Iron / Blood Test Results

how is the doping going for you?

unusually high Hgb/Hct for a trained endurance athlete; would be very suspicious for doping if you told me you were an experienced runner/cyclist and I was your PCP

Well, anyways i'm not doping, if i was doping wouldn't the ferritin level by high?

Isn't the ferritin level considered low? I thought <40ug/L was considered close to anemic?

no, your ferritin would not be high if you were doping. it would be high before you started doping, but then significantly lower and possibly even reaching anemic values due to the body needing all the iron it has to create more red blood cells.

so like i said before, how is the doping going?

you were either extremely dehydrated at the time of the test or you are doping.

i could have definitely been dehydrated, i woke up in the morning after fasting the night before since 6:00pm and i didnt drink much the night before, i also didnt drink the morning of and i had the test at 8:00

so maybe im just iron deficient all around?

what about my b12 values? any input on those?

also i think my uncle has hemochromatosis where you produce too much iron, so maybe that is a possibility?

bloooooooooooood wrote:

so maybe im just iron deficient all around?

also i think my uncle has hemochromatosis where you produce too much iron, so maybe that is a possibility?

I am sorry but how could an issue where you produce too much iron cause a DEFICIENCY?

I honestly think you're a troll who did research and was wanting someone to make a reply that you're doping, but i'll bite anyway.

your b12 values mean absolutely nothing. Your test is worthless as well. You should not have been fasting before your test. Your doctor should have told you that. Your test all in all is about 1-2% accurate. your fluid levels were off, possibly causing a falsely elevated concentration of red blood cells due to reduced plasma serum levels from lack of proper hydration.

Your b12 levels cannot be considered accurate do to fasting, thus they will seem elevated due to lack of breakdown, decreased stomach acid activity, and also again because of lack of hydration causing the number to be skewed just like the hematocrit.

go about your day as normal, and have a test first thing next morning. then you will get an (more) accurate reading. Keep in mind temperature, gauge of needle, and many more things have effect on levels.

Intheknow1-

Please enlighten the rest of the board as to what your medical credentials are. If you are a physician, PGY_ and which specialty? Nurse? PA? EMT? How are you qualified to make these judgements?

I only ask you because the tone and and attitude with which you've responded to the OP are less than professional. I understand this is letsrun and that the results that the OP posted are abnormal. Regardless, many people will read this and I do not think that it is prudent to respond the way you did. There is already an attitude that physicians are arrogant and overpaid, and I would hate to think that my colleagues were giving this attitude any merit. Thank you in advance for understanding my concerns.

Your hemoglobin/hematocrit are on the high end, which normally is not something that happens with iron deficiency. Certainly can be increased with dehydration, living at altitude, doping, smoking, and others.

The B12 level is fine- we routinely see them in the 1000 range, really the only issue is are you low in B12, which you clearly aren't. And there's no valid reason to not believe a B12 level obtained while fasting. And gauge of the needle? I assume that guy is either trolling or not too bright.

Platelets are on the low end- but a single value on the low end of normal doesn't mean much. If you were 120 next time, I'd be looking into it.

Finally- ferritin is a measure of iron storage, you can be profoundly anemic and have sky high iron stores (since there are other types of anemia than iron-deficiency anemia). So your iron stores are on the lower end of normal, but you still clearly have enough to make plenty of hemoglobin. Adding some more iron to the diet wouldn't be a bad idea, just in terms of keeping up your reserves.

-MN MD

retired M.D.

You don't think that the OP had any intention of trying to bait us to claim he was doping due to the elevated hct?

this is letsrun, and that is what 90% of the posts are trying to achieve.

No, I understand and respect your points. And there are a large number of trolls on this site. I simply don't want other readers to see these posts and think of physicians other than positive and helpful. As you may well agree, positive perceptions of physicians are slowly eroding, and many patients are self diagnosing, or worse. Cheers, and enjoy your retirement.