Help me understand- anaemia.

[samsmam]

I gave birth just over 6 months ago and have in the last three months been losing lots of hair and feeling generally tired. I wentto GP and had blood tests and my Hb came back as 12.1 (apparently just within low limit) but my MCV came back at 71% and I think it was my actual iron part was 4 (normal range abov 7??) I now have iron three times a day. Can anyone help me understand if my Hb is ok how am I still anaemic? Sorry if anyone is confused by my rambling question!?

Hi
Normal hb levels roughly are between say 11 and 14.
Say someone has an Hb of 10.5 but an mcv of 88 they prob wont need iron tabs.Thats because mcv is mean cell volume.
Basically your hb is the oxygen carrying capacity of your blood cell.If your mcv is up to a good level you should be fine but if not you need iron as the oxygen carrying capacity of the red bloods cells you have is reduced ! Make some sense ?
3 iron tabs is quite a lot and there is research to suggest the body may only actually absorb max of 2 a day, the excess resulting sometimes in unwanted side effects like the runs.
I would ask your gp for a full folate assay and def. get your thyroid checked too.What you describe just could be hypothyroidism-common after childbirth with side effects such as yours.
Hope you feel better soon.