Blood test results

[CatteryCatz]

I’ve had my blood test results and they look rather worrying. I’ve been prescribed ferrous fumarate for anemia.

Is there anything else I can do to improve these results etc.

Do you have heavy periods? If not, ask them to investigate why your iron is low -assuming you have a decent, balanced diet.

Get some dulcoEase (not dulcoLax) or fybogel or something. Ferrous fumerate can cause awful constipation. A couple of kiwi fruit every day can help. Taking iron with OJ can help boost absorption.

Iron bisglycinate has better bioavailability than ferrous fumerate, and less gastric side effects, but you would have to find a high strength one and buy OTC.
I hope you feel better soon

I’m don’t think my periods are particularly heavy. My GP suspects it might be because I’m a vegetarian. I always said I’d eat meat again if it ever impacted my health. It’s a tough decision to make now that I’m in this situation.

Thank you for such a detailed response!

Can’t advise about the rest but have a history of taking ff for low ferritin. Take ff every other day, not daily. Guidance changed years ago (I was lucky to stumble across a newly qualified gp who had recently spent time in haematology who told me this) but so many gp’s don’t seem to know this until you mention it. There’s research that shows taking it daily decreases absorption compared to 1 every 2 days. That’s why it causes so many gut issues, a huge chunk isn’t absorbed. And take it with vitamin c (lots of people say orange juice but I just take it with a vitamin c tablet).

My ferritin was always on the low side - moved to a higher protein diet with meat sources.

GP said my ferritin stores were really good, much better than anyone she sees in my age group.

Other factors will still play a role in fatigue- adequate sleep, sufficient carbohydrate intake.

Upload to chatgpt. I had a huge results lists and it broke it down really simply for me.

Gosh, you must feel terrible with ferritin levels that low. Mine get low but not that low!

Hopefully a GP will chat through them with you. You need to take the FF every other day, with vitamin c. Avoid having tea or coffee at the same time.

If it's persistent, the GP should do further investigations to find out why.

Basically it shows iron deficiency anaemia. Your ferritin (iron stores) are very low. You are mildly anaemic (that’s the Hb), and the haematocrit shows not as much of your blood is made up of red blood cells, which is basically the same thing. When your body doesn’t have enough iron it makes smaller paler red blood cells, which is what the MCV and MCH mean. So basically all the numbers say the same thing: your iron levels are very low, and it’s starting to affect your blood count.

Admittedly, I have been feeling rubbish lately. My symptoms could be explained away by my other health conditions (I have depression, anxiety and asthma too.)

Thank goodness my GP is fantastic and suggested a blood test.