Pernicious Anemia

Yup. My doc thinks I have pernicious anemia.

I went into the doc on Wednesday because of some persistent shortness of breath (breath shortness?) that I've had since Saturday, to the point where I have to concentrate on breathing in and out. My inhaler didn't help, but my peak flow meter (asthmatics own them: you breath hard into it and it tells you if you are taking enough air in) says that I'm getting enough air. So, that knowledge helped some with the panic that I felt about not getting as many full breaths as usual. But I still wanted to see the doctor.

He said I sounded fine, breath sounds and heart rate, no heart murmurs or anything. I was pale but I told him I'm always pale (do I hear an amen?). I'm not coughing at all or having soreness in my chest.

He ordered a chest x-ray, and it came back normal (I got to see it and was stunned at how beautiful it was, how beautiful I am on the inside. ;) It was even cool to see the pocket of gas in my stomach (though you didn't have to tell me it was there)). It was the blood tests (just a CBC, mom-in-law) that came back with this diagnosis.

When the nurse called this morning and said pernicious anemia, I asked what exactly it was, and she said it was a B12 deficiency. I had to ask her to repeat it, because I am taking B12 supplements and have been for a year now. My B12 levels were great the last time I saw blood work, but my husband and I think those results were from before the last hospitalization.

Still, it's frustrating. I'm feeling good, I'm even sneaking a little bit of lactose into my diet and my body is doing fine (i.e., I don't take a Lactaid tablet when I have bread, even though whey is an ingredient). Maybe the anemia is partially due to having NO red meat in my diet anymore. I don't know. As my husband said, this anemia may just be par for the course with having Crohn's Disease.

The nurse said they're going to do some more blood work to confirm the results and I don't have to get more blood drawn; they're going to try and use more of the blood they already took. And then I might have to start getting B12 shots. As the webpage I linked to above says, the prognosis for recovery is extremely good if caught early and if I follow treatment. So, I'll do what I can. Maybe then I can get a good breath of air, and maybe then my hair will stop falling out so much, too. ;)