I was worried that the onset of night itching COMBINED WITH my high HCT might be pointing me toward a different problem (polycythemia vera).
Blood work is back and I can put that worry to rest.
The test that I was concerned with was Erythropoietin. My results came back within range which is what I was hoping for.
My reading material:
Patients with polycythemia vera have extremely elevated hemoglobin or hematocrit and decreased serum erythropoietin level.
Secondary polycythemia is associated with disorders that cause tissue hypoxia such as living at high altitude, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cyanotic heart disease, sleep apnea, high affinity hemoglobinopathy, smoking, or localized renal hypoxia. In secondary polycythemia, EPO production is increased in an attempt to increase oxygen delivery to tissues by increasing the number of oxygen carrying red blood cells. Patients with secondary polycythemia have elevated hemoglobin or hematocrit and higher than normal serum EPO level.
I also tested iron and Ferritin to further eliminate any type of anemia (which shouldn’t have been possible with my high Hemoglobin); but also to verify that they were within range.
I found it interesting that my Ferritin was on the low end of the scale; and the Iron was on the high end of the scale.
From my reading:
A lower -than- normal ferritin level can indicate that you have an iron deficiency ; rephrased “low level of ferritin usually indicates a low level of stored iron.”
I also found a study where a doctor indicated that anything below 75 should be considered “iron deficiency” even though that isn’t what the reference ranges show. I find that hard to believe - but as I wrote previously, I have been having sleep issues again … and then I see this: “Low ferritin is known to cause sleep disorders, most notably Restless Leg Syndrome.” Another report also agreed that anything under 50 is considered “borderline” iron deficient. This is something I would have never considered.
And finally, my HCT was 51.3 (down slightly) and HGB was 17.2, also down slightly.
I’m looking at my multi-vitamin to see if I am taking iron supplementation or not.
“You need iron in your body to maintain a healthy red blood cell count and to produce hemoglobin.” … hmmmmm. I got both of those beat.