So my 2 month blood tests are back. My inflammation is staying down; the CRP rose a little bit, from 0.8 to 1.8, but that’s still pretty low for me. ESR went from 19 before hookworms, to 10, now to 3!! That’s amazing. The bad news is the 10 little worms, which I’ve been assured could not cause anemia in these numbers, are certainly lowering my iron count, iron saturation and iron stores. It was a significant drop just in the last month, and they probably reached maturity around 6 weeks, so that’s just with 2 weeks of blood sucking. It was about 2 weeks ago that I started to feel much more fatigued, and having more heart palpitations and rapid heart rate. I even had an iron shot last week, which didn’t contribute much. I’ll probably have to do them weekly for quite some time, and if the hookworms continue to deplete me, I may have to try daily iron as well, though I haven’t tolerated it in the past. The pain has reduced the last few days; I’m hoping I’m simultaneously reacting to them negatively while also being helped by their anti-inflammatory properties. Because I’m getting up at night at least twice, loose stools, lots of mucus, and I’m tired. Certainly do not feel great, despite the excellent blood readings. I’ll know if the next month if this is a temporary reaction, or if my colon is just so messed up that it will take monumental diet change and probiotics to get anything resembling a normal stool. I’m pleased that the hookworms are obviously still alive (by my eosinophil count) and that my SED rate dropped so significantly. I’ll keep you all posted…
WHITE CELL COUNT 9,5 (normal 3.8-10.8 thous/uL) (up from 7.2, but still within normal)
RED CELL COUNT 4.26 (3.8 – 5.10 MILLION/uL)
HEMOGLOBIN 12 (11.7-15.5 g/dL) (those iron shots are working)
HEMATOCRIT 35.9 (35.0-45.0%)
MCV 84 (80-100 fL)
MCH 28.2 (27-33.0 pg)
MCHC 33.4 (32-36 g/dL)
RDW *****15.1*** (11-15.0%)
PLATELET COUNT 346 (140-400 thous/uL)
MPV 7.8 (7.5-11.5 fL)
NEUTROPHILS 70 (40-75%)
LYMPHOCYTES 20 (20-45%)
MONOCYTES 8 (0-12%)
EOSINOPHILS 2 (0-6%) (Up from 1…they’re still alive!!)
BASOPHILS 0 (0-2%)
ABSOLUTE NEUTROPHIL 6650 (1500-7800 Cells/mcL)
ABSOLUTE LYMPHOCYTE 1900 (850-3900 Cells/mcL)
ABSOLUTE MONOCYTES 760 (200-950 Cells/mcL)
ABSOLUTE EOSINOPHIL 190 (15-550 Cells/mcL)(My eosinophils went from 72 to 190.)
ABSOLUTE BASOPHIL 0 (0-200 Cells/mcL)
ESR 3 (0-20 mm/h) (Was 19 2 months ago, 10 last month! This is an amazing lowering!)
CRP 1.8 (<0.8 mg/dL) (Up from 0.8, but still a very low reading for me. The ESR shows that inflammation in general is down. Go, hookworms, go.)
B12 650 (200-1100 pg/mL)
FOLATES , serum 13.3 (normal: >5.4)
IRON ******27***** (40-175 mcg/dL) (Note: this went from 43 before hookworms to 64 last month. Now it has dropped significantly . I wonder if the hookworms stimulate an inflammatory response that causes the body to sequester iron, as it does in active Crohn’s? I feel more anemic.)
TIBC 292 (250-450 mcg/dL)
TRANSFERRIN SATURATION 9 (15-50%) (This improved from 14% to 21% after the first month. Now I’m down to 9%.)
FERRITIN 84 (10-154 ng/mL) (This was 30 last month. So my iron is down, my ferritin up. Don’t know what that means.)
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