Thal-Minor HB levels? - Thalforum

Vik · June 20th, 2006, 09:08 AM

Received from a new member, thought I'll post it here to get input from you.

Hello everybody!
First I will introduce myself. I am 53 from Italy. I have heterozighotous Thal as my mother had. Tiredness and low energy levels have been a real course , even if they have not hindered my professional achievements. My normall Hb levels are on average 12g/dl. I take periodically vit B12 an folic acid but , in my eperience, they are not able to increase my Hb levels
I would like to know from other members Thal min what their Hb level are.

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kundalani · June 21st, 2006, 05:20 AM

Well my Hb usually hovers between 8-11.It touched 12 once but I guess that was a lucky shot. I'm a male 26.

I do have low energy level bouts but I do seem to recover slightly after a glass of salt/sugar water and 2 mins of deep breathing.

However if I do over work myself, nothing better than 9 hours of sleep [:D].

grovatti · June 21st, 2006, 07:14 AM

Thank You for replying.
Fortunately my Hb levels only once dropped at 11.5 after a flu.
I feel better if i can take a nap in the early afternoon

Imken · January 10th, 2007, 11:04 AM

My Hb level is around 6 mmol/ml (= 9.7 g/dl).
When the number drops below 9.3 I know I have to sleep more. That the best cure for me.

I am a woman and I'm 33 years old.

During my pregnancy my Hb dropped around 6.4 g/dl. I got advice from a specialist and took 5 mg of Folic acid every day and vit.B12 shots every 3-4 weeks.
That brought my level up to 7.2 where it stabilized. After my son was born, it was soon 9.5 again.

mjad13 · September 19th, 2007, 02:50 AM

mine is 9.3 average...sometimes maybe 8.8 when have not taken folic acid.

Vincenzo · January 7th, 2008, 06:49 AM

Hi, i'm from Italy too
My Hb is over 12.5, but 1 time when I have a hight fever (not a flu) my Hb was little over 10..

marientina · January 8th, 2008, 07:44 PM

Mine averages 10.5 with serious effort...

Expecting#2 · February 20th, 2008, 11:10 PM

I stay around 10 - but now am at 9.5. I have another CBC in 2 weeks and we will see what that ends up being.

I just found out (and you all might know this) you need to make sure you are very well hydrated before you go in for you CBC because if you are dehydrated it will give a false normal reading on your HB and Hematocrit.

Chadwyck · July 7th, 2008, 10:41 PM

Hello everyone. I have a question about hb levels. Is there a quick way to find out or do you have to go through your family doctor and get the results of a CBC? I find that when I question him about thalassemia questions in general he gets impatient with me. Then again, I don't even know what my severity level is. All I know is that I have alpha. The specialist said it's a "mild anemia" that I'm experiencing so I'm guessing I'm minor considering I don't need transfusions.

mritchie · July 8th, 2008, 08:52 AM

You should be able to request a copy of the results of all your blood tests from your doctor. You will need to fill out a release form and have it sent to you. That is what I did after I was diagnosed with alpa thalassemia trait. I was not told much about it other than I could not hike in the mountains and that I would need to have my husband checked if we planned to have more children. I also had a lot of symptoms that suggested something else was wrong. After getting a copy of the results, I found that I also had a ferritin (iron) of 9 which is very low. I am now taking iron supplements and getting my ferritin checked every 3 months. Things are slowly getting better.

I wish you the best with finding out more.

Chadwyck · July 8th, 2008, 09:23 AM

Thank you so much, mritchie! It's amazing how I've known I have alpha thalassemia for the past 32 years, I've only been a member of Thalforum for 4 days and I've learned more in the 4 days than my entire life. Doctors I've seen over the years don't want to tell me anything except, "don't worry you're not major". Gosh!

thog · July 8th, 2008, 12:09 PM

sorry, posted twice..

thog

thog · July 8th, 2008, 12:14 PM

Hi from Germany, Chadwyck,

in Germany doctors are telling the same to their patients, because in their university formation they were told that there is no need to give a medical treatment to thal minors.
But the mistake is that attendant symptoms can be developing, triggered from thal.
Doctors than focus on rheumatism, heart disease, liver problems and other physical complaints but never put one and one together, that is: the older you grow thalassemia minor, intermedia and major can cause a bunch of other physical problems and that they must be kept in mind as side effects of this disease/disorder.

And sooner ore later they will show up. So doctor and patient should be aware of it.

Keep a stiff upper lip.

Kind regards

thog

Chadwyck · August 5th, 2008, 10:38 PM

Ok! I got the results from my doctor about my Hb level. He said from my last blood work it was 115. I notice a lot of people saying their hemoglobin is ranging from 12-25. What's with mine in the hundreds? Or, are the lower numbers 112-125? I'm new to this so please bare with me.

Second, how will I know when to check for it again? Are there any signs I'm supposed to watch out for to say, "Hey doc, I think I need an Hb check?"

What ever you can provide me with is great cause I'm learning more from you guys that I've never met compared to the doctor I've been seeing for the past 23 years.

Chadwyck

mritchie · August 6th, 2008, 02:27 PM

The units are probably different for your blood test. My Hgb was 14.1 g/dL when it was last checked. If it was reported in g/L it would be 141.

My iron stores are also low so I have been taking iron supplements. I am getting my ferritin checked every three months to make sure I don't get too much iron. The CBC is inexpensive so I also get the hgb checked at the same time to see how the supplements are affecting the numbers. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't get it checked until I have my next physical.

You may want to find a doctor familiar with thalassemia because you could have other things going on that are being masked by the thalassemia minor. You can find a listing of thalassemia centers at this site: http://www.thalassemia.org/ . You can also call (800) 522-7222 or email info@cooleysanemia.org if you are not near any of the centers listed.

Hope this helps.