Thalasemia minor and 6 week pregnant with low hemoglobin

Hi ,

I am 28 years old having thalassemia minor and 6 week pregnant. Few days back ,I got my CBC test results and hemoglobin is quite low , just 7.4g. My Ob/gyn has asked to start taking iron supplements. I have started taking folic acid and methycobal.

As I have heard T people should avoid iron supplements,so am bit confused wether I should go with it or not. Below are my test result.
WBC  7.3k/ul
NRBCS 2%
RBC 3.82
hemoglobin 7.4g/dl
hematocrit 24.7%
MCV 64.7fl
MCH 19.4pg
MCHC 30.0g/dl
RDW 23.9
RDW stdev  51.4fl
 Platelets 331k/ul

Your RDW is in a range that indicates you are iron deficient. Your RBC is also quite low for a thal minor, also indicating low iron. A study from a few years ago showed that thal minor women are far more likely to have iron deficiency than male minors, and during pregnancy, that will only be worse. I think you are very likely quite iron deficient and this needs to be corrected. Follow your doctor's advice and correct the iron so your Hb can rise. Keep taking the other supplements, as well and make sure you get plenty of iron from your diet.

Thankyou so much Andy for your advice. It is so helpful.

Hi All,

As mentioned in my previous post, my pregnancy started with very low hb, 7.5 at 6 weeks and with weeks its decreasing.
When I consulted hematologist  my iron and Folic was in range but B12 was quite low, so Dr referred me B12 shots so as to fix   hb. but now when I got my test my B12 is in range but hb didnt increase but it went down to 6.9 at 15 weeks.
I am having my appointment after few days, but m so worried don't know whats not allowing my hb to increase. its only decreasing and decreasing.

The only things whichh is good is I dont feel tooo weak , I am still doing all my household chores though I get tired after sometime.
Any word of wisdom? or anything which can make my hb increase.
PFA my test.

The decrease in Hb has been marginal and probably relates more to the added fluid volume from pregnancy diluting the Hb test that it does to the Hb dropping. This will usually level off and increase again a bit as the pregnancy goes on. If the Hb is this low at birth, they should be prepared to give you a blood transfusion if needed. If you can find L-methylfolate, you may see better results than you do with folic acid.

Thankyou so much Andy for taking time and sharing your knowledge. I will check if I can find methylfolate over the counter otherwise have to ask my Dr. for prescription.