blood test results

Seems pretty OK to me. Likely due to slight-overtraining combined with inadequate recovery and nutrition to make up for the losses. Should rebound nicely with a down week or two.

Iron supplementation will take 10-14 days to get the levels back up.

Thank you!

I ordered some Ferrochel after getting these results yesterday. Is that still the recommended form of Iron around here?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000I4C4FW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Had my blood re-tested after last 4 weeks of taking it relatively easy + iron supplementation. Mileage cut back to about 40-50mpw from 70-ish previously. Unfortunately HCT and hemoglobin trending in the wrong direction and I'm still feeling pretty sluggish.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hcoatsvdlnohgub/11-10-15%20blood%20work.pdf?dl=0

Doctor is not concerned yet because he still considers these normal. But they are not normal for me. I had a 45.6 and 44.9 HCT in two tests in college vs. 38.3 in this last test.

Any thoughts / advice? I have a marathon on Dec 6th but it's hard to get excited about racing at this point.

bump

Your results are normal for a runner. Read how running affects your blood test results:

http://www.runnersworld.com/health/blood-test-results-for-runners?nopaging=1

The people saying you have normal results for a runner either don't train at a moderate level like you do or have never personally dealt with low iron issues. People don't understand that what's optimal and what they believe are normal are two totally different things.

If you're a sports car and are only firing at 90%, you won't notice it driving around town but if you head to the race track, you'll be left behind.

A six behind drop in hct is pretty big, especially being that your levels were higher in the summer, when it was hotter. Last year, I had a 10 point drop in hct and couldn't run my marathon pace for a 5k. Once my levels got back to normal, I was back running fast again (even though it took a few months).

How many mg of iron are you taking a day? Are you taking it with vitamin c, on an empty stomach?

I use Ferrochel as well, and when I had my iron issues, I would take three of them, three times a day and once my levels resumed back to normal, I took 1-2 daily.

Have you measured your TSH free t3/t4? Sometimes iron issues can cause thyroid issues and vice versa. When I was anemic last year, my TSH tripled, but went back to normal once my iron did (have never taken any thyroid medicine before).

saw a hematologist today. she disagrees with you.

will update this thread if there's anything interesting. she pulled 8 vials of blood to screen for shit i've never even heard of. i felt like a science project.

hematologist pretty quickly ruled out thyroid and iron issues. ferritin level was 176 not 17.6 (previously I thought the lab's conversion slipped a decimal but it didn't). she said that's about the highest reading she's ever seen for an endurance athlete.

But your hemoglobin is still dropping? When I had anemia a couple of years ago, my ferritin was also about 100. It turned out that I had hemolytic anemia, most likely the "footstrike anemia" that you sometimes hear about.

See if you can get a peripheal blood smear and give a urine sample.

Just curious where you are getting these tests done if you doctor is not talking to you about them? Are you ordering some kind of package online and having your blood shipped off? Are you paying out of pocket or is it covered?

lab results wrote:

Just curious where you are getting these tests done if you doctor is not talking to you about them? Are you ordering some kind of package online and having your blood shipped off? Are you paying out of pocket or is it covered?

i just looked up a hematologist and made an appointment. I am on expat insurance, currently living in the UK.

Previously my GP was happy to keep ordering tests but he said they were all normal so nothing to worry about.

SouthernFriedRealist wrote:

But your hemoglobin is still dropping? When I had anemia a couple of years ago, my ferritin was also about 100. It turned out that I had hemolytic anemia, most likely the "footstrike anemia" that you sometimes hear about.

See if you can get a peripheal blood smear and give a urine sample.

yeah they are doing some microscope test of individual cells. hematologist thinks there is a some chance of an inherited anemia which may have just manifested itself.

Thanks for sharing this info. I'm in nearly the same demographic and having similar symptoms...interested to hear what becomes of your tests and any advice you have for navigating doctors and tests.

I would strongly advise you stop running and give your body a break - at the very least until you know what this is. You will not get any more fit with a negative trending hemoglobin. You'll only make things worse.

I'd be interested in seeing a reticulocyte count. Did you get tested for B12/folate?

new test results at link below. a few things stuck out to the doc

1) low EPO levels (bottom ~1% of distribution of "healthy" people)

2) low-normal reticulocyte count

3) ANA test weakly positive

she is referring me to an internist. said these results are not normal, particularly for an active person, and that the positive ANA test could indicate an autoimmune issue.

good news is i don't have AIDS!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d4in7isglydt39j/blood%20test%2011.11.15.pdf?dl=0

Thanks for sharing. Best of luck!

Do you have any other health issues? Points to perhaps an adrenal/kidney issue?

this guy wrote:

Thanks for sharing. Best of luck!

Do you have any other health issues? Points to perhaps an adrenal/kidney issue?

none that i am aware of

look into MTHFR mutation