Low hemoglobin readings afters years of being a lab rat

[littlezack]

In the last year I've been getting turned away from studies for low hemoglobin. Nothing serious, sometimes just barely out of range. I changed my diet to include more iron and recently just tried iron pills after a screening return at Spaulding.

Has this happened to anyone else? How long does it take to raise yr levels to acceptable range?

[subject]

After a donation of 500ml of blood, most people’s haemoglobin levels are back to normal after six to twelve weeks.
(Although screening and some studies don't account for that much blood loss, these studies are done regarding blood donations).  Some studies may require you to donate that much blood anyways.

iron pills with vitamin c should help you restore those levels back. Vitamin C increases absorption.
Increasing doses of vitamin C exhibited a dose-dependent response in iron absorption during concomitant administration in healthy volunteers, ranging from no change in ferrous sulfate absorption with ascorbic acid doses below 100mg to 48% increase in elemental iron 30mg absorption with 500mg ascorbic acid. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13873150


Collection of whole blood following a 500 ml (+/- 50 ml ) volunteer blood donation would be expected to decrease Hgb by 1 g/dL and hematocrit (hct) by 1-3 % in an average 75 Kg adult. While total blood volume will be replaced within hours by extracellular fluid transfer into intravascular space, red cell mass is replaced within 3-5 weeks in most donors. Current FDA guidelines allow allogeneic blood donations with a Hct >/= 38% or Hgb >/= 12.5 g/dL. The maximum whole blood collection volume is 10.5 mL per kilogram body weight.  I am assuming the screening was a bit more sensitive, and was around 13g/dL+ , which is probably where your levels are.


BUT from MY general experience, you will generally lose 1.2-2.0 g/dL after 24 hours of losing 500ml or around 1 pint of blood after plasma and blood levels off and replace fluid in your body.

It will take 6-12 weeks to recover those levels, faster if you take iron supplements. Assuming that 10% of the iron is absorbed, the hemoglobin concentration may fully correct after 4 weeks in patients with moderate, uncomplicated iron deficiency (about 500–800 mg of iron, enough for 500 to 800 mL of packed red blood cells, or enough to raise the whole blood hemoglobin 2–3 g/dL). www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2582401/


Of note, a randomized controlled trial showed that incrementally higher doses of iron in elders with iron-deficiency anemia did not provide any additional benefit in iron status, and in fact caused more gastrointestinal upset. Patients aged 80 or older with iron-deficiency anemia were randomized to receive 15mg, 50mg, or 150mg elemental iron daily, which resulted in comparable increases in hemoglobin and ferritin after 60 days without any statistically significant differences among the three groups. However, the higher doses resulted in statistically significant increases in abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and black stools.