High Levels of Iron in Blood

[Bahama-mama]

I took DD to the doc yesterday as she was complainig of being tired all the time.
He did a blood test to check her iron levels, her Hematocrit was 48.6 % (norm is 35.0-45.0) and her Hemoglobin was 15.9 (norm 11.7-15.0) on the chart they were both in the high colomn. So that ruled out Anemia. Has anyone else had blood test results similar to these and what was the outcome.
Thanks

[kiwikid]

Dehydration? Has she been taking any supplements lately? I remember being told that sometimes people go into the chemist asking for a tonic because they feel tired and they are often given iron supplements which you should never take unless you have a known iron deficiency. It can build up and cause anaemia type symptoms.
Could Haemachromatosis be a possibility? It is usually an inherited condition though.

[mmgirls]

Well I will have to think about this. Basically she has more red blood cells than normal and since red blood cells are made with iron, she has too much iron too.

I have no idea what may cause this. let me look at some stuff.

[Lisa P.]

There is a condition where people have an excess of iron in the blood stream, I read one case where a guy felt better every time he donated blood!

All three of my kids have a very large number of smaller red blood cells, it does affect other things about their health, but I understand it's just what your body does when it is at high altitudes, in order to move more oxygen.

[LantusFiend]

When the hematocrit and hemoglobin are high, it's called polycythemia, although most of what comes up if you google that is about polycythemia vera.

I had elevated hemoglobin (mine was 16.9) and hematocrit (50.1%), a few years ago and it was a side effect of a medication I was taking; after I was taken off of it, it took about six months for them to really normalize and they are still towards the upper end of the normal range.

Your daughter's levels are not dangerously high, just abnormal. They would be normal if she was a man.

Some causes of polycythemia include:
Various medications.
Dehydration.
Polycythemia Vera, a condition that is not commonly found in children and which causes the body to produce too many red blood cells.
Heart disease.

I read one paper some time back on hemoglobin and hematocrit levels in adults with type 1 diabetes and they were higher than in type 2s and in controls, at least in that one study. It was of just the patients in one clinic and the authors decided to study it because they had a patient with type 1 diabetes who had an extremely high hemoglobin level.
I can't locate it right now because pubmed is giving me error pages.

P.S. Being at high altitudes and having difficulty breathing will also cause the body to make more red blood cells.

[Connie(BC)Type 1]

Chelation Therapy gets rid of excess iron, My dad needed it years ago,and he wasn't on any meds at all. Over the years I think he had 3 treatments, successfully

[C6H12O6]

you may want to ask if she may have Hemochromatosis

[Bahama-mama]

Thankyou all for the replies. My husband was away, and when he came back I told him about DD's levels. He told me that his Grandmother had Polythycemia and there is kidney disease on his side of the family. Also I remembered a few years back DS had blood work done and his iron levels were on the high side as well. When he comes back from college next month I will have his iron levels tested again. DD goes tomorrow for more blood test, so we should know more by the end of the week.

[LantusFiend]

Sorry- were her iron levels measured in the first place? I don't think hemoglobin or hematocrit are measures of iron levels. Am I wrong?

[ChristineJ]

Originally Posted by LantusFiend

Sorry- were her iron levels measured in the first place? I don't think hemoglobin or hematocrit are measures of iron levels. Am I wrong?

You are correct. Hemoglobin level is a measure of the protein that transports oxygen from the lungs and carbon dioxide to the lungs. Hematocrit level measures the percentage of blood volume that is made of red blood cells. The most common reason for slight elevations is being somewhat dehydrated. Iron levels can be measured and are usually abbreviated Fe in lab reports.