Enlarged Red Blood Cells

I'm a 51 year old female in very good health however my red blood cells have been termed "enlarged" by my doctor since 1999.  My Doctor is concerned that this is due to alcoholism, although I am not an alcoholic and drink no more than 2 glasses of red wine at dinner.  My Doctor has instructed me not to drink any alcohol for 90 days and return for another blood test.  I know that I am not an alcoholic, what else could be causing this?  And should I be concerned since it has shown up in my blood tests (with the same Doctor) since 1999?  Thank you.

[fkgg]

I have had the same thing and my Dr.'s tell me not to worry about it.  Now that I have had some other blood tests come back abnormal lately they are starting to look at it, but before the other tests came back abnormal they were not concerned about it.  If you are feeling well then I would not be too concerned with it or seek a second opinion.

[Memawof5]

I have the same problem and was told not to worry about it also. My blood work kept coming up strange and finally one doctor sent me to an Oncologist and he did a bone marrow biopsy and found out that what I had was Polyecthemia Vera. I have to take a drug on a daily basis to keep the red blood cells in check and also have frequent phlebotmies(like giving blood at a donor center) I was told that this diseases can mimick many other and the only way to know for sure is through the biopsy. You can have symptoms such as headaches, aches and your legs may hurt. Your spleen may also enlarge, you may want to push your MD to send you to a Hemotologists for futher studies.
If you smoke quit because that increases the size of the red bloos cells.
Good Luck

[dolphinrun13]

I have abnormally enlarged red blood cells as well.  Normal size 100 mine are 106.  I have tried (with my dr) folic acid. didn't do anything for the size but certainly made my hair grow very fast so I was processing the F A correctly.
The reason I became concerned was I had just turned  53 when I noticed a huge decrease in energy after a move.  Thought I was tired but it didn't go away and still hasn't.  I will be 57 in May.  I work for Oncology Drs and will ask tomm about the Polyecthemia Vera to see if it was possible I have this ailment as well.
Thank you so very much for sharing...
ps. I haven't had any alcohol since 1993 and quit smoking 32 months ago and tell you how very grateful those two toxins are out and never will be allowed back into my body.

[minniept]

I am a 46 year old female who has been told many times after bloodwork that I have enlarged red blood cells.  My doctor told me what causes this and the funny thing is that I don't drink AT ALL - NEVER and I have never smoked a day in my life.  I am not a big meat eater so it can't be the red meat either so I have no clue what causes this.  I also started to take folic acid supplements but my test results remain the same.  Should I ask to see a hemotologist?  How serious is this condition?  

[meme3229]

Hi.   Did you ever find out why your red blood cells are enlarged?