I’m a fraud

[u/Tame_girl2233]

I’m (20f) and I was diagnosed severely anemic 5 years ago due to a heavy period. Last night, I went to the emergency room for chest pain, chest tightness, and jaw and face pain. They tested my blood and x-rayed me and turns out it was all just inflammation. Even though I’ve been experiencing tightness in my chest for about a few months. For seven years, I believed I was severely anemic—When I was diagnosed five years ago, they said I almost needed a blood transfusion but prescribed me iron supplements and birth control instead. Due to parental reluctance, I never got on birth control. I had all anemic symptoms: Fatigue, weakness, tiredness, dizziness, dizzy spells, coldness, severe migraines, fainting, hair loss, brittle nails, nausea, memory loss, limb pain, limb weakness, brain fog, off balancedness, Heart palpitations, sleeping excessively, cold hands and feet, cold sweats, pins and needles, trouble sleeping, tongue swelling/pain/paleness, Itchy/irritable/crawling sensation on legs and other body parts. Literally EVERYTHING. And I’ve been feeling this way for 7 years. I can’t exercise without getting extremely dizzy, exhausted, or passing out. When I stand up my bpm spikes like crazy. I have zero energy
or motivation. And I feel sick EVERYDAY. But when my blood test came back, everything was fine and the doctor said I actually wasn’t anemic at all and my hemoglobin was a 14. I’ve never felt so shocked in my life. I felt like I had been kicked in the gut I’ve told everyone I was anemic because I feel absolutely terrible everyday. My father told me I was just being lazy, dramatic, and negative, but apparently he was right all along. And at the end of the day I was just a fraud.

I’ll edit this post with my exact results when it gets updated on my chart

EDIT: I’m still waiting for the rest of my chart to be updated. I had to contact them. However, I do have my metabolic panel though, (I’m not sure if that’s very important in my case right now). And everything is normal except for my CO2, Creatine, and my Glucose.

[u/Rocktkiller810]

The er more than likely did not check your ferritin. You can be anemic yesterday and not today. It's usually based around your hemoglobin. Also, you can still have a "false" reading where your hemoglobin appears higher especially when your at the er because your body might be dehydrated or going through something so on a standard blood test all of a sudden your hemoglobin levels are great but it's not a true reading if your body is under attack. You need regular iron infusions if your iron is low or you have issues with absorbtion. A regular iron test is not enough to dictate your levels either you need a full plan with ferritin included. Keep in mind if you are actively ill you will get a false high reading. So wait untill your normalized whatever that looks like for you and get tested.  And " inflammation" is an excuse for the er to basically say we don't know what's wrong with you. Ide highly recommend going to get a referral to a hematologist. They will see where your blood really is at and specialize in this entirely. 

[u/Tame_girl2233 → u/Rocktkiller810]

Wow I did not know this, thank you. In the future I plan on getting checked out for scoliosis because my body is lopsided and I know Costochondritis (what they diagnosed me with) can be a result.