Anemic or just plain tired?

Wondered if anyone else had these symptoms: Very, very,very tired!!!

I sleep aprox 10 hrs a night and usually take a nap during the day. Granted I have two young children (3 & 5), but this is too much. Every day I am so tired, sometimes I rush the kids lunches just so I can go to sleep. I don't need much sometimes 10 min. - sometimes 3 hours. If I go out during the day, then the next day I am exhausted. Sometimes I can barely function. By 9:00 I am ready to just fall into bed and by the time my head hits the pillow I am gone. I take vitamins - to no effect.

So I guess my question is can you be anemic with out the heavy bleeding? My period is a whopping 1 1/2 days now and getting shorter all the time. But my energy levels are just so low. . .

I sound like a gal on the post-op board already!!! I want to be the best "shape" I can for the operation. Any ideas.

Dr. has not run blood work yet.

K

I would speak with your doctor. I ended up after having kids being hypothroid. I also have hashimoto's thyroiditis. After ten years of suffering I had a partial thyroidectomy.
I recently became very anemic even though my periods only last 2-3 days. It can be heavy and usually very clotted. But it turns out that I have adenomyosis.
But everyone is different and if you are that tired I would make any appointment with my physician.
Melissa

I was anemic for several years. It was a roller-coaster ride depending on when my period was (I've taken iron pills for over a year, once I was tested). Get that blood test done, and that will answer your question! My understanding is yes, people can be anemic for other reasons. I had an emergency TAH, but due to the hemorrhaging & therefore low levels of blood, my Dr gave me a transfusion before the surgery. I believe doing whatever you can beforehand to be in the best shape you can is a wise idea.

Good luck, Karen

Hi, I think that a chat with your dr and some blood work might help answer your questions.

I was slightly anemic before my hyst and I hadn't had a period for 3 years. Anemia can be caused by various different things as I understand it. Blood work can tell you whether or not you are. Your fatigue could also be from other conditions too, so please do discuss it with your dr.

Best wishes.

s

Hi,

I am anemic now and have had a hard time not being anemic the past few years. At this time, the doctor will not do a hysterectomy until I am not (or at least there is an significant improvement, he would have liked for me to have done already or have it scheduled). I am to take two iron pills a day. This besides I already take a multi-vitamin daily.

Talk to your doctor, get blood work. I am tired all the time also. I am hyperthyroidism (but my symptoms are opposite what my lab work says), I do have blood sugar issues at time. I also was recently (January) diagnosted with fibromyalgia. I don't sleep all the time because of the line of work I am. I just feel exhausted or out of breath.

I wish you the best.

I absolutely agree -- some bloodwork could give you some much-needed answers.

I didn't realize how tired I had gotten. Getting past the anemia didn't happen overnight, but now I do have much more energy than I used to have. My periods were very heavy, even though the truly heavy bleeding was only for a couple of days per month. That was enough to cause the anemia for me.

Also, I found that my sleep wasn't very restful because I was waking every 2 hours (either to change my pad or just to go potty). It took several months post-op to get back to a more regular sleeping pattern!

Best wishes to you. I hope you get some answers soon.

What is considered anemic in terms of hemoglobin numbers on blood test results?

I've been feeling anemic for awhile (tired, weak, pounding heart). I'm sure it's from all the heavy bleeding. I asked my regular doctor to do bloodwork. My hgb came back as 11.9 (reference range 11.5-15.6). She said I'm not anemic, but I think being that close to the "low" range might mean someone is anemic.

I have pre-op testing in 1 week. What level would be too low that would make them postpone surgery? Anyone know?

Thanks

NJ123 - As far as I know, there is no level at which they would postpone surgery - but generally 12 or above is considered 'optimal', a minimum of 10 hgb is required for surgery, and generally, below 8 is when they might give you a transfusion at other times. (of course every Doc and situation is different - ask your own Doc)

I arrived for my surgery with a count of 5.7 (after my preop test 4 days before at 12.9) and my surgery went ahead. They gave me 2 transfusions during, and one right after.

Whitetiger - I am concerned for you when I read that your doctor won't do the surgery until your levels are higher. As you can see from my experience, that can be a total crapshoot, and you have no control over it. Is there some reason why transfusion(s) are not being considered? Anemia alone can have very serious health consequences if you let it go on - and yours has already been going on a long time!

hugs,
joano

Hi joano,

I have not gotten back in to the doctors for a deeper discussion. I go to a military base hospital so some times appointments don't come as soon as you would like. Transfusions has not been mentioned and that is what the ER doctor told me and then the GYN doctor said (not doing surgery until my count is better). I am going to my primary care doctor next week and I am hoping she can answer some of my questions. Especially until I get back into GYN. Right now I am just hoping this coming up month I don't have the same pain that sent me to ER at the end of last month. I am taking my iron pills (again) but it can be a couple of months for a noticeable change.

Thanks for your concern. I should be okay.

whitetiger

With so many people anemic is there anything you can do before hand to ensure that you are not anemic. I take a reg. vitamin, but what should a person be eating or that? (Plus, it might help with the tiredness)

My surgery is not for another two months so I def. want to be in tip-top shape by then.

Thanks