You should definitely ask your Onc about it since your HGB is far below normal. The way to increase HGB is generally to increase RBC production, which is what Procrit and Aranesp do. The low end of normal HGB for women is 12, and for men it is 14. The low end of normal HCT for women is 37, and for men it is 42. These values vary by age, laboratory, etc, so are not exact for every person. If your counts are below these numbers, you are generally considered anemic, and of course there are degrees of anemia, from mild to severe. Here is a link to a good presentation on anemia: http://chhs.georgiasouthern.edu/nursing/resources/pdfs/women_and_anemia_handout.pdf
Most of us with CML using Gleevec or Sprycel stay at the lower end of normal or below normal for RBC, HGB, HCT. That is because these drugs not only control the leukemic WBCs, but they also tend to suppress production of our good cells, both white and red. And the suppression of our RBC counts, and the associated lower HGB and HCT levels that follows, cause CML folks to live on the anemic side, to varying degrees. But there are also deficiencies of either iron or folic acid that can cause anemia, so your doc should check out all the issues. There are tests for iron and folic acid deficiency that could be useful for determining how best to proceed. --Trey --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CMLHope -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
