Low red blood cell count

[mudmucker]

Hey all,

I'm wondering if anyone has ever had experience with a low red blood cell count. I get my bloodwork done every three months due to the medication I'm on for Ulcerative Colitis. My Dr. said everything looked good on my last report, but it shows that I'm low on the red cell count. My hemoglobin and hematocrit are in the normal (albeit lower end) range. I've been anemic before, and know that it makes exercise really difficult. But now that I'm not technically anemic, I'm wondering if the low RBC is having adverse effects on my training.

I'm only obsessing about this right now because I felt like crap the whole time during my last 23 km. ski race, and it just occurred to me that it might be a deficiency.

I'm also wondering if anyone has gone from being a vegetarian to an omnivore and experienced any increase in performance. I don't like the thought of having to eat meat, but if it will help get my blood count up, I may consider it.

Thanks,
Kate

Interesting, your hemoglobin is in a normal range and you say your not technically anemic at this point but your red blood cell count is low. Somewhere I thought I heard from one of my doctors that extremes of what is a normal range (high/low) might vary by a few points as an opinion. So you say you are at the lower part of the range - maybe that is just too low for you and should be suspicious of the result. I don't know the +/- latitude in testing for bloodwork results.

I'll relate my experience. I get my blood tested every year due to former thyroid issues. I seem to have had a propensity for iron anemia most of my life. I've been athletic and active all my life and I remember as a teen at one point I was feeling exhaustion and then tested for iron levels. It was the first time I was iron anemic. Started taking supplements on and off. Life goes on and I've been iron anemic several times through the years. I usually attribute fatigue to my often insane working hours so it goes undiscovered until the bloodwork. In my 20's, 30',s and early 40's I basically ate vegetarian although I don't declare that I am because I do eat meat. But for a good long time I didn't eat red meat.

One day in 1998 at age 38 I had gone for a very simple 12 mile bike ride and rested in a field under the sun and it had felt like I severely bonked. I wondered why after such a short ride I was so out of breath and tired. I was later diagnosed with pernicious anemia - which is a B12 deficiency. Somewhere along the line I lost the enzyme to absorb B12, which is responsible for manufacturing healthy red blood cells (I believe quality not quantity of cells). But they can fix it - I just have to get an injection every month because I can't extract it from food. The development of pernicious anemia is more related to the thyroid issues rather than former iron deficiencies. If I forget to get the B12 injection on time by a few days, it can be almost debilitating. I get symptoms of joint pain rheumatism, sleep patterns become disrupted and the kind of fatigue that neither sleep or nutrition can remedy. Needless to say, my performance on a bike and in life in general drops rapidly 3 days before the injection vs. 1 day after. So I pay attention. The B12 is addressed and I decided to address the iron a little better. I adjusted the diet and now (to some dismay) incorporate red meat once a week. I incorporate the meat because as Dianyla mentioned, it is the heme-iron that is effective and is more available in red meat as opposed to plants. I don't think this is in my head but I swear I feel a little bit better, stronger, and have a little more energy by doing this. So as I have more time on the weekends, I'll do my long rides or my long xc skis on Sat and Sun, and eat beef on Sunday evenings. So I have it once a week with maybe some leftovers the next day. Small portions.