teen health

[sun2810]

i have just been diagnosed with anemia. the doctor said i need to see a pediatrition because i cant have iron tablets. the reason i cant have iron tablets is because i have constipation in the bowls since the age of 1. one of the side effects of iron tablets is constipation. the doctor didnt want to risk me getting more constipated than i already am.the doctor wants the pediatrition to treat the cause of my anemia. the doctor asked me if i ate enough foods with iron in and i said yes, she also asked if i had heavy periods(because iron could be lost from the blood) and i said i do not have heavy periods. what else could have cause me to get anemia? what else would you suggest apart from iron tablets and eating foods with iron in to treat my anemia?

[sweetpea03]

the ending of all of those words is -scopy, which means they will look inside of your body by using a camera on the end of a flexible tube. endoscopy and colonoscopy is looking onside of your lower digestive tract, through your anus. The sigmoidoscopy look in the upper digestive tract by going through your mouth. They will sedate you in order to do these procedures, so it isn't too bad. Though they may not do any of these procedures. It depends on what the doctor wants to look for and how they want to go about it.

[sun2810]

i should be getting a letter in the post in about two weeks time. could you explain to me what upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, colonoscpy and sigmoidoscopy is because i have never heard of those words before. i have the rarest form of autism which is aspergouse syndrome and i cant understand things very well. thanks. i will let you know what the exact date is and when i have got the appointment and when i have been i will tell you what examinations i have had and what the pediatrition said.

[sweetpea03]

Hope you don't have to wait long to see a specialist. NHS can be a pain when someone actually has a medical problem, though it's nice for the common cold and easy medical issues. When are you seeing the specialist? They'll most likely do blood work to look for abnormalities. They may also do a abdominal x-ray, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy to have a look at what is going on internally.

[sun2810]

i dont think my anemia is to do with my diet because i have been seeing a dietition since i was born, but i do think i have had anemia since i was eight or nine because that is when i started to get the symptoms. i am on quite a bit of medication but my doctor has said that none of it has caused my anemia. can you tell me what kind of tests the pediatrition will do. i also would like to know what it is like living in the usa because i am british. i was born and raised in england. is it nice weather and are the houses nice? thanks.

[sweetpea03]

The typical causes of iron-deficiency anemia are blood loss, poor diet, or the inability to absorb enough iron. Blood loss doesn't seem to be the cause, but I would really look into your diet. The best sources of iron are meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and iron-fortified foods (foods that have iron added) or dark leafy vegetables. If you don't eat enough of these daily, it can cause problems with not enough iron.

Are you on any medication? Some can interfere with the absorption of iron.

Also, some intestinal diseases can cause you not to absorb the needed amount of iron.

The pediatric specialist should do testing to see what is causing your anemia.