Should I get a second opinion

[Abitoffaith]

I am 39 year old female with a history of being pretty healthy until I started feeling bad a couple of years ago.

For years my MPV has been low and my MCH is high but both are just barely out of range. I’ve been feeling really crummy for around 2-3 years now. I had some blood work done last week and it again showed the same pattern of low MPV and high MCH except for this time my RBC count was slightly lower at 3.94 it was 4.12 the week before. My MCV always tends to be on the low end of normal along with Hgb and Hct. Is this something I should address at my next MD visit? Thanks

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Abitofaith - although this forum has anaemia in the title it isn't actually about blood disorders and the title is a bit of a misnomer. Pernicious Anaemia is actually a condition that stops the body being able to absorb B12, resulting in lots of symptoms, one of which is a particular anaemia in which your red blood cells are a bit larger and rounder than normal.

Having said that raised MCH does imply that your red blood cells are a little rounder than they should be - low MCV indicates lack of iron - so possible that you have an absorption problem going on that is affecting different nutrients - in this case iron, and B12/folate.

I'm not an expert but RBC can, I believe vary depending on how hydrated you are so I wouldn't be inclined to draw any conclusions just from comparing 2 results.

The platelets - not sure - lots of people with B12 deficiency report that their blood clots much better after they start shots ... so it may be a B12 thing.