anemic?

[eansy]

Yesterday, I got my CBC from a lab test for employment and was shocked to find out that in my medical certificate indicated that i was anemic. I did see my CBC and my HGB was at 136 g/L. Their Ref values M: 140 to 170 g/L. The doctor there prescribed me ferrous sulfate 1x day for a month and recommend me to come back for another cbc a week after. Question is, by searching the net, it indicated that i was in the normal range since they say that

Male Age >18 years: 13.6 to 17.7 g/dl (mean 15.5 g/dl)

So i was wondering if I am really anemic?

[Bridget A. Hewitt, RN]

Hi and thanks for using the forum.

Most labs that you go to have slightly varying reference ranges for their normal values depending on how they run their tests.  YOur lab work was only slightly anemic and the ferrous sulfate will do you no harm.  You should follow the normal values for the lab in which you had your blood work done.  So, take the ferrous sulfate as prescribed and have your follow up CBC in 1 month to see if your hemoglobin has improved.  Good luck.

Bridget

[eansy]

Thank you Ms. Bridget. I did another test at another lab which surprised me because the result change significantly, from 13.6 to 14.8 g/dL. I asked the physician and she told me that maybe two different machines have different reading. tested twice in the new lab that had resulted at 14.8 g/dL which removed me from slightly anemic range