Can Beta-Thalassemia Minor have symptoms?

[Bee Cham]

I am 22 years old and have been diagnosed with Beta Thallassemia minor by a doctor. All my life I have felt tired, had palpitations (When I was younger), flatulence and difficulty concentrating and fuzziness. I cannot really look people directly in the eye sometimes because its too hard on my eyes (it strains them) even though I have perfect vision. Doctors have told me that I need no treatment and that Thallassemia has no symtpoms. I go to sleep tired and I wake up tired. I can be tired after 12 hours sleep! Can I be suffering symptoms from my thallassemia. Does any one else feel the same way that I do? This is a little bit hard for me, but I don't want to complain.

[plaidkid]

I am in my early twenties and have had problems with being persistantly tired.  My hands and feet are almost always cold (in fact, they are right now), and I fall in and out of relatively mild depression.  I have been told that carrying the thalassemia trait has no obvious symptoms, but I've been poking around forums a little bit, and the symtoms I experience seem to be fairly common. I'm still looking for ways to lessen the intensity of these symptoms, but for me I've found that maintaining physical activity helps, as well as not oversleeping, or overeating.  The rest of my family takes folic acid suppliments regularly. God, puberty was a nightmare, but I am much less groggy and more in focus now that I am no longer growing. I'd like to hear other peoples' experiences with this.

[lilsm]

You know I've heard multiple times about minor not having any symptoms and I beg to differ. It's really frusterating to hear that there is no help out there for minor patients yet as we must all be making up the same exact symptoms since the doctors all contest that their are no known symptoms for minor patients. I'm 18 and I experience excessive tiredness and also the cold hands and feet which I never quite equated with the disease until now. I also suffer from dizzy spells and I was wondering if anyone else also had these.

[leelee lulu]

Hello All,



I am 27 years old.

I just wanted to say I totally relate to all of you.

I feel tired 24/7.

I get the common cold very easily and it seems to last forever.

If someone is sick and has a flu I'm bound to get it no matter what I try from herbal products to vitamins etc.

I get high fevers with the common cold.

I feel cold all the time.

I do get heart palpitations from time to time and they just come out of know where.

I do feel a tad frustrated as there is no drug for this condition.

A lot of friends and family do not understand this condition as a result can never understand/relate to me feeling the way I do.

#1 Always feeling tired.

I want to do things and go out and have a great time but there are times I have no control over it and I just need my bed and need sleep.

I find that this does not get better as I get older but has gotten worse.

I do relate and if any of you have any questions please feel free to add your additional comments  to this post and I will reply back to you asap.



leelee lulu

[leelee lulu]

Hello All,



I am 27 years old.

I just wanted to say I totally relate to all of you.

I feel tired 24/7.

I get the common cold very easily and it seems to last forever.

If someone is sick and has a flu I'm bound to get it no matter what I try from herbal products to vitamins etc.

I get high fevers with the common cold.

I feel cold all the time.

I do get heart palpitations from time to time and they just come out of know where.

I do feel a tad frustrated as there is no drug for this condition.

A lot of friends and family do not understand this condition as a result can never understand/relate to me feeling the way I do.

#1 Always feeling tired.

I want to do things and go out and have a great time but there are times I have no control over it and I just need my bed and need sleep.

I find that this does not get better as I get older but has gotten worse.

I do relate and if any of you have any questions please feel free to add your additional comments  to this post and I will reply back to you asap.



leelee lulu

[Suebe]

I am 41 and have Beta-Thalassemia Minor along with my sister, my son and my mother also had it. I know exactly how you feel~each day is a stuggle being tired. My sister and my mother were also diagnosed with a low thyroid. I just had blood drawn again and they said my TSH level was low. Tsh is your Thyroid Stimulating hormone. But they said when your TSH is low that is usually a sign that you have an overactive thyroid which symtoms of that are the opposite of what we have. My Doctor has ordered more tests so I am waiting. I asked my sister to read me her TSH level from her blood work when she was diagnosed & it is the same is mine. She had been misdiagnoded in the past.

I have been searching the web to see if there is a connection to Beta-Thalassemia Minor & thyroid. I have only found one that connected the two, but I am still searching. I will keep you all posted, it would be wonderful if we call feel "normal"

If you would like to e-mail me personally my address is ***@****

[Kallikak]

i have beta thalassemia minor. I do suffer symptoms related to those of anemia(including fatigue). My sleep schedule is way out of wack. some days i sleep three hours, other months twelve hours sleep days with unusual patterns that do not fit a time schedule. i may also have something called restless leg syndrome. i shake my leg a lot before sleep due to the feeling of tense inner strain in my ankles and wrists. i always thought of the shaking as due to my liking to be rocked to sleep by myself but now realize it could be due to low iron. thalassemics have low iron. i also had a psychotic break at age 20. i dont think this has to do with thalassemia but the constant fatigue may have led to deep depression.

[Christineindc]

Well its wonderful to hear that I am not alone in the world... I am 35 and have lived my whole life tired!!! When i gave birth to my first daughter at age 22... I ended up needing a blood transfusion... and not because I lost alot of blood... Our blood cells will break down under situations of extreme stress... yet doctors still continue to tell me that Thalassemia Minor should have no symptoms.... I am always tired god help me if I should run.. I get so out of breath so easily. I get heart palpatations off and on out of the blue, My hands and feet (mostly feet) are always cold!! I used to get bad headaches but not as much anymore... I inherited this lovely trait from my mothers side of the family (Italian)... Unfortunately I have given the trait to all three of my daughters..... I will tell you from my one and only experience with the blood transfusion that I went from my death bed to instantly energized.. I felt better than I ever felt or feel... It was a temporary fix and I soon returned to my tired self... I would like to know if anyone else has scoliosis? Thalassemia is known to cause bone diformity during your youth... just curious if any of you have this as well..... thanks and be well

[Christineindc]

Well its wonderful to hear that I am not alone in the world... I am 35 and have lived my whole life tired!!! When i gave birth to my first daughter at age 22... I ended up needing a blood transfusion... and not because I lost alot of blood... Our blood cells will break down under situations of extreme stress... yet doctors still continue to tell me that Thalassemia Minor should have no symptoms.... I am always tired god help me if I should run.. I get so out of breath so easily. I get heart palpatations off and on out of the blue, My hands and feet (mostly feet) are always cold!! I used to get bad headaches but not as much anymore... I inherited this lovely trait from my mothers side of the family (Italian)... Unfortunately I have given the trait to all three of my daughters..... I will tell you from my one and only experience with the blood transfusion that I went from my death bed to instantly energized.. I felt better than I ever felt or feel... It was a temporary fix and I soon returned to my tired self... I would like to know if anyone else has scoliosis? Thalassemia is known to cause bone diformity during your youth... just curious if any of you have this as well..... thanks and be well