NealH

My company provided a blood test for the third year in a row. And, for the third year in a row my hemoglobin and Hematocrit dropped. Its been dropping about a point a year and is now sitting at the bottom of the normal rannge - 12.7 Hemoglobin and 37.2 Hematocrit. I scheduled a physical since its been three years and, will have it with my doctor on Wednesday of this week. I plan to ask for something to boost it up some however, I sort of doubt he will agree to it. Not sure at what point one would be a candidate for a boost. But it concerns me that these numbers seem to keep creeping down.

I am curious as to what some of you have for Hemoglobin and Hematocrit numbers. I am 58 years old and all my other blood numbers are pretty much in the middle of their respective range - including iron.

JanMM

15.8 a few weeks ago when I donated blood. 59 years old. Prior to this donation, they had checked Hct by seeing how fast a drop of blood dropped in a CuSO4 solution. I always passed the minimum but don't know the numbers.
Talk to your doc. Low normal beats abnormally low.

martianone

IMHO- let your physician talk you into a colonoscopy and fecal occult blood. Your screening probably didn't include a ferritin, ask your physician about this test, also a vitamin B-12 and folate.

BluesDawg

I had my first normal readings in over a year a couple of weeks ago. HGB 14.3 and HCT 41.7. The doc said it was the first time he looked at my blood values and could not tell I had been on chemo. According to his scale, your HGB number is below the normal range (14.0-18.0) as is your HCT (42.0-52.0). Technically my HCT is a fraction low, but close enough.

My numbers were a good bit lower than yours last year when they gave me a few doses of EPO to boost it and they were still lower than yours when they took me off of it.

DiabloScott

I gave blood Saturday and my pre-donation HCT was 42.0 (lowest I've seen it I think, can't find my spreadsheet right now); they allow double RBC donation at 40 or more.
After double red blood cell donation it dropped to 36.6 (I asked them to check just out of curiosity).

So I did a little looking around and most of the info says HCT for most people stays pretty constant (barring disease) until about age 60 when it can start to drop slowly.

pacificaslim

My hematocrit came in at 35 earlier this year and I was given all those follow up tests to try to identify the cause. Iron, folate, b-12 etc. as well as tests of liver and kidney function. Nothing stood out as abnormal and so there was nothing I could do on my own to try to bring my levels back up. I felt really run down all the time and was having breathing and heart rate issues so I think I had some sort of illness but they never figured it out. I could hardly ride my bike at all and even walking upstairs would leave me winded. They gave me lung x-rays and lung capacity tests and both static and treadmill ekg tests. No conclusions.

Last month I started feeling a lot better and I'm back on the bike and riding decently strong again and then my next set of blood tests showed hematocrit back up to 39. This is just into the "normal" range (even though average male has a 46). I'd feel better if they had identified what the cause was but since I feel better I guess eventually I'll just forget about it.

Best of luck figuring it all out.

BikeWNC

My levels have historically been low, in the 12.5/37.5 range. My doctor says it's fine. Pisses me off. There are other low hormone numbers too which he says are no concern. No wonder I can't keep up on the bike with anyone that rides half as much as I do. Lately I been thinking of changing doctors.

djnzlab1

HI,
I ve always ran around14.2/and 42 for years even when I donate blood, If your test were run in a regular lab not some Dr office equipment. Many office portables can be off by nearly 20% we can't transfuse in our hospitals without a H/H in house to verify results.
People who smoke have higer H/H due to carboxy HGB or Hgb bound to Carbon Monoxide., people who live in cities with air pollution tend to have Higher H/H.
Just be sure your Occult blood is negative and your not on meds that contribute to lower H/H taking asprin can lower your H/H if your sensative to asprin baby asprin will make me have asymptomatic GI bleeds in about 2 days,
Kidney health also plays a role in blood replacement healthy kidneys release a hormone to increase RBC's production .
Vit B12 is very important to normal hgb as is ferritin, B12 is normally made in the gut by benaficial bacteria but can be disrupted from dietary problems or colon flora problems.
I actively use probiotic yogurts to help balance gut flora. One dose of antibiotics or a sever case of GI diarhea, can really mess up gut flora.
I read an article by a renown GI tract DR/Microbiologist that could ID if your at risk for colon cancer by checking your normal GI flora many diets disrupt benaficial flora. Things like high sugar, high fat, low fiber can have negative effects. Your gut flora is constantly trying to over power the bad bacteria certian diets can mess things up.

Doug

BikeWNC

I've had 2 colonoscopys, one in the last 3 months and all is good. I've tried most remedies with little change. All my bloodwork has been done in my wife's lab in her office but has been very consistent. IDK, it's an issue I'd like to be able to resolve/improve. I often feel like I'm dragging my butt around (and it's not all that big!).