Cycling UK Forum

Yesterday to the blood donor session.
My blood count is always borderline so sometimes it's too low (typically 134 instead of the required 135+)
Yesterday it was 124 - nurse spoke to me and advised GP visit - I mentioned my cycling - to which she suggested that I was using up the red blood stores that they would take for transfusion. However she said "keep cycling".
I know I've slowed down - I've given up going with my regular cycling group because I'm too slow - but I still ride regularly.
I'm wondering if an iron supplement is advisable - I'm thinking of a 75% RDA iron with vitamin C.
I'd be interested in anyone's opinion on this.
I'm 77.

Getting iron from food is better than taking supplements

You need to see your GP and have it repeated. You need to know the trend of the readings. If another one is still lower you may be losing blood and the only place you can do that without knowing is from your bowel. It needs to be taken into consideration with any other symptoms you may have. Exclude serious causes first of all by discussing with your GP. Good luck.

John100 wrote:You need to see your GP and have it repeated. You need to know the trend of the readings. If another one is still lower you may be losing blood and the only place you can do that without knowing is from your bowel. It needs to be taken into consideration with any other symptoms you may have. Exclude serious causes first of all by discussing with your GP. Good luck.

Agree, and don’t purchase iron supplements without advise from your GP!

Hang on a minute....if the patient's normal value is 134, then 124 is a small reduction.
Lets not send "Antonish" to the knacker's yard just yet, there could be all sorts of explanations, including that the test isn't that accurate in the first place. How is the sample obtained? Finger prick and squeeze? Not highly reproducible, how hard do you squeeze?
I don't know the age range, but at 71 I'm still getting "poo sticks" to do every year....this is specifically looking for blood in faeces (occult blood, if you want to use the phrase)
It won't do any harm to see your GP, but I doubt they will blue-light you to the next round of tests.
The trouble with iron is that you can swallow a lot of it, but it isn't that well absorbed. Some of the old "supplements" were fairly dreadful, leading to constipation not to mention black faeces. Hopefully there are better ones around now, maybe incorporating something to aid availability.
By the way, your body doesn't have any "stores" of red cells, and you don't "use them up" by cycling.

At 71, I'm a fair bit younger than you, and having recently moved house I'm slowly (painfully slowly) learning that if I spend a couple of hours digging out tree roots, or crawling about in the loft insulating pipes, then the next day I'm too knackered to go out on my bike. So I think you need to cut yourself some slack; my cycling has changed from getting my head down and seeing how far I can go; now I'm much more interested in what I can see, and finding "new" lanes which I can show my cycling buddies.
As to cycling buddies, if they won't wait for you I think its bad form, but there are ways and means. One of our guys has got an electric bike, and he only uses the battery to help up hills....he is older than me, with one or two problems. Another guy with a dodgy knee has just ordered one as well. Or you could start out early, and meet them at the cafe stop. Or drive out a bit.......
We use something called "WhatsApp" to organise rides on our phones....its like a text message, but everybody in the group gets to read it. (I didn't set it up, but I bet my kids could!) Its pretty "instant" so we can arrange rides depending on wind direction or do a rain check at the drop of a hat.

What happens if one takes a lot of extra iron, is it possible to take too much?

Cyril Haearn wrote:What happens if one takes a lot of extra iron, is it possible to take too much?

Round here you get a strange attraction to the magnet factory

Pretty sure you'd have to be eating nails to get too much iron in your system, the body is very good at self regulation.

ANTONISH wrote:Yesterday to the blood donor session.
My blood count is always borderline so sometimes it's too low (typically 134 instead of the required 135+)
Yesterday it was 124 - nurse spoke to me and advised GP visit - I mentioned my cycling - to which she suggested that I was using up the red blood stores that they would take for transfusion. However she said "keep cycling".
I know I've slowed down - I've given up going with my regular cycling group because I'm too slow - but I still ride regularly.
I'm wondering if an iron supplement is advisable - I'm thinking of a 75% RDA iron with vitamin C.
I'd be interested in anyone's opinion on this.
I'm 77.

Hi ASTONISH just read this and it reminded me of my posting earlier this year. Long story short felt washed out on a ride on a couple of hills
and after seeing my GP and having blood tests it was determined I had anaemia and because it was also an indication of Cancer I had to go to the hospital and have an investigation up and down say no more. Anyway they discovered I have a diviculated colon and that was causing the bleeding.
Apparently, as it seems with everything they find wrong with me its an age thing so that was it no medicines to add to my acid reflux ones but just eat plenty of fibre was the GPs advice.

So if I was you I would definitely go and see your GP. Oh for the record I am 67.

Firstly remember a woman's normal range is approx 120-140 slightly lower than a man's reading. We only concern ourselves when a reading is under 100... though prefer a buffer of it being bit higher.

So yes it is a bit lower than average. But not that low. So where do you go from here.
1. Might be a good idea to see GP, and get it rechecked. For a starters further tests will look at size and shape of the red cells and can assess haemoglobin stores. There are a variety of causes of anaemia and not just losing blood via the gastro-intestinal tract. Absorbtion could be a problem hence why other tests are needed.

Excess iron won't necessarily harm, but does have side effects on the gut, as you can either have some constipation or loose stools. You can only absorb a finite amount of iron at any one sitting as carriers are required to carry it from the gut into the bloodstream. Once the carriers are filled up any excess iron will be excreted (and why people on iron therapy often have very dark stools).
We always advise taking iron separately over the day and with Vit C which enhances it absorption. Caffeine inhibits absorption. you could have other B vitamin deficiencies such as B12 which can cause anaemia

So go to your GP and get it checked out before starting a course of iron.

On the contrary too much iron can be harmful to the body. Yes blood loss from the bowel is only one of many causes of anaemia, but common things are common. Further tests will tell what type of anaemia and point to causes. Personally in your age group especially, I would visit your GP.

Thank you all for the helpful replies.

After my blood sample failed the "float" test - (it didn't sink) they drew blood from a vein and tested on a machine which is where the 124 came from.

Some years ago I had a very low reading - 112 and was told I had to see my GP.
I couldn't get an appointment for two weeks but the GP phoned and told me that it wasn't clinically significant .

I've given blood on a number of occasions since, so my levels must go up and down quite a lot.
I have a balanced diet but I get confused with differing advice -e.g eggs are rich in iron - egg white inhibits the absorption of iron.
I'll see my GP and see what transpires.
BTW my club mates did wait for me but it was happening too much so I decided it was fairer to them if I rode with a slower group.
I did the "poo sticks" test a couple of times but they stop screening when you reach an age threshold.

Sound advice from eileithyia and others re bioavailability etc, but do get it checked out.

I started to experience fatigue after a bout of the Lurgy, I was an Ultra runner at the time and building up to a race in SA. I'd been running for decades so was very familiar with fatigue during long training runs and pushing on through. The fatigue that I started to experience was subjectively different from exercise fatigue, it is hard to explain but the fatigue felt deeper. Does your tiredness feel deeper?

Went to the Doctor and was referred for tests. Gastro to start with ( camera from both ends ! ) then blood tests.
Turned out to be bone marrow related ( MDS ) and something that I just need to adapt to and accept.

During the investigations and pre diagnosis I looked at nutrition. I'm a lifelong veggie and usually eat a very healthy diet. I wanted to rule out malabsorption of iron due to foodstuffs, coeliac, lactose intolerance etc so had a period of seven months as a Soya free, Gluten free Vegan ( not as hard as it sounds )
Once diagnosed I reintroduced the foodstuffs that I'd omitted on a staged basis so I could monitor the effects on on my body on an individual basis.

If you are going down the supplement route there is one Iron supplement that I would recommend, it is called " Floradix " or " Floravital " being the Vegan version.

But most important of all get it checked.

All the very best

Anemia is a medical condition in which the red blood cell count or hemoglobin is less than normal. This condition can be easily detected by taking a CBC (complete blood count) test. Anemic individuals will experience the following symptoms indicating that their blood count is lower and that they lack enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to the body's tissues. Most common to this condition is the symptom of fatigue and loss of energy, some anemia, such as iron deficiency anemia or vitamin B-12 deficiency, will cause extreme fatigue due to low hemoglobin. You will experience a significant increase in heartbeat. Anemia is taxing on the cardiovascular system due to the fact that the body requires iron to produce hemoglobin, an essential substance that transports oxygen from the lungs to the various tissues and organs. Headache, dizziness, shortness of breath are all signs and symptoms of anemia due to a lack of oxygen. Pale skin is another common sign of anemia. It often indicates a decreased blood flow or a lower production of red blood cells. Difficulty concentrating and insomnia are also other signs

If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms, please get a health check immediately.

As a Crohn's disease suffer I have a little experience with this, my levels have been ridiculously low at times and I've needed blood transfusions in the past.
This is some information given out which shows a far bigger difference in normal cell count range than which you've said compares to 'normal' , yours on one given day is less than 10% difference, the normal range in men is a 30% differential.

"The "normal" RBC reference range for women is 4.2 to 5.4 million/mcL; for men, 4.7 to 6.1 million/mcL; for children, 4.1 to 5.5 million/mcL" https://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Red-blood-count/

Unless you feel out of sorts then I wouldn't worry about it, have some extra greens in your diet isn't going to hurt and if it really bothers you take some over the counter iron tablets. But just go with how you feel, someone saying you are outside a normal range starts to set people off thinking they need to do something when given the reality, often you don't.

Thanks for the advice.
I went to a GP (it's pot luck at my local surgery unless you want to wait even longer ) who sent me for a blood test.
Had that on the 27th November.
Not heard yet from the surgery - perhaps they are waiting for me to get in touch.
I'm still riding but definitely slower - I even went out on a club run and was able to keep up on the hills (such as they were).