I think you should rule out blood loss right away. I think that the asprin could be causing intestinal bleeding. My MIL was taking coumodin and asprin together at the advice of her doctor here. She was getting weak and anemic. She was visiting her daughter in Florida, and finally she felt so bad they had to take her to the hospital. They figured it out pretty much right away, being used to working with the older population, and said that you shouldn't take asprin on top of another blood thinner, coumodin! They scoped her, and found out she was having bleeding in her digestive tract. Once she stopped taking the asprin, that pretty much cleared up her problems.

By the way, you should always question what your doctors are doing. They are not infallable. I don't think you are over reacting at all!

Claire

Yeah Claire, I agree with you and Judy that blood loss needs to be ruled out right away. I was also on Plavix for 3 1/2 yrs. along with the asprin but was told I could discontinue it about 6 months ago. These were my blood levels back in August:

WBC: 2.8 (4.6-10.2)
RBC: 4.11 (4.04-5.48)
Hemoglobin: 12.2 (12.2-16.2)
Hematocrit: 36 (37.7-47.9)

These were from a few months ago so I don't know where they're at now. Thanks for all the advice and input...I really appreciate it! I'll post an update after I see my Dr. on Wed.

Wow Daisy! I can relate to your lab numbers! I was told in 11/2000 to take a daily baby aspirin, but I declined. In 1/2003, I did the baby aspirin routine for 6 weeks, but during that time, my menstrual cycles shortened to 17 days (from clockwork 28 days). I stopped taking the aspirin for 2 weeks, then took them for 2 weeks more before stopping them for good. I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but that's when all the trouble started! I had numerous labs run in 2003 and 2004, most with low HGB, HCT, RBC, WBC, and platelets.

At my worst, in June 2003, my readings were:
HGB 11.80 (12-16)
HCT 33.90 (39-49)
RBC 3.70 (4.2-5.4)
WBC 2.40 (4-11)
platelets 103.00 (130-400)

I had another CBC run last month (9/2006) and all my counts squeaked into the normal range - my numbers were up even though some of the ranges were lowered.

Why the improvement?

• I have been gf for nearly 20 months (although I ate oats for a few months in the middle of that 20 months).
• I began taking B12 in Feb. 2006 and iron shortly after that.
• I began a B-complex in June 2006.

My biggest complaint all along has been fatigue (and those crazy menstrual cycles which overall are longer now, but not perfect), and as hard as fatigue is to measure, I feel it has improved considerably. I do wonder if I have any other food sensitivities that may be inhibiting my recovery, or maybe it is just a slow process.

All of my help came from the people on this forum and none of it from the doctor (who diagnosed me with Lupus). I'm grateful that my health is returning, even if I can't obtain private health or life insurance because of the <hopefully> misdiagnosis!

Daisy,
Last spring my daughter's hemoglobin was low. I insisted that they check her for anemia because she had become a compulsive ice eater (pica can be a sign of anemia), had very pale nail beds and was very fatigued. She is still anemic but has stopped eating ice.

--Judy

Hi Jamie,

We do sound very similar! I'm just at the begining of all this but talking with those of you who have had similar experience and know much more about all of this is really helpful.

Thanks for sharing your story and I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better. I am hopeful that I will be able to report the same thing when this all gets worked out.