Symptoms of low hemoglobin

The last 5 days have been interesting to say the least!

Every Monday I go for a blood draw and the results get sent to CTCA (my cancer treatment center.) After my blood draw this past Monday I got a call on Tuesday that my blood analysis showed my hemoglobin (red blood cells) were dangerously low (6.8) and to get to the ER to get a blood transfusion, which I did. It's been a wild ride since but the good news is I am doing fine and I'll go over that shortly but here's what I want to share with you:

The symptoms of low hemoglobin include dizziness, nosebleeds, shortness of breath and low energy, easy bruising, pale skin, heart palpitations, fever and a feeling where it feels as though your heart is pounding in your head.

My symptoms were limited to feeling light-headed every time I stood up, a jaundice pallor to my skin and severe pounding in my head with every heartbeat. I had that for a few days and since they were new side-affects I attributed it to chemo and didn't do anything about it. If you have a combination of these symptoms do something about it!

Low hemoglobin means insufficient red blood cell production and results in a lack of oxygen getting to your organs and your brain which means an increased workload on your heart and lungs to compensate.

What ended up happening was that I received 5 units of blood via transfusion and was in the hospital for two days because it is a process that takes time. There can be many causes for low hemoglobin but in my case, it appears to be a combination of low platelets, anemia due to chemotherapy and internal bleeding that showed up in a stool sample.

If you suddenly have very dark stools, almost black, immediately follow-up with your doctor. In my case, I thought my dark stools were simply due to the iron supplements I began taking at the recommendation of my Dr of Naturopathy at CTCA, which is partly true, but dark stools can also be, among other things,  "old blood" coming from someplace in the upper GI or the stomach.

In my case, I had to have an upper GI and colonoscopy this past Saturday morning to determine where the blood was coming from. The good news is my colon is in great shape however I do have a few superficial gastric ulcers and a vein in the fundus (near the esophagus and stomach) is oozing some blood or showed evidence of having done that.

I was given some guidance to cut back on anything with caffeine, acidic foods and to eat meals early to reduce the chance of acid-reflux during the night. These were all relevant suggestions since we often eat late, like many dishes with cooked tomatoes and spicy dishes and I drink a lot of green tea.

When I go get my blood drawn this Monday (tomorrow) it will be revealing to see where my blood counts are right now and I do feel much better and my facial color looks much better. Despite all of this, I continue to gain weight, overall, feel very good and I am grateful to God that the test results were much better than they could have been.

Finally, the perception that I had that a colonoscopy was a "big deal" and probably painful was completely incorrect! It was very easy, painless and ultimately, has given me some real peace of mind. The procedure was done at an upper GI/colonoscopy medical center near me and they used a gas to knock me out and the drug they gave me to revive me woke me up to normal in literally less than 15 minutes. It was a breeze! The day before I did have to take some tablets, refrain from eating and I had to drink 64 oz of Gatorade with some over the counter medicine to clean me out but even that process was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

So, if you are over 50 or you are having "issues" that concern you, please get a colonoscopy or upper GI because it is not at all a big deal. Now, if you choose to take different drugs in order to stay awake the experience can be different but why do that?? By comparison, this was such a breeze, We got there at 7 AM Saturday morning and we were home by 9:15 AM and immediately went out to breakfast. No side affects, no pain and now, no worries as I know exactly what's going on!

Peace to you and yours!