I got my CBC w/Diff results back and it says I am anemic. My lymphocytes are at 12, RBC s at 3.88 and Hematocrit is at 35.7. My doctor says I should check with my GI for possible small bowel study or EGD to evaluate melena and anemia . I am 50 years old and just had a colonoscopy that was normal with the exception of diverticulosis? Should I be concerned and start spending a lot of money on these additional tests?
Hello and thank you for sending your question. You are a very young person and the degree of anemia that you are experiencing is such that appropriate medical examination consultation and diagnostic testing is warranted. This includes endoscopy which you have already completed. You have indicated that the endoscopy has not showed any obvious signs of bleeding but that you do have a diverticulosis. It is possible that diverticulosis can contribute to anemia if one of the diverticula becomes inflamed and bleeds. This might not cause obvious changes in your stool but could contribute to mild anemia. Since nothing obvious has been found it would be reasonable to consider additional work up with the gastroenterologist Including upper endoscopy and possible capsule endoscopy if the upper endoscopy is negative. If the gastroenterology workup is negative the next step would be to review your blood test results with a hematologist. The hematologist will help to make sure that there is no problem with production of red blood cells or abnormal destruction of red blood cells in your body. I think it is worth The investment of time and money to have this worked up completely. Thanks again for sending your question.