Very concerend...could it be cancer?

[Dani2396]

I am a 15 year old girl. I have microcytic anemia and I take b12 injections since my level is 136. also, my prolactin was high.
For the past few months I have been experiencing a lot of fatigue, diziness, sore throats and bruises. I am concerned because I have a bruise that has been there for 3 months and I get unexplained bruises all the time. What could be wrong? I am really worried.

[Ken_PA]

well, no thrombocytopenia maybe then suggests some coagulation disorder, or some platelet dysfunction which doesn't affect count.

I also don't see why you would have easy bruising, yet the bruises are persistent. They seem to be opposite effects, as with some rare combination of disorders with coagulation but also with plasmin. I'd guess that's a key feature which might lead to an answer. I don't recall ever having heard of that with blood cancers.

Does your doc say why the B12 injections are not resolving the anemia?

[Dani2396]

I dont have celiac and I did try taking folate but my CBC remains the same. I had a test yesterday. my RBC was 2.7, WBC 11.6, Hgb 8.1, MCV 72 these were the abnormal results.

[Ken_PA]

Keeping in mind that the probable cause for all three is the B12 deficiency - though B12 causing low WBCs isn't usual, AFAIK. (Even so, you didn't actually mention low WBCs showing up on a CBC)

Did you ever try eliminating bread, etc to see if you have celiac? (as a possible B12 absorption cause)

Did you try taking folate? (to see if your blood cells improve)

[Dani2396]

Thanks...I guess that's what I'm going to have to do. Thanks for the answers :)

[Ken_PA]

well, I can tell you this: my father had a BMB and he actually fell asleep during it (no sedatives were involved, either). The hema was laughing and said he'd never seen that before.

So maybe the anticipation is really the worst part.

[Dani2396]

Thank you for the reply :) I know a BMB is the best way but I'm scared of it hurting.

[Ken_PA]

Well, B12 deficiency can cause thrombocytopenia, which results in bruising. But that doesn't explain the sore throats (possibly from leukopenia?) And as you know, the anemia can result in dizziness and tiredness.

How can cancer cause all three? It's because the cancer cells multiply in the bone marrow and therefore crowd out the production of normal blood cells.

Is that what you have? Probably it's not the likely cause, but still... you would want to find out the cause. Maybe you are a candidate for a bone marrow biopsy, to rule out any blood cancer and get some peace of mind. Then you can concentrate on finding the actual cause. Good luck.