Hello, I'm an American living in the UK. My doctor here just diagnosed me with Alpha Thal after months of blood tests and two months of iron therapy. I'm still not exactly sure what it's all about or what kind I have, etc. As a background I'm 34 year old male. The Dr. said all of my levels were within normal ranges, iron, hemoglobin, etc. but that there was some swelling in my blood and that my liver had enzymes? and my spleen was a bit swollen. I was told that I have "lots of small pale red blood cells". I've just had more blood work done to determine if the "blood swelling" is due to any sort of arthritis. I don't fit any ethnic profile for Thal that I've been told so it all seems a bit odd.
However I did have severe kidney stones 10 years ago and again last year that seemed odd for my age, and I wasn't consuming anything in any decent amount that would cause them. I also am fatigued a lot, and sick very often, and have bad pains in my elbow and wrist joints. When I was 7 I had thumb-sized red spots on my legs that made me unable to walk for a short time. No one really knew what it was at the time, and I remember being told something to the affect that my "blood cells were bursting" granted, I was a child. I've also been vegetarian since I was 12 and vegan for the last 7 years (although I'm back to being just a vegetarian now).
Maybe none of that has anything to do with Thal, I'm just trying to figure it all out. It does seem to be a reason behind some of my health problems, but maybe it's not like that.