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I have a question about anemia and blood/cbc counts.
Sent to Health Experts July 08 10:02 AM

I am a 29 y/o normally very healthy athletic male, an avid cyclist riding 8+ hours per week. One week ago I began experiencing fatigue on my bike rides, unable to get my heart rate up to normal levels, unable to keep up with my training partners. This has persisted for a week and now I'm generally fatigued even just climbing stairs and bike rides are tougher than ever, I feel very tired and have no power.

I went to the ER yesterday. They said they couldn't find anything wrong, but the blood test shows that my RBC count is low (4.41, range 4.7-6), my HCT is low (40.7, range 42-52%), and my MCH is high (32.5, range 27-32). Do these values mean I have anemia? Why would the ER doctor specifically say that I don't have anemia?

 

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July 8 10:06 AM (4 minutes and 4 seconds later)
         
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anemia is more if your hemoglobin is low so technically youre not with these results only. the low red count and hematocrit (HCT) can be a sign of early anemia though. with a high MCH this is less commonly iron deficiency anemia and is more often related to foate or b12 deficiency. both these can explain the fatigue. id have some more difinitive testing done with your own dr: thyroid, iron level, ferritin level, TIBC, folate level, B12 level.
in the meantime a multivitamin cant hurt with B12 or vitamin b complex, especially if youre active or happen to be a vegetarian.
low red cell counts can also be due to overall body stress suppressing bone marrow function. just make sure youre getting adequate rest with all this exercise.

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