Recently got blood work done and found out I'm anemic. What do these results mean?

You are not anemic with a hemoglobin of 15.7.

Your blood ferritin is low but not crtitical. So, the good news is you should bounce back quickly.

Under your physicians guidance only you should:

- Supplement with vitamin C for absorption. People will say avoid calcium which is true while you are taking the iron but do not avoid calcium at other points during the day. You need it.

- Get your sleep. Blood building is done most efficiently during REM sleep.

- After 2-4 weeks you should get another blood ferritin test to see if you are absorbing the iron efficiently.

- Back off on training a little (especially hard workouts) until values go back up.

- Ask if you have a vitamin D deficiency.

I too have a low (much lower) ferritin level and vitamin D deficiency. Recommendations? My Dr wants me to set up a colonoscopy to see if I have blood loss from there.

It’s difficult to give recommendations because there are a lot of things that can cause someone not to readily absorb iron.

It does seem odd to me that your doctor might think that blood loss is effecting your absorption rate.

I am surprised by this. have they checked your calprotectin levels? there must be other indicators before they stick a four foot camera where the sun dont shine.

why dont they just do a stool sample for blood loss?

Stool sample was fine. I guess since I'm in my 60s and due for a colonoscopy in a few years the Dr probably figured why not get one now and rule out blood loss from the intestines. I'm not sure what else they checked but everything else seems fine.

I don't want to sabotage the OP's thread so thanks for responses.

Hey, thanks for the reply. Good to know, I'll definitely implement foods higher in Vitamin C since I would only go the supplementation route as a last resort. Do you know what the actual levels themselves indicate? I researched what ferritin was but don't quite understand its relation to % saturation. Also as a side note, I haven't had blood work prior to this for several years due to moving around a lot, but apparently the last time I was tested which was about 4 years ago my hemoglobin was 12.8g/dl and my hematocrit was 37.4. My father is also anemic so I think genetics are coming into play as well.

If your stool samples were fine, it seems unlikely the blood loss is from the colon/intestines/stomach, but I'm not an expert and nor do I have all the information your doctor has about you. Regardless, anemia is a serious condition and should be looked into.

I had severe iron-deficiency anemia and when a stool sample was taken, blood in the stools was detected. As a result, my doctor scheduled a colonoscopy and endoscopy to see what might be causing it. Turns out, it was colon cancer, stage IIIB. I'm in chemotherapy now and it's been a pretty miserable and sometimes scary experience, but it still beats the alternative.

Not a dr by any means so take this with a pile of salt. But in my experience these are normal for a serious runner.

As far as suggestions definitely eat red meat 2 or 3 times a week if you don't already. Essential for a competitive runner.

you want your ferritin between 100-150.

that being said, you're def not anemic since that is judged on hemoglobin levels and yours are on the slightly higher side of normal for a sea-level endurance athlete. being low on ferritin still has an effect on global energy levels though.

hard to increase ferritin quickly through food alone unless you start eating meat at nearly every meal. can recommend hemaplex, easily found online. would start with 1/2 serving a day the first week and go up a 1/2 serving each week if digestive system allows for it until you get to 2 servings a day. might want to eat an extra apple a day per serving. retest blood 60 days after starting.

For the love of..... speak to a medical professional. Not a message-board of people just because they have a similar hobby to you.

It means your pantry is empty … Your cupboards are lacking

I just went through the same diagnosis , really low ferritin etc. I did get the colonoscopy to rule out other issues and after that came back clear i started on iron supplements. 10 blood donations last two years and a marathon 11 days prior to my blood draw were likely the issue. Just retested and ferritin is up and I will stay on iron supplements for another 3 months

Thanks, I had 9 double red donations and prostate surgery the last 3 years so I'm hoping this is why I had low ferritin levels.

Why are you asking LetsRun and not like your doctor who you saw to get the blood work in the first place?

I was told by my doctor that I am healthy and that it wouldn't be so bad for me to eat some red meat more frequently. My concern isn't about health, it's about running fitness and although the two usually go hand in hand I don't believe the two should be entirely conflated. A high hematocrit isn't necessarily "healthy" but it has been shown to help the performance of endurance athletes. I came here to see if any runners with knowledge on the subject could share their experiences/ information on how these biomarkers relate to running performance, and nothing else.

I'm not going to disagree, but have had a lot of athletes get blood work and told by their doctor their iron is "fine," with ferritin levels in the low-20s, seemingly 80-90% of the time, it was good to meet with a hematologist who broke down how important ferritin levels are, and ferritin levels are also the sign of iron toxicity...if it's way too high, that means you're good on storing iron and shouldn't take it. But if ferritin is low, it's not a good thing for an endurance athlete.

Also mentioned it's very difficult to OD on iron as a female athlete who is regularly menstruating.

But the important thing was to get regular bloodwork, especially if supplementing.

Hemaplex is a good one.

You aren't anemic

The good news is that you will run faster when you get your iron back up! My ferritin was at an 8 in 2019. Others won't believe this but in 8 weeks I went from a 57 mid 10 mile race (also hot & humid) to a 2:18 marathon. I cut out gluten and dairy (still do) and added an iron supplement and things turned around pretty quickly! For training, I didn't cut any volume, just allowed workouts to be 20-30 sec/mile slower until my iron was back up.

I found I absorbed iron best early in the morning at least 30 minutes before breakfast and taken EVERY OTHER DAY. The diet changes mentioned above may not be necessary for everyone but worked well for me! Good luck! You should be able to turn it around within 3-4 weeks. I am now a big believer in frequent testing... especially during big training stints!

Ferritin is your iron storage. It often gets low first before your iron levels get low and before you become anemic (anemia is defined by your hemoglobin levels). You can have iron deficiency without anemia. But if the ferritin is already low it means you are headed in the direction of anemia

They teach in medical school that if someone has iron deficiency (low ferritin is basically beginning stages of this) and are > 45-50 years old, the first thing you need to rule out is colon cancer, as that is a common cause of iron deficiency anemia in that age group. That is why they recommend colonoscopy as the first step

If you are taking iron supplements drink with juice or other high vit C things as that will help with absorption

For Vit D deficiency, recommend taking 2,000Units daily. Can get this over the counter

Calprotectin is more used for ruling out things like inflammatory bowel disease (Crohns, ulcerative colitis. It is not specific to colon cancer.

They don't do stool samples as often for anemia as often bc other things can cause it to be positive, like hemorrhoids. There are some studies that suggest taking iron can cause false positive fecal occult blood test

Also, another problem with doing stool studies is that if it is positive, then you need a colonoscopy. Normally if you are above the age of 45 insurance companies will pay for it as a "screening test." If the stool study is positive for blood, then it becomes a "diagnostic study" and the patient has to pay for larger part of it