Susie does this give the info

[Gcart]

As above

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

No, those are all under the heading of Full Blood Count. I mentioned in my previous reply which tests were included in the iron panel and they're not on that sheet.

[Gcart in reply to SeasideSusie]

So , even the docs don’t know whats needed to treat ! Would they do the tests you asked for if they thought the ones I showed you were suspect for anaemia ?

Where can I get the test that is needed ?

Thanks . Maybe I will be posting again!

Sorry lots of questions , thanks again.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Gcart]

Medichecks does the iron panel - called Iron Deficiency Check I think. It can show iron deficiency.

However, there are different types of anaemia and iron deficiency anaemia is only one. With your full blood count, if your MCV was low and if your ferritin was very low that might suggest iron deficiency anaemia but your MCV is not low and your Ferritin is quite low in range but maybe not low enough. But you can have iron deficiency without anaemia which is where an iron panel comes in.

If your MCH was high this can suggest Folate or B12 anaemia.

But as said in your other post, your haemoglobin, haematocrit and RBC are all below range and that suggests anaemia (of some sort). Take a look at LabTestsOnline here and click on What does the test result mean

labtestsonline.org/tests/he...

I'm not an expert on this and it is quite complicated. If humanbean is around she may be able to throw some light on it, but I'm not sure.

[Gcart in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you for trying to help.

[humanbean]

See this link from the World Health Organisation and look at the table on page 3 :

who.int/vmnis/indicators/ha...

With your level of haemoglobin you are considered to be mildly anaemic, although notice what it says beneath the table :

" "Mild" is a misnomer: iron deficiency is already advanced by the time anaemia is detected. The deficiency has consequences even when no anaemia is clinically apparent."

Your RBC - red blood cell count - being below range also adds to the evidence that you are anaemic. It is red blood cells that move oxygen around the body, and when you don't have enough you will have symptoms of anaemia. See this link :

healthline.com/nutrition/ir...

Haematocrit is also known as Packed Cell Volume and a low value is another indicator of anaemia. See this link :

labtestsonline.org.uk/tests...

Click on the + sign next to "What does the test result mean?"

From your previous post your ferritin level is not very good :

Ferritin. 67. Range 30-470 8% of the way through the range

I can understand why you might be worried about Anaemia of Chronic Disease (ACD). For that to be diagnosed you would also need to have a low or below range serum iron. See the table at the bottom of this link :

irondisorders.org/Websites/...

An explanation of ACD can be found here :

On page 8 : irondisorders.org/Websites/...

irondisorders.org/anemia-of...

Since you don't have a result for serum iron you could experiment and see what happens if you supplement iron.

If you don't have ACD and you don't have other health issues related to iron then supplementing iron ought to increase both your ferritin and your serum iron. Ideally, in a body that handles iron well, the serum iron won't go up indefinitely. Ferritin would keep going up indefinitely if you supplemented for too long.

However if you did have ACD then your body would push all the iron you take in into ferritin and your serum iron will stay low.

You might like this link :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

You can do an iron deficiency test with Medichecks :

medichecks.com/products/iro...

and get 10% off with the discount code mentioned in this link :

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

With your ferritin at only 8% of the way through the range I would suggest that you could supplement even though you don't know what your serum iron is but would strongly suggest that you get an iron deficiency check done before you start then then get another test done a month after that, so that you can find out how fast your iron/ferritin levels change.

This will also give you some idea where your iron supplements are going.

If they are all going into ferritin, and serum iron is unchanged or barely changed this is bad news that suggests you possibly have ACD.

If the iron is all going into serum iron, and ferritin is unchanged or barely changed then this could be an MTHFR problem and you might need to pay some attention to that before taking iron supplements.

If you want some suggestions about iron supplements then let me know. Bear in mind that improving iron and ferritin levels can take a long time. It could take anything from 6 months to a couple of years. Some people never manage to optimise their iron and ferritin because they simply don't absorb it well.

If you want to know about food sources of iron, see this website :

dailyiron.net/

You could speed things up by eating iron-rich food and taking supplements - the kinds of iron in food are different from the kind of iron in the most common supplements and they can be taken together.

[Gcart in reply to humanbean]

Human bean I am very grateful for your comprehensive reply. The time you gave to it . It is very helpful. Thank you .