc. If this is a hospital you have had bloods at before they should have historic values and be able to interpret it more clearly. Hb of 30 chronically is less worrying than an acute drop of 60 to 30 (though 30 is a very low value in itself and I suspect they would keep you in to monitor). Any previous letters/printed results from your gp would be helpful to them. Also be prepared for a wait, but probably go to be safe? Call 111 if unsure.

Could she have said 113? 3 is impossible to life as PP

When I lost 6.5 pints of blood giving birth my levels were at 48. I felt awful. Like i could die at any minute (not an exaggeration) 3 transfusions later and i still felt rough and was on iron for a long long time. There has been a mistake with your results or the receptionist told you them wrong. They would of had you in hospital for 3 (or 30).

Something is not right here OP

Haemoglobin are not reported that way any more, and a receptionist isn't going to convert a report from old terminology to new terminology, they just read the results to you from the report

If your haemoglobin really was 30 (or 3 in old terminology) and your GP hasn't done anything about it immediately then they're seriously negligent. Yes some GPs are shite, but not this kind of shite - that's blatantly sending someone home who could drop dead any moment, not ignorantly dismissing say gastric upsets as nothing when it's something more serious, which is obviously not great either but not in the same league as send dismissing a haemoglobin of 30

Again, if your haemoglobin was 30 you'd feel really shite. You'd have trouble standing up, be extremely breathless and feel dizzy. Yes people can adjust over long periods to lower haemoglobins, but even chronic sickle patients who can cope with chronic haemoglobins of 70/60 would be in hospital with one of 30.

There’s a mistake here somewhere.

The last person I saw with a Hb of 3 was in A&E. She wasn't talking and certainly wouldn't have been at home and posting online.
I feel sure there must be a mistake.
This is why I don't agree with clerical staff giving patients lab results.
I have had incorrect information given to me under the same circumstances regarding culture and sensitivity following a urine test.

Holy shit, 3? I've just looked at my last lot of tests and the normal range is 115-155. Are you sure that's what she said?

Yup, something's gone wrong in the comms there. I was admitted to hospital and given two blood transfusions with levels of 59 after giving birth. I didn't have any particular symptoms (well, was knackered, I had a four day old!), and only went to hospital for infected stitches. They put a "?" by the test results because they thought it was erroneous given I was still standing and moving around with no issues. 30 would definitely be an emergency, let alone 3!

I am talking back in the day when we used the old values BTW.
3 in current values would be non-existent and the person would definitely be dead.
Perhaps it is the ferritin. Low ferritin is associated with anaemia.

It can’t be 3, or you’d be dead. My money’s on 30 and the receptionist read it out wrong.

Op please go to A&E now.

I haemorrhaged after giving birth, unfortunately my blood loss was ignored and I was sent up to the regular ward. 6 hours later I went into Hypovolemic shock. My HB was 3.7. Had I not been in a hospital I would have died.

You’re H.B probably is that low but things can go downhill rapidly. Please go and have yourself checked.

Hb not H.B!

30 wouldn't make sense either.
Dangerously high in old values, dangerously low in current values.
Somebody medical needs to look at the lab report, but how that happens on a bank holiday is a problem.
Whatever happens, the practice manager needs to look into this.
Maybe the best thing would be for OP to ring the NHS advice service in her area.

That’s very low yes. Although I know a little girl who was born with a haemoglobin of 0 (no joke) she had no blood. But miraculously she survived!!

Mine was 7.5 when pregnant, I had iron through a drip as I was quite poorly.

I think somebody, somewhere has got the wrong end of the stick Youngandfree, because it is impossible to survive with no blood at all.

@Reallybadidea
www.google.ie/amp/s/amp.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/born-with-no-blood-miracle-maisy-is-a-born-survivor-295318.html

Read for yourself, I know the family extremely well.