Macrocytic Anaemia

[NWA6]

Anyone heard of this? I’m trawling through past blood tests and it sent me on the trail of Macrocytic Anaemia.

[MaisieGray]

Macrocytic anemia is where the red blood cells are unusually large (macrocytic meaning large cell) which means there are fewer of them and they carry less haemoglobin so the blood is not as oxygen-rich as it should be. It's not a single disease, but a symptom of several medical conditions and nutritional problems, including but not only, hypothyroidism. Have your blood tests indicated the condition?

[Gambit62]

the usual causes of macrocytic anaemia are B12 and folate deficiency

this forum is about the most common cause of B12 deficiency

healthunlocked.com/pasoc

despite the title, pernicious anaemia, PA is actually an auto-immune gastritis that attacks the mechanism that allows you to absorb B12 from your food, leading to a deficiency. Macrocytic anaemia is one of the symptoms but isn't actually present in 20% of people who first present with B12 deficiency

[NWA6]

The reason I was asking is because I had MCHC/MCV/MCH Blood tests throughout the past 10yrs. The last one in 2017 (around the time my GP became tired of me) my results were always in the very upper limit of the range ie MCV test range (75-105) and mine was 104.3. I have never been made aware of these tests and have only had access to them since asking for my ‘patience access’ to include my medical notes on line.

If the thyroid range is too wide why if other ranges in blood tests are too wide aswell. Thinking about Macrocytic Anaemia made sense.

It’s not something I’m going to worry about it, it just made sense that B12 and and folate is mentioned so much on this forum. Just more evidence that my care hasn’t been patient led and I’ve been kept in the dark because appointments are 5mins long and the GP’s are under pressure. I feel that if our GP’s were given the time and ore autonomy over our care then they might not look for red ‘abnormal’ stickers and truly look at the numbers. There have been 9 occasions when I’ve had these tests and the numbers have all been really high. What if someone had said ‘These numbers are nothing to worry about but let’s just check your B12 and folate’

[Marymary7]

The same has happened to me...one doctor even puzzled out loud, why were the cells large when I wasn't considered deficient. I've been using Better You daily b12 spray.

[NWA6 in reply to Marymary7]

Yes I use that one too 😀