Hey i'm new here. Alpha Thal Trait, and second iron infusion.

Hey everyone, i'm new around these parts adn am looking to learn more about my "broken" blood. I only discovered I had this trait about 6 years ago when i got pregnant with my son. Up until then, i was just always borderline anemic and told to take iron pills. They never worked so i just stopped taking them. My base hemoglobin is an 11.something which is pretty close to normal And I have always been tired but ya know, its just normal.

I never NEEDED iron before lat year in the way of actually needing it, but December came and i was having heart palpitations, I couldn't sleep, I was itchy etc and i went in to have my blood tested and it was found that I had almost no iron whatsoever in my system. Iron infusion #1. Then 7 months later (yesterday actually,) I had to go back in for another Iron infusion because my iron was almost non existent again. Is this normal? The wy it looks, is I will be doing this twice a year for the rest of my life. I only turn 30 in 2 weeks. Its $750 every time i go..anyone have some helpful suggestions on how to at least maintain a healthy amount of iron? Or if this is normal for anyone else? I feel so lost about all of this. Oh and my b12 levels along with liver functions are good to go-it's literally just my iron that sucks repeatedly.

Thanks for any kind words and advice!

We regularly see alpha thal carriers diagnosed as iron deficient, when they really aren't. So, I would need to see the results of an iron panel to see if iron deficiency may be a factor. It does seem that many alpha carriers have low test results, without actually being deficient. If you have the test results, please post them, along with results of a CBC if you have them, specifically the RBC and RDW values.

Hello Lady J,
I'm passing for changes on my life also I'm 38 but just last May I found out about my alpha thal trait homozygous -3.7 I believe my problems started because the iron pills . I'm prenopausal ( early) but was kind " anemic" so once I started to take iron my health when down hill. I failed to see that was the iron and I kept hurting my body for one year. Tomorrow will be 4 months that I stopped poisoning my body. I'm so frustrate to have failed to noticed that it was the iron that was making all the problems.
I believe that some of the symptoms of lack of iron are the same ones when we have too much iron.
In your case I don't know about your levels,but probably they sure differs from mine .
Mine at lest but ill last week
 08/22/2014   reticulocytes as percent of blood erythrocytes    0.9    %    0.5-1.5    Retics/100 RBC NFr
 08/22/2014   B-12, serum    602.30    pg/mL    250.00-1100.00    
 08/22/2014   folate, serum    6    ng/mL    12-150    Folate SerPl-mCnc
 08/22/2014   leukocyte count, blood    5.3 10^3/MM^3    10*3/mm3    2.8-10.6    WBC # Bld Manual
 08/22/2014   erythrocyte (RBC) count    4.54 10^6/MM^3    10*6/mm3    3.80-5.40    RBC # Bld Auto
 08/22/2014   hemoglobin, blood    10.8    g/dL    11.5-16.0    Hgb Bld-mCnc
 08/22/2014   hematocrit, blood    31.7    %    35.0-48.8    Hct VFr Bld Auto
 08/22/2014   mean corpuscular volume, RBC    70 UM^3    fL    81-102    MCV RBC Auto
 08/22/2014   mean corpuscular hemoglobin, RBC    23.7    pg    25.7-34.1    MCH RBC Qn Auto
 08/22/2014   mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, rbc    33.9    g/dL    29.9-35.0    
 08/22/2014   red blood cell distribution width    14.2    %    11.0-16.0    RDW RBC Auto-Rto
 08/22/2014   platelet count    212 10^3/MM^3    10*3/mm3    150-395    Platelet # Bld Auto
 08/22/2014   mean platelet volume    11.9 UM^3    fL    5.9-9.4    PMV Bld Rees-Ecker
 08/22/2014   iron, serum    29    ug/dL    40-160    Iron SerPl-mCnc
 08/22/2014   transferrin, serum    306    mg/dL    180-329    Transferrin SerPl-mCnc
 08/22/2014   iron saturation percent, serum    7    %    18-54    Iron Satn MFr SerPl
 08/22/2014   iron binding capacity, total    438    ug/dL    261-478    TIBC SerPl-mCnc

I hope you start to feel better and hopefully no need of more iron infusions.
 

Yeah my iron levels were down to below 8. I was just diagnosed in August. In November I had 2 iron transfusions, but am still way tired. Between Aug and Nov I have felt like a pincushion with all the blood tests they have been running on me. I am also Type II diabetic and also have gastroparesis. Nothing like having 3 different diseases!   

dcjessup213,

Does gastroparesis cause poor iron absorption? I generally advise alpha thals that iron levels often look low in alpha thals but are not necessarily low and this is why there is little to no response from iron supplements. In your case, it may be that you are not properly absorbing iron and infusions would be necessary. Either way, you should have a complete iron panel done to gauge your progress. Going by one value alone will not give enough information. Serum ferritin, serum iron and total iron binding capacity, TIBC should all be checked.