Re: Ferritin/Anemia--THIS IS INTERESTING

[Guest guest]

(((((((((()))))))) These abnormalities are what caused the neurologist

to send me to an oncologist as they thought I had Multiple

Myloma(spelling*)due to the irregularities. The oncologist did not think so,

but He wanted to keep a close check in case I did develop that.(Which, BTW

was considered an auto-immune disease before classified as a blood

cancer)The oncologist then sent me to get checked for AS.The skeletal x-rays

proved negative.

When I was in the hospital with a hg of 8, I too, have been a red meat

eater,and spinach.

Hugs, Feisty

> When my CBCs suddenly popped up with screwed up values for the RBCS, the

MCV, MCHC, and some others, I got busy finding out what the difference was

between all these anemias, since my ferritin and serum iron were very good,

but not ridiculously high. This was the first time that I had to cope with

this one, through all my yrs of having babies, and the first yrs of

hypo-hyper with Hashi's. From all these articles that I had posted on the

sbjct, they all said that long ongoing hypothyroidism could eventually cause

this. It didn't appear in my general testing with HealthCheck until the

first week of this March. I had been having problems with adjustment of the

Armour for probably 6 months before that, just now discovered the high

Hashi's antibodies, and I know that I was undertreated with synthetics

during the last 4 or 5 yrs. It did say that these two types of anemias (B12

and Folic Acid) would not appear in the blood work until there was already a

critical problem. These two tests are not part of a routine CBC, you have

to run them separately, if the doc even thinks to run them with our

complaints of fatigue, brain fog, etc....It frightened me to the point of

researching the anemias, which I knew nothing about before this (other than

iron anemia). It said in every article I went to that, any ongoing chronic

disease could eventually cause this, but who would think to have these two

tests run, unless you already know it!? Mine ended up not being the B12,

rather the Folic Acid. What's scary is that we can have one or both of

these two anemias for 10-30 yrs, without them ever registering on our CBCs.

When they finally do, it's pretty darn serious stuff! I'm taking around

1000 mcgs of liquid B12, and double the requirements of Folic Acid, just to

make sure. Then, when I get my testing again, I will see whether I need to

cut back on either one of them. If we are unsure of the lab value of B12,

there is another test that can help determine it, something called

malomalonic? Also, the homocysteine value helps determine whether we might

need more Folic Acid, if we're unsure of the serum and RBC Folate values.

With a B12 shortage, I would also opt for testing for the antibody to

parietal cells and intrinsic factor, just in case it was caused by

absorption problems there in the gut. It puzzled me that it could be the

B12, unless it was an absorption problem, because I am a strong red meat

eater. The Folic Acid I took very seriously because I do not like to eat

tons of green veggies, at least not enough to cover a shortage, but you can

bet your bippie that I got busy eating them then!!

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hmmm. Wonder if your circulating anemia is related to hypo. SO many

mysteries, here!! Janie

> I am one that has been dxed with Hemolytic anemia.

> Feisty

[Guest guest]

Your post contains very crucial info, !! I am amazed. And what

just ticks me off after reading it is that I spent 17 miserable years

on INADEQUATE treatment (synthroid/levoxyl), which is NO different in

my eyes to what you said about " ongoing chronic disease " . And which

could be what has screwed up my Ferritin, EVEN when I am on an

optimal dose of Armour!!! There is an absorption issue going on here

with many of us. Makes me wonder if I should get my B-12 and Folic

acid tested....hmmmmm

Janie

>It said in every article I went to that, any ongoing chronic disease

>could eventually cause this, but who would think to have these two

>tests run, unless you already know it!? Mine ended up not being the

>B12, rather the Folic Acid. What's scary is that we can have one or

>both of these two anemias for 10-30 yrs, without them ever

>registering on our CBCs. When they finally do, it's pretty darn

>serious stuff! I'm taking around 1000 mcgs of liquid B12, and

>double the requirements of Folic Acid, just to make sure. Then,

>when I get my testing again, I will see whether I need to cut back

>on either one of them. If we are unsure of the lab value of B12,

>there is another test that can help determine it, something called

>malomalonic? Also, the homocysteine value helps determine whether

>we might need more Folic Acid, if we're unsure of the serum and RBC

>Folate values. With a B12 shortage, I would also opt for testing

>for the antibody to parietal cells and intrinsic factor, just in

>case it was caused by absorption problems there in the gut. It

>puzzled me that it could be the B12, unless it was an absorption

>problem, because I am a strong red meat eater.

[Guest guest]

This is why I did so many posts on anemia, after I discovered my own. I had no

idea that this could be such a problem with hypo that has been there

awhile,i.e., you could have knocked me over with a feather! Let me look for

those links, but you can google " different types of anemia with hypothyroidism "

and probably come up with oodles of them. The deal is that the problem probably

doesn't appear right away, but because of the length of illness, the body

eventually slows down the transport of the oxygen to the cells, causing the

hemoglobin to wax and wane, with iron anemia. Same thing with B12 and Folate,

except, with B12, it's either going to be a case of never eating red meat, OR,

as you said, autoimmune antibodies attacking the intrinsic factor or the rest of

the gut (Celiac type illness). Some of the links sort of suggested which came

first, the chicken or the egg---did the nutritional shortages help cause the

thyroid problems or did the thyroid hormone shortage help form the anemias? I

don't think it's always clear which one, and we know that thyroid disease has a

huge mixture of causes, anyway.

Re: Ferritin/Anemia--THIS IS INTERESTING

Your post contains very crucial info, !! I am amazed. And what

just ticks me off after reading it is that I spent 17 miserable years

on INADEQUATE treatment (synthroid/levoxyl), which is NO different in

my eyes to what you said about " ongoing chronic disease " . And which

could be what has screwed up my Ferritin, EVEN when I am on an

optimal dose of Armour!!! There is an absorption issue going on here

with many of us. Makes me wonder if I should get my B-12 and Folic

acid tested....hmmmmm

Janie

[Guest guest]

mine is caused from low folic acid. My b-12 was a bit low but not as much as

folic acid

Re: Ferritin/Anemia--THIS IS INTERESTING

HMMMM! This struck me, since I JUST read that a deficiency in two

critical vitamins, folic acid and vitamin B-12, can cause anemia.

And for me, it's been STRANGE that even on an optimal dose of

Armour, I am forced to stay on iron, and a LOT of iron, DAILY to

keep my Ferritin from dropping. HMMMMMMM

Janie

> There is a further link between anaemia and thyroid disease in that

> people with autoimmune thyroid disease may also be likely to have

> other

> autoimmune disorders including pernicious anaemia, where there are

> antibodies to cells in the stomach and the substance produced by

> those

> cells (anti-parietal cell antibodies and anti-intrinsic factor

> antibodies) which may cause reduced vitamin B12 absorption.