Thanks for your response. Giving blood too often may be the culprit. I have done so more this year than before. My regular doc did check B12 and indeed it is fine. She wanted me to consult with a gastro doc next and I will do so over video chat tomorrow afternoon. It’s the same guy who did my colonoscopy 18 months ago. I suspect that stool and urine is next.
It is possible to become less tolerant to gluten over time, but I would expect that you would have some type of discomfort after eating a high gluten meal if this were your problem. IANAD, though that doesn’t mean much because in our case, doctors didn’t find a solution, we did all on own own.
It may be beneficial to pay more attention to your diet and see if there is any correlation to anything. The biggest piece of information you need is if your anemia is caused by an iron deficiency or not.
I’m fairly certain that this is the culprit. First of all, I normally give blood like twice or three times a year. In the last year I donated in October, January, March and May and then was denied in July. I took a closer look at my hemoglobin level from the blood tests and it has been a slow decline. I might just need more recovery time.
I conferred with the gastro a little bit ago, the same one who did my colonoscopy in January of 2019. He wanted to order a colonoscopy and an endoscopy but agreed with my idea to get another blood test in a month and only do the tests if the levels are still decreased or sooner if I start to have symptoms.
Concerning symptoms would be dizziness, fatigue or shortness of breath. The areas under your eyes (pulling the skin below your eyes downward while looking in a mirror) and flap beneath your tongue should be red and not pale. You can diagnose very low RBCs from this alone, pretty accurately.
Iron levels can be a little low if giving blood too often. It’s a mild form of losing blood and takes time to come back. Of course, this could be dilutional anemia of pregnancy. Congratulations!!!
I wouldn’t do anything. Your doctor will do tests and possibly recommend giving blood less often, waiting (with a repeat test in 3-6 months) or taking an iron tablet with juice once a day. But you should follow local medical advice.
I’m a 56 year old man so we can rule out both pregnancy or menopause. 
I’m betting that my levels will be back up in a month and I’ll just have to donate blood less often. If not, I’ll get the scope coming and going.
Menopause sometimes cures anemia. And I’ve seen Junior. If Arnold can get pregnant…
Have none of the doctors suggested taking a supplement? As I mentioned before I donate every 56 days and kept having low iron. No one suggested I donate too much, just that I’m a woman who still menstruates.
My primary doc said I should take Iron (I take Walgreens Ferrous Sulfate, 65mg of iron) and it worked like a charm. I’ve been taking it every day for 2 or 3 years.
I have all sorts of gastro issues but problems with my poo from iron pills are not amongst them. YMMV I guess.
I blame the steroids.
That may be what happens but we want a diagnosis first. If the levels are back to my normal in three more weeks, we can blame the blood donation and I would likely take a supplement after donating. If they are still low then, I’ll get scoped up and down to find the cause.
The OP may be aware, but just in case…
Blood in the stool can be bright red or tarry black in color. Bright red is from a bleed in the lower GI tract closer to the anus. But if a bleed is higher up in the GI tract the blood can make the stool black and tar-like (medical term is melena) by the time the blood is partially digested. Other things can cause similar coloration in the stool, particularly taking Pepto Bismol.
So just because someone doesn’t see bright red blood does not mean there is no blood in the stool.
I’m going to piggyback on this thread, because the same thing happened to me in July – I was diagnosed with anemia after my annual physical. (While my red blood cells were still in the normal range last year, they were down from the year before, and that down from the year before that, so there does seem to be a steady progression downward.) So I had a colonoscopy and EGD last month, which turned up some colon and gastric polyps, which all turned out to be benign. But my gastroenterologist does not think those were responsible, and he could not find any bleeding.
I take Meloxicam for arthritis, and the nurse practitioner in my PCP’s office says there is at least one FDA study showing that drug may cause anemia. So I’m doing without Meloxicam for a couple weeks, then will have my blood tested again to see if the red blood cells have returned to normal levels. If not, then the next stop is a hematologist.
That’s interesting but not my issue. Glad to have you join the thread though.
My doc did more extensive blood tests that just confirmed things. It’s been a while since my last blood donation. My diet is pretty high in iron so no need to change that. I am now taking an iron supplement three times a day which gives me coal black poops. I’ll take another blood test in early October.
My iron level is fine, so it’s not iron-deficiency anemia. Just the red blood cells. The manager of my hospital’s Gastroenterology clinic has suggested a pillcam to check for bleeding in my small intestine, but I’ll go with the hematologist first if the Meloxicam issue does not pan out.
I do iron supplements when I’m doing semi-weekly platelet donations and I get the same poop result. Startling, but benign. I’ve found that slow release iron pills are much easier to tolerate. They cost more but it’s worth it.
They really didn’t agree with me for the first week but now I am tolerating them very well.
Say what now?
I know this was a one-off comment way upthread, but … izzat true?
Trust me when I say long-distance running is certainly not the culprit in my case.
According to the Internet.
Did you recently take up conga drumming?
I’ve heard of people passing bloody urine after marathons, but hadn’t heard of this.