Can somebody help me with my blood tests?

Hello, I am a med student and had to deal with sever anemia in my late high school years and trying to run through it. That being said I am not a doctor and that would be your best bet...

to me your numbers are fine. Those numbers that you call normal are simply averages. Some people are below, some are above. My numbers are very similar to yours and thats the way they have been for the past four years of my life, during which I have had the greatest training and the fastest PRs of my life. So while your numbers may appear to be a little low I would suggest getting back into running if you want to and just be very wise about it, eat very well (enough red meat and vegetables), continue taking the vitamins but don't take too much, take it with orange juice or some other NATURAL source of vit C. I would not take folic acid, matter of fact the multi vit. is the only thing I would take and really if you would just eat better that would be a MUCH MUCH better option than vitamins. Hope this helps.

Thanks. I am eating much better too. As a matter of fact, I am eating buffalo meat because of the higher iron content. I appreciate your input.

Get your serum ferritin checked. It's a much better indicator of how iron deficiency can impact running performance. Not until I got that squared away did I fight off anemia in college.

I had it checked and it's normal.

good tips from the med student. you're numbers are lowish, but not unreasonable- you probably wouldn't notice it. another thing to think about is why it was low.

if you're a guy not hemorrhaging every month it's something to just keep an eye on. i've known some guys to have ulcers and not realize it even after being diagnosed with anemia- your doc might want to consider checking your stool for occult blood. something to especially consider if you pop ibuprofen like candy. another explanation is that when you run higher mileage your RBCs get squished and die with repetitive foot strikes.

Track Fan wrote:

I had the flu back in Jan. When I went in for blood tests it showed I was very anemic. I have been taking a multi, iron, vit C, B6, and B12 supplements.I just had another series of tests 4 weeks after the first set and my iron levels are back to normal. However there are 3 things that are still not right:

RBC, Auto it's 4.51 ( normal is 4.7-6.10 )

HCB 13.1 ( normal is 14-18% )

Hematocrit 38.7 ( normal is 42-52% )

My question is how do I get these levels up? Is there something I should be taking but not? I read Folic Acid helps in red blood cell growth. Or do these 3 things just take longer to rebound. I'd appreciate any and all input. I want to start traing hard again but can't till i get this sorted out. Many thanks again.

Do you know why you are anemic? Anemia can be caused by illness, injuries, drugs, congenital conditions, poor nutrition, etc.

It's hard to fix a problem if you don't know what it is.

just wanna say that I had almost identical results to what you show here. People kept telling me i shouldn\\\'t worry and that i was in the normal range but i was running like shit and I knew something was wrong. After 6 months of careful training, iron supplementation, and eating well my levels went up a lot. I am now like 15 + hemo and 44% hematocrit my iron stores are also way higher now and even my blood count. Anyways just wanted to share this with you so you don\\\'t just listen to what people say. You know your body better then anyone else so if something feels wrong make sure you try to do something about it. At first when i took blood tests my levels weren\\\'t going up but then they started to after about like 2 months slowly. The doctor told me my body just doesn\\\'t absorb iron very well so i always have to keep a check on it and I still take 1 iron tablet every week or so just to make sure i stay healthy. let me know if you have any questions.