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What Does Severe Fluctuation In Hemoglobin Count Indicate?

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Posted on Wed, 22 Jun 2016
Question: My mother is 73. Last year, she suddenly became severely anemic and was hospitilized and given several pints of blood. From April until July, her hemoglobin count continued to rise, reaching somewhere a little over 11. In July, it dropped to around 9, then started climbing again until the present. It has dropped to 8.4 on the last test. During all this she has had endoscopy, colonoscopy, and the pill cam. Pill cam determined a bleed in the blood vessels, which was immediately repaired. Visited gastroenterologist for follow-up just last month, and she said no need for further visits unless hemoglobin drops again. This month, here we are with it at 8.4.
Primary care doctor suggests seeing hematologist....I am wondering what kind of things could cause this? Please help, because it will be 90 days before her blood is tested again. I am worried about it dropping to an even more dangerous level, it was a low 4 when we took her to the ER last year. I am terrified it could be cancer, but none of the tests have shown anything so far. What kind of tests should I request?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (2 hours later)
Brief Answer:
please upload the test results

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

sometimes the cause of anemia is not easy to find but in most cases we can get a pretty good idea of the cause by reviewing the test results. Please upload the tests you have in your hands including a full blood count, ESR, serum iron, ferritin, total iron binding capacity, folic acid, vitamin B12, urea, creatinine, LDH, reticulocytes count, protein electrophoresis, serum albumin and globulins.

I'll be glad to comment more on her case when I get the results.
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1999

Answered : 3819 Questions

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What Does Severe Fluctuation In Hemoglobin Count Indicate?

Brief Answer: please upload the test results Detailed Answer: Hello, sometimes the cause of anemia is not easy to find but in most cases we can get a pretty good idea of the cause by reviewing the test results. Please upload the tests you have in your hands including a full blood count, ESR, serum iron, ferritin, total iron binding capacity, folic acid, vitamin B12, urea, creatinine, LDH, reticulocytes count, protein electrophoresis, serum albumin and globulins. I'll be glad to comment more on her case when I get the results.