Do I have pernicious anemia?

[CherryLala]

I can't feel when my muscles and bones are moving, it's like I have lost the sensation of feeling but I can feel a little bit. When I walk I can't fully feel my legs moving and I find myself staring at something for a while even when I have had enough sleep. I don't if I should be ok with this but I also don't feel much pain. The doctor's said I have a deficiency in Iron, they don't know what else it could be. I'm 15. Does anyone know what I should do?

[Gambit62 Administrator]

You could ask what tests have been done or are available to identify why you are iron deficient.

There are lots of different types of anaemia and lots of reasons why you can become anaemic.

The tests for B12 deficiency, which will eventually result in anaemia, are not really good indicators and need a lot of interpretation - based on symptoms - but GPs often aren't aware of that.

Do you know if there is a family history of pernicious anaemia or B12 absorption problems?

What is your diet like? B12 is only found naturually in animal products - dairy and fish are generally the best absorbed dietary forms. You also need to have good levels of folate - mainly vegetables and fruit - so if your diet isn't good that could be part of the problem. Green vegetables are a good source of iron - and vitamin C and you need vitamin C to be able to process iron.

What are your periods like? Ironically anaemia will tend to make periods heavy so can be a vicious circle - leaving you with even less iron.

You could try going through the checklist of symptoms on the PAS website and take that with you to see the doctor but to be honest there are a lot of other things that could be going on

pernicious-anaemia-society....

[CherryLala in reply to Gambit62]

Thank you for the interest, I'll try to look into this further.

[Laura5]

Iron deficiency can cause a lot of symptoms. Try to get hold of your test results to find out how bad the deficiency is. If they show you do have a deficiency you need to know why.

[Polaris]

Have you had your B12 tested Cherry?

Here are some more links with symptoms and information to share with your family, as the numbness in your legs should definitely be investigated without delay:

b12deficiency.info/films

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

cmim.org/pdf2014/funcion.ph...