Anemia - possible causes

[JillyBean1982]

Hello,

I have recently been feeling shortness of breath, ringing in my ears, slightly fatigued - when I went to a walk in clinic (do not have a family physician, living in a big city so difficult to find one taking new patients), they ran my blood tests and iron came back very low.  The overall outcome was 'great, we know what's wrong, start taking such and such iron tablets twice daily...'

I contacted my previous family doctor (out of town) and quickly asked her opinion.  She said she wouldn't be comfortable with just saying, 'take this medication'.  When iron is low it could be dietary concerns, or it could be something else and that it's worth it to dig a little deeper to ensure there isn't something other than just lack of iron due to food intake going on.

Would anyone reading this agree with this advice?  With low iron, should all causes be explored before stating that you're simply iron deficient and need to take iron supplements?

Thank you!

[JillyBean1982]

Hi Doctornee,

Thanks for confirming the advice and giving me some examples.

I really appreciate this forum and the quick turnaround on questions and advice.

Thanks again!
JillyBean

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
Yes, your doctor is right. Low iron could be due to poor intake, loss from body as happens in acidity and GERD, rectal polyps etc, due to improper absorption or due to storage disorders.
You should get your stool examined for occult blood. Also you need to get a pheripheral blood smear done to know the RBC count, structure and whether there is cytopenia (general decrease in cell count). The renal function and liver function needs to be checked as also electrophoresis of hemoglobin to know whether there is thalasemia trait or sickle cell anemia.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!