Borderline anaemia, am I overthinking this?

[Flowerpotprincess]

Recently went to the docs as was having some odd tingling sensations in hands, feet and tongue and had been feeling more run down than usual.

Had a range of bloods done last week which have come back as ‘borderline’ and need to have a follow up call this coming Thursday.

Blood results suggest I may be anaemic with a haemoglobin level of 114, which is not usual for me - mainly lurk around the 125 mark, and have only been 113 when pregnant with my 2 DC 3 and 5 years ago. B12 is normal, haven’t had ferritin checked.

Did a quick google search (definitely shouldn’t have as this has spiked my anxiety) and it suggests heavy periods, restrictive diet and - this is what has sent me spiralling - gastrointestinal bleeding as the main leading causes. My periods are very average and follow a very typical pattern, my diet is not restrictive at all (eat everything!) and I’m definitely not pregnant this time.

Slightly more concerned about the GI bleeding option, as I have a lifelong history of constipation which has been slightly worse than usual for the last year. I had a colonoscopy in 2019 which was completely clear, but understand that this is considered quite out of date now. Had an endoscopy last March which showed one small benign polyp.

Has anyone had unexpected anaemia? I’m really worrying that I should have reported the slight bowel change last year and with the new anaemia could have something serious. It’s keeping me up at night and I’m finding it hard to think of much else 🙁 DH and parents have said they think I’m jumping the gun and need to relax as anaemia is hardly uncommon, but I have a long standing history of health anxiety unfortunately which does mean I tend to catastrophise in such situations.

114 is only very much on the borderline of low so I wouldn't panic that anything sinister is going on. By all means talk to your GP on thursday about your change in bowel habit and that blood result to go through with them and see if they feel it warrants further investigation. As you are having symptoms that caused the blood tests to be taken in the first place, they may wish to do further bloods such as ferritin etc.

It is definitely worth discussing, particularly for your peace of mind but please try not to panic and think the worst.

Thank you for the kind reply - I will definitely mention the change to the GP on Thursday. Hopefully there is an innocent explanation somewhere.

My health anxiety was caused by iron deficiency (though I wasn't anaemic). Lots of people have iron deficiency for all sorts of reasons including being born to mothers who were iron deficient.

I'd recommend joining the Iron Protocol Facebook group. They're the world' biggest patient advocacy group for iron deficiency and their files contain really a helpful guide that tells you everything you need to know about how to get your iron levels up as fast as possible.

facebook.com/groups/theironprotocol/

You should also get your vitamin D tested as low D causes poor absorption of iron.

This is really interesting - my vitamin D levels came back abnormal, and have been abnormal for many years (my mum is exactly the same, think it’s an absorption issue).

Off to check out the FB group, thank you for the advice.

Always low iron, doesn’t matter what I do. Try not to panic. If you do take supplements then take iron with a glass of orange juice as iron also needs vit C for absorption

Do you have any other symptoms? For example are you extremely pale, do you get heart palpitations if you take a shower?

I ask because I recently had a gastro bleed. Apart from the two examples above, I had no symptoms whatsoever. I was diagnosed because I suddenly vomited blood - it looked like coffee grounds.

although if left untreated it can be dangerous, treatment is fairly simple. Camera down your throat, repair made, three or four days in hospital having blood transfusions, an iron infusion and 72 hours of a acid inhibitor intravenously. The consultant was sure I'd had this bleed unnoticed for as long as a couple of years.

it must be horrid to have health anxiety, but keeping away from Google might help - it does tend to give "worse case" scenarios .

you've got a follow up with your doctor so why not take the opportunity to discuss your health anxiety too?

Thank you for the recommendations - I took liquid Spatone with orange juice when I was pregnant as tablets have typically added to the constipation problem so will see if they would be a good option again if needed.

I have had a couple of ‘typical’ symptoms of low iron that I did also have when pregnant - restless legs at night, feeling a bit breathless and a bit tired. Unfortunately I have always had IBS-C so it’s quite difficult to tell if I have changes in bowel habits as it’s often not normal to begin with, but I would say it has been slightly worse than normal. I wouldn’t have put the two together until Google told me it could be a bowel issue causing anaemia, which has now made me panic 🙁

Health anxiety treatment wise, I’ve been on a long road to try and tackle it and sadly nothing rids me of the problem completely. Have tried counselling including CBT and hypnotherapy, and also medication such as sertraline. Sadly it stems from some childhood trauma which has affected the way I cope with medical related issues.

I think you’re overthinking. Anaemia is incredibly common in women.