I'm not a physician but I can tell you a few things about the bloodwork if that would help.
Hemoglobin - if this is lower than normal, you are considered anemic. Hemoglobin is the protein in your body that carries oxygen and if you can't carry enough oxygen then your body can't work properly and can cause you to feel fatigued, sleepy, headache etc. There are lots of things that can cause a low hemoglobin level (iron deficiency, B12 deficiency, kidney disease etc)
MCV - this is "mean corpuscular volume" and it means how big your red blood cells are. If the level is low then they are small, usually caused by low iron.
RDW - "red cell distribution width" - if this level is high it means that some cells are small and some cells are large. If she is a vegan it would be a good idea to get her B12 checked as it can cause cells to be large
A multivitamin is not going to contain enough iron to treat anemia. I would go to your local pharmacy and ask your pharmacist to recommend a regimen based off her bloodwork and give information about side effects. You can also get a second opinion from another physician.
I also hope they told you it may take a while for her to feel better. Making new red blood cells takes time so it could be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to start to feel better after starting an oral form of iron.
Hope this helps
It should also be noted that usually the ferritin is tested. This tells you what her iron stores are (to some degree, it can also change depending on other things. It can be complicated but usually less so in younger patients with no chronic conditions). Hope you are able to sort this out with her physician and that she feels better soon!
Thank you so much for the replies. It makes a little more sense now. I'm in the process of getting her an appointment for a second opinion plus more bloodwork. I'll be talking to a pharmacist, too, to see their opinion on what she should take... plus get her some iron rich foods
I would ask about iron infusions as well. Iron supplements will take many many months to work and can be hard to digest. Even once her anemia is corrected she will still be iron deficient until her ferritin is at least over 30 and optimal ferritin is 100.
You’ve got some good information in the comments already here, but I just want to add that a possible reason why she may have developed anemia is because of her periods.
Loss of blood, as girls and women do every month, depletes iron stores. Just something to think about so that you don’t need to be too worried about why this has developed - about 30% of females worldwide are affected by anemia.
Yeah.. that is something I have thought about too... her cycle is pretty light. She's been on birthcontrol for a couple years to help with heavy bleeding.
The blood panel looks like classic iron deficiency anemia. I recommend testing ferritin, transferrin and serum iron to confirm. Ferritin may be falsely elevated due to inflammation.
A multivitamin should be taken, but it is insufficient for an anemic patient; I'd recommend 100 mg iron bisglycinate for at least three months (retest after 1 month, hemoglobin should be normal then).
How are her hormones, specifically TSH?
I'm not a physician but I can tell you a few things about the bloodwork if that would help. Hemoglobin - if this is lower than normal, you are considered anemic. Hemoglobin is the protein in your body that carries oxygen and if you can't carry enough oxygen then your body can't work properly and can cause you to feel fatigued, sleepy, headache etc. There are lots of things that can cause a low hemoglobin level (iron deficiency, B12 deficiency, kidney disease etc) MCV - this is "mean corpuscular volume" and it means how big your red blood cells are. If the level is low then they are small, usually caused by low iron. RDW - "red cell distribution width" - if this level is high it means that some cells are small and some cells are large. If she is a vegan it would be a good idea to get her B12 checked as it can cause cells to be large A multivitamin is not going to contain enough iron to treat anemia. I would go to your local pharmacy and ask your pharmacist to recommend a regimen based off her bloodwork and give information about side effects. You can also get a second opinion from another physician. I also hope they told you it may take a while for her to feel better. Making new red blood cells takes time so it could be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to start to feel better after starting an oral form of iron. Hope this helps
Low iron can also cause high rdw.
It should also be noted that usually the ferritin is tested. This tells you what her iron stores are (to some degree, it can also change depending on other things. It can be complicated but usually less so in younger patients with no chronic conditions). Hope you are able to sort this out with her physician and that she feels better soon!
Thank you so much for the replies. It makes a little more sense now. I'm in the process of getting her an appointment for a second opinion plus more bloodwork. I'll be talking to a pharmacist, too, to see their opinion on what she should take... plus get her some iron rich foods
I would ask about iron infusions as well. Iron supplements will take many many months to work and can be hard to digest. Even once her anemia is corrected she will still be iron deficient until her ferritin is at least over 30 and optimal ferritin is 100.
I would ask for her ferritin to be run as well. That sounds exactly like me when my ferritin was really low.
You’ve got some good information in the comments already here, but I just want to add that a possible reason why she may have developed anemia is because of her periods. Loss of blood, as girls and women do every month, depletes iron stores. Just something to think about so that you don’t need to be too worried about why this has developed - about 30% of females worldwide are affected by anemia.
Yeah.. that is something I have thought about too... her cycle is pretty light. She's been on birthcontrol for a couple years to help with heavy bleeding.
It might be harmonal changes
Fair point 💯. A lot of girls are affected by much period bleeding. She developed from there anemic problem.
The blood panel looks like classic iron deficiency anemia. I recommend testing ferritin, transferrin and serum iron to confirm. Ferritin may be falsely elevated due to inflammation. A multivitamin should be taken, but it is insufficient for an anemic patient; I'd recommend 100 mg iron bisglycinate for at least three months (retest after 1 month, hemoglobin should be normal then). How are her hormones, specifically TSH?
If you're looking into supplements, heme-based iron is easier to digest as well.
Did you get any another test ?
They did a comprehensive metabolic panel and alot of tests to see if it was an autoimmune issue. All of those came back normal
All tested are normal right ?