I was tested mitochondrial antibodies that lead to hemolytic anemia. Fortunately negative. My capacity to bind iron is fine, but I was still not successfully capturing enough. My RBCs have a wide range from microcytes to anisocytes. Many of the RBCs just never mature into something useful. In spite of my best efforts, I still don't have a resolution. Perhaps getting the cancer removed will bring a resolution. Tuesday is surgery day.
My wife as been using Ozempic with a primary goal of lowering her A1C. As a Type 1 diabetic, the delayed gastric emptying presents a problem when her blood glucose drops to a critical low. Consuming glucose is also delayed putting her at risk for going from critical low to comatose. Not really a good risk vs reward.
I can certainly relate to the lack of energy that accompanies anemia. Just a little exercise and you feel wiped out. It's not a great situation when you live at 4600 ft elevation with somewhat less oxygen in the air. Normally, I had extra RBCs to compensate for the altitude. Not right now. It sucks.
I'm reminded that you can't out train a bad diet. If you eat too much, you can't burn enough with exercise to compensate. The washed out feeling from anemia feels a lot like low blood sugar. I think that leads to an attempt to "fix" the problem by eating. It's a miscue.
Good luck on your journey to keep enough RBCs to stay on the green side.
Thanks. That is interesting. Our bodies are so intricately woven; each person presents with their own set of challenges.
Mine is cold agglutinin disease. CAD occurs when RBCs are exposed to low temperatures. It basically clumps the RBCs together and then they are destroyed by the antibodies. Low temperatures, but it has been discovered, infections can also set the “complement cascade” in motion. I put scare quotes around complement cascade as I don’t understand it. I only know it is there.
Did I read that you have surgery today - Tuesday? Or is it next week? Let us know how that goes. My prayers are with you.