Discussions By Condition: I cannot get a diagnosis.
Undiagnosed Condition in Woman, Please Help
- Posted By: Travesty
- February 7, 2010
- 10:40 PM
I know a woman in her mid-30's who has low-iron anemia and a low white blood cell count. She has had a low white blood cell count her whole life, but not low enough to warrant the more serious types of treatment. She has been tired for the past couple years. She has gotten sick frequently and her appetite has decreased severely. She has had to force herself to eat food.
Recently, she has put herself under a rigorous workout schedule while still eating very little. This has caused her to lose weight. Recently, her doctor told her that she needs to gain 30 lbs in order to be healthy, considering her condition.
She has followed her intense workout schedule (3 times a day) for the past couple months. Her doctor has ordered her to not work her body so hard, and she has partially complied. She has scaled back the workouts a bit but still worked out two or three times in a day on some days. Very recently, she had a clump of hair fall out in the shower.
Does anyone know what could be the cause of her symptoms? Is she simply malnourished? Where could the 2 years of tiredness come from? Thanks for any help you can offer.
1 Replies:
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I know a woman in her mid-30's who has low-iron anemia and a low white blood cell count. She has had a low white blood cell count her whole life, but not low enough to warrant the more serious types of treatment. She has been tired for the past couple years. She has gotten sick frequently and her appetite has decreased severely. She has had to force herself to eat food. Recently, she has put herself under a rigorous workout schedule while still eating very little. This has caused her to lose weight. Recently, her doctor told her that she needs to gain 30 lbs in order to be healthy, considering her condition. She has followed her intense workout schedule (3 times a day) for the past couple months. Her doctor has ordered her to not work her body so hard, and she has partially complied. She has scaled back the workouts a bit but still worked out two or three times in a day on some days. Very recently, she had a clump of hair fall out in the shower. Does anyone know what could be the cause of her symptoms? Is she simply malnourished? Where could the 2 years of tiredness come from? Thanks for any help you can offer.No diffuse thinning of hair or falling of hair should be ignored. In pre-menopausal women we call it telogen effluvium. Iron deficiency anemia is one cause of telogen effluvium or loss of hair without scarring. The other thing is that she has been feeling tired for several years. Oxygen, which is critical to the body cells and tissues is transported by hemoglobin in red blood cells. Hemoglobin is formed by iron. The lack of oxygen to the body, causes her to feel tired and fatigued, because her body is not making enough hemoglobin to carry oxygen. Hence no energy for daily activities of life.Since she has low iron anemia, she should carry out the following test.Serum ferritin levels : which would tell about the iron stores in the body. If found low, she should take iron supplements. It is important to note that Pregnancy and lactation put increased demand on the body for iron stores. Since she hasnt had menopause , the menstrual loss of iron , could now be at such a level, that body stores are incapable to make enough iron to meet the body's requirements. Also she is living a strenuous active life, which would take its toll. Sorry, to explain this in detail, but iron - deficiency anemia is very under diagnosed and taken lightly. Good luck!jekuter 12 Replies Flag this Response
