Anemia of Chronic Disease

The name basically means, "Yeah, you're anemic, but we don't know why." Since my surgery (banding, 2003), I've been low-grade anemic, and it's not the "just take more iron" kind of anemic, because he told me that eating more iron-rich foods doesn't affect this type of anemia. Two or three of my levels are low (and, for the life of me, I can't remember which ones, perhaps hematocrit and . . . ? I looked at so many numbers the other day that it made my head spin) - not drastically so, but enough to disqualify me from blood donation. Combined with my postop history of bouts of lightheadedness, it was enough of a concern that my PCP had me visit a hematologist. Have been to see the hemo three times and had my blood checked each time. The level he is most concerned about has gone from 11.3 to 10.5 to 10.9, so the changes - he feels - are not yet terribly worrisome and have not continued to drop. He recommended just tracking my levels for another couple of months and, if they go lower, having a bone marrow biospy. After poking around on the internet to find about more about ACD, I saw that I do have some of the symptoms (lightheadedness, occasional tachycardia, cold hands and feet) and ACD could mean anything from next to nothing all the way to lupus, scleroderma or worse. I'm trying to keep the "worst case scenario" out of my mind, but I wondered if anyone here has run into this before, either in their postop life or before?

As a nurse I suggest they run a Renal panel on you before I would consent to a bone marrow.

Hi, Bettie Jo! Why a renal panel? And why, do you think, would my PCP (an endocrinologist) and the hematologist not have suggested it? I only ask because, obviously, I know barely anything about medicine, and wonder why the anemia would come from something kidney related. Your comments/suggestions/assistance is/are welcome. Bette

I am struggling with the same thing aggravated by both lupus and bad fibroids which cause me to bleed very heavily every month. I have iron infusions (doesn't seem like my body uptakes iron at all) and still I am slipping... I wish I was above 10 - that I could work with. Don't let it get too low - I ended up in the hospital that way being transfused. If your insurance will cover it, and you can get IV iron - it might tell you whether it is pure iron deficiency anemia or there are other reasons you need to investigate for the chronic anemia. Hang in there B