blood tests...

My doctor took some blood tests about a week ago, to check my thyroid (agian) and to check a few other things. She found that my vitamin D levels were 'dangerously low' and that I'm anemic. She put me on prescription vitamin D pills that I take once a week, but nothing for the anemia. She also didn't tell me what could cause these deficiencies...I have an appointment with her this friday and intend on asking her about this, but in the mean time I am left wondering...any ideas what could cause this?? I've tried looking it up on webmd but didn't find anything.

That's weird nothing for the anemia eh?  She definitely knows something I don't......there is a such thing as Vitamin deficiency anemia....I thought it usually had to do with Iron and other vitamins that would help with the absorption of iron into the blood (Vitamin C for example).  Maybe she is trying a wait and see approach.....the Vitamin D may be all it takes to get it under control Hope you are not a worry wort but heart, kidney problems, and some cancer treatments can cause anemia.....have you recently started your diet?  I know with the diet I am on that I need to take a multi-vitamin so that I won't be completely malnurished and make sure that I drink tons (I do mean tons) of water for the kidneys to work properly.  Also, anytime you limit carbs and go into ketosis (usually on a high protein diet) there is risk of losing muscle and that is what your heart is.....it is one big ol' fluttery muscle.....another good reason to exercise while trying to modify your eating habits/lifestyle.....keep them muscles from atrophying, build them up and to maximize the burning of fat

Hiya,      Did he say exactly how low your hemoglobin was?  Many women are chronically slightly anemic if they bleed heavily at that TOM.  I know I flunk the hematocrit test for the Red Cross if I go to volunteer blood within 10 days of my period.  And anemias fall into 3 different categories:macrocytic, normocytic, and microcytic.  If it was microcytic (the most frequent), it's 99% likely that it's the common iron deficiency one.  If that's the case just increase your consumption of iron-rich foods (my favorite one is ham :-).      Do you consume much dairy?  Most of it is vitamin D enriched.  If you don't eat it much, I'd add it back into your diet and try to get a little bit of sunlight each day.  Once your level is corrected, be careful with the vitamin D supplement.  It's one of the fat soluble vitamins which means you DON'T urinate out the extra.  So chronic over consumption of vitamin D can lead to toxicities.

I was anemic a couple years ago, and had a colonoscopy and an endoscopy to check for internal bleeding.  They found nothing.  So my doctor prescribed iron pills for around three months, and that seemed to improve the anemia.  I've never been sure what caused it. Denise Phares

At the time of the office visit and blood draw, I wasn't dieting yet. I was anemic when I was pregnant with my daughter, but the doctor told me to take otc iron pills and that resolved the problem. She didn't say how low my iron level was or what catagory it put me in.  I guess I'll have to try not to worry and wait till friday.