Anemia - Does anyone have anemia/ low: wbc, rbc, hemoglobin, hemocrit and cobalt? &/or high B12 levels? If so, how do you resolve this? I just got back my blood and hair sample results and it's an amazing packet of info but one things I delved into was the relationship of B12 and cobalt. My cobalt is near zero and my B12 is 2000. In other words the B12 is very high (I dont take any supplemental B12) and my cobalt is very low. The compliment each other but I'm not building or sustaining cobalt in my body and I'm not absorbing the B12 in my body. I read about the foods that are high in cobalt: chocolate, shellfish, nuts, meat etc. I eat a lot of nuts already and I'll increase the other three items. I'm going to ask my doctor about a low dose cobalt supplement. I do take statins crestor 20mg, low dose aspirin and vascepa, plus the Lupron of course. Maybe those things affect the aforementioned blood levels?
Anybody have any knowledge on this subject?
Thanks,
George
Written by
GeorgeGlass
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First of all, you have to see what kind of anemia you have:
(1) Microcytic, hypochromic type OR
(2)Macrocytic ,normochromic type.
Looking at your blood count results you can ascertain the type.
If your Hb is below 13 and your MCV is lower than normal and your MCHC is low...you have Microcytic,hypochromic type.
And If you have low Hb, normal MCV, and MCHC is normal ,you have Macrocytic,normochromic type.
LUPRON type meds...lower Your Testosterone to very very low level, which hinders a hormone, erythropoetin and that in turn makes your production of red blood cell slow.
Result is Lupron induced Anemia which is usually mild (Hb not less than 12)
In type 1 mentioned above, if you take iron supplement with citrus fruit juice, Hb rises.
In type 2, you need Vit B12 and folate level normal. If low, take VitB12 and folic acid.
Lupron induced mild anemia does not respond to treatment but is harmless.
Bone marrow invasion by cancer results in Low Red cells, Low white cells and low platelets and only occurs very late in Prostate cancer progression.
NOTE: Very high blood level of B12 can cause prostate cancer cell growth.
It would appear I have (2)Macrocytic ,normochromic type so your saying I should take a B12 and Folic Acid supplement? Should I get blood tests for both first or just start supplements?
Yes. Without blood level check you should not take supplement of B12 because it accumulates and high levels can be harmful. B12 should remain below 1000 in all case.
What are your AST,ALT, Albumin and LDH levels to ascertain that your liver is working well. Best source of folate is eating dark green veggies such as mustard greens etc daily.
As i mentioned earlier, i don't take b12 supplements. That's why I'm trying to get someone to talk to me about raising Cobalt so the b12 can be better absorbed into my body. those other levels you mentioned are normal i think. I'll check tomorrow.
Can you explain why you are concerned that your serum cobalt is low if your serum B-12 is high? Doesn't that just mean that your liver is manufacturing B-12 from all the available cobalt? And isn't high serum free cobalt toxic? So why would you want to increase it? Your anemia is obviously not attributable to your B-12 levels, but you didn't mention ferritin, or other liver enzymes. Abnormally high B-12 may indicate liver problems.
There are many kinds of anemia and many causes, but you don't just have anemia, you also said you have a low WBC count. That is perhaps as concerning if it is very low - and which kinds of WBCs are low?
Hb levels can fluctuate based on activity of cancer cells..if its aggressively growing, it tends to lower Hb. When cancer is stable and not growing, Hb remains OK. Hb is also an indirect marker of cancer activity.
I'll have to get my notes together and respond articulately on Monday but in short: my white blood cells my red blood cells my haematocrit my hemoglobin high platelets they've all been a little bit low ever since I found out about cancer and I did radiation treatment and started the lupron back 2015 to 2016. So those numbers haven't changed recently. when I get blood tests and hair samples recently I look at all the different types of minerals and metals in the body and analyzed the ratios and the raw numbers. I've looked into a lot of the items like iron, B12 ferritin calcium-magnesium etcetera etcetera but today I was focusing on the Cobalt because it's almost zero it showing the bar graph is not even registering cuz it's all the way at the bottom. So it's in the very very low range and the B12 is in the very very high range. Since I don't take B12 supplements and I don't eat that much B12 food I started reading about Cobalt and what it said was that people that are very low and Cobalt often have arteriosclerosis plaque build up at a higher level and it can also be a contributing factor to why the B12 is so high because it's not getting used by the body it's storing in the body but it's not being utilized like the way it's supposed to be. and what this medical paper said was that if the Cobalt is that a normal level the B12 will be used more efficiently by the body providing more energy. Ross I thought that if I can increase my Cobalt levels to normal levels but you're not even close to you right now then I might be able to expel or utilize some of this B12 so it's not it's such a high dangerous level in relation to people with advanced prostate cancer, in at the same time I might minimize future additional plaques being created in arteriosclerosis by having an ultra low Cobalt level. plus if I can utilize the B12 efficiently and might have better energy. That's all from my readings today. I'm trying to keep this topic narrowly focused cuz there's so many other things going on it's beyond belief. Being naive to the dangers of levaquin and Cipro another flouroquinones, I was given Levaquin in March for an illness that I was having in my chest since the beginning of January I'm not going to expand on that subject other than to say that the effects of Levaquin have been very bad with tendonitis peripheral neuropathy heart palpitations trouble sleeping mood swings etc. And I also believe that my Epstein-Barr virus that was dormant was reignited by the Levaquin and I believe that the Levaquin destroyed my gut bacteria and allowed candida to form because I'm high and candida now as well. Yes I have a lot of problems going on I'm trying to resolve them but for now I was just trying to focus in on this Cobalt B12 relationship. I'm not trying to get high levels of cobalt I just want to get them somewhat normal. I apologize for any grammar or spelling errors I voice dictated this reply.
I had to get shots for low WBC during chemo. I have had "mild" anemia for a very long time. Read that it's a side effect of ADT, and many here have reported having anemia. I keep an eye on how it graphs over time. More than that would drive me insane.
Never been tested for cobalt. Once for B12 when anemia first came up. I was in range. I take BroccoMax every once in a while. I've already got cancer, so don't worry about vitamins or diet much. Just read a little on cobalt. Says you only need a very little and that too much is very bad. Never had a hair sample test either. Uneasy feeling they would throw me in prison. I'm sure everything will work out for you. Enjoy.
Lol. They say that going with the flow is best for longevity but when one bad thing after another makes it demoralizing. I'm trying to stay upbeat but this levaquin poisoning is upsetting.
Yep. Lost of toxic exposure in the army, especially certain branches. There are allot of people my age on this forum unfortunately. I've been trying to do the right things but 2020 is there worst year of my life health wise and everything else.
Only toxic exposure I encountered was Sunday's dinner "ARMY COLD CUTS"........ a/k/a Horsecock... (oops almost forgot "the first sargent")
Keep your chin up...... You're gonna be just fine..... except for the memory loss, manboobs, hot flashes, no sex, big belly and muscle loss.....but at lease you'll be around to complain about it.....
lol thanks John. At least I never got the big belly, but I do have all the terrible \, debilitating side effects of Levaquin. Something new every few months. Im trying to be positive though. Dont have any choice other than go to the dark side, which I dont want.
Good choice..... I've learned to accept these annoying side effects.... I want to make sure I outlive my ex-wife....I am into humor and it keeps me somewhat sane... So you may see my silly posts from time to time and remember that I'm having fun. Once when I was getting my daily radiation of "the bed" I was joking with the lab technitions. This other patient (I call them customers now) came over to me and said "you know you're the happiest person I ever saw with cancer". He caught me off guard so I said "okay next time you see me I'll be crying"..... Thank goodness I never saw the guy cause it's so hard to cry on cue. George please remember "don't sweat the small stuff" and concentrate on living...Stay safe and keep posting here.....
thanks John, you're right. I do have a problem with sweating the small stuff. I need to turn things upside down in that regard. Jim Rockford used to say that he needed to laugh when everything was going wrong or else he's go crazy. Simple but useful advise. Thanks for the reminder. After I get my collagen answer I'll start laughing. I like to watch tv shows like psych, the office, magnum pi, Seinfeld and friends for laughs.
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