What can I say. I'm stubborn.

I know I'm stubborn; I am a Taurus afterall, and so far in life it has served me well to be so. I've been dealing with anemia since about January 2015 when my ferritin dropped down to around 5, and every Doctor has been pushing iron supplements at me ever since. I don't fault them because it's what they know, it's their field and as patients we go to them looking for help. I've politely told them that I need to do things my way knowing that it will take a bit longer to achieve. A thanks but no thanks approach is what I've taken to their suggestions on iron, they know why, and most people reading this do as well. I had some blood work done yesterday, and here are my comparisons from that and my initial blood work done 5 months ago when I first met with my new GP. Things are going in the right direction.

November 17,2015                                                 April 22,2016

WBC: 5.8                                                                 WBC: 7.4
RBC: 3.87                                                                RBC: 4.40
Hemoglobin: 100                                                     Hemoglobin: 117
Hematocrit: 0.32                                                      Hematocrit: 0.36
MCH: 25.8                                                               MCH: 26.6
RDW: 15.5                                                              RDW: 14.7
Ferritin: 8                                                                Ferritin: 15


The only one going down is the RDW, but that's actually supposed to with the optimal range being 13. However, everything else is going up, albeit some slower than others. I am achieving the results I am intending to without the use of iron supplementation. For reference for anyone who may want to know what normal is for themselves, here are the ranges below for the above blood tests.

WBC: 4.0-11.0
RBC: 4.00-5.10
Hemoglobin: 120-160
Hematocrit: 0.350-0.450
MCH: 27.5- 33.0
RDW: 11.5-14.5
Ferritin: 10-291

On that note, I have my MRI tomorrow morning with results on May 5. So lets hope my stubbornness translates into good results there as well.







~Tara