I recently found out I'm anemic. Can anyone tell me more about tranfusions?

I recently found out I'm anemic. Hemoglobin 8.2, MCV 71, MCH 19.8. I also found out I need to have surgery for something unrelated to my bariatric surgery. My primary care doctor has me taking iron, but I'm wondering if I should ask for transfusions so I can proceed with my surgery without issues.

How do the transfusions work? Are they blood transfusions or a concentrated iron product?

Thanks for any info you can share if you have experience with this.

It's concentrated iron administered as an IV push into a vein in your hand. I also had low iron and received 1 iv push a week for 5 weeks then started on iron tablets to maintain iron levels. Talk to your doctor. Insurance had to preapprove the treatments ahead of time.

My numbers were low, so I got a referral to a hematologist. He looked at ALL the numbers from my blood work, and decided that it would be best to wait on infusions, but see if a higher dose of oral iron would work. (Apparently oral iron is a little bit safer.) So I went from taking one iron pill daily to two pills twice a day, with instructions to get labs done again in three months. I'm feeling worlds better now!

It certainly couldn't hurt to get a referral to a specialist if you have any worries. He/she can figure out which route to take and have a bit more knowledge than your PCP.

They are called iron infusions, not to be confused with blood transfusions. What are your ferritin numbers? They usually don't prescribe iron infusions unless your ferritin is very low. My ferritin was at 11 when I had my first infusion. I now get an infusion when my ferritin drops below 50.

You can't just ask for infusions. Have your doctor refer you to a hematologist if your ferritin is low.

The infusions are a high dose of iron that is done by IV. It usually takes several hours. A hematologist has to order it and it's usually done in the oncology department of the hospital.

My iron infusions were quick like an injection done in my nephrologist office. It was infused into a vein on top of my hand or in my arm. It's best to talk with your doctor in detail.

There is a difference between transfusions (blood/blood products) and infusions (pretty much anything else IV including iron). A transfusion of packed red blood cells would immediately raise your hemoglobin while an infusion of iron would not--your body would still need to make the red blood cells on its own. Another option that you did not mention is erythropoietin alpha injections. Erythropoetin stimulates the body to make more RBCs and this would likely be a faster solution than taking iron alone, although iron is necessary to form RBCs, so iron supplementation would still be indicated. If it were me, I would prefer the erythropoietin + iron route, although it will take a bit longer than getting a transfusion. There are definitely fewer risks than with a transfusion of RBCs.