Is it possible without taking blood in the normal way? Maybe a thumb prick or something?
Do you even google bro?
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/anaemia-anemia-iron-deficiency-haemoglobin-test/
Short answer not for a full test.
Longer answer, there is research using smart phone cameras to look at the skin under finger nails but it's early days (covered recently on Naked Scientist podcast which is excellent).
I do Google, extensively, but it's not clear from the blurb if those kits are a) worth bothering with or b) give you a number rather than just a yes/no result. And a doctor would likely not trust the results of a self administered test.
Wondering if the doctor had an alternative to poking big needles in.
If feeling 'rubbish', then go see your GP and get a full sets of bloods done. Ask for the results, and see where you sit on the 'normal' range. If towards the extremes, you might want to do something about it - e.g. supplements.
I fell into normal range but was bottom of the range for a couple of things that were tested. I'm on meds now, still low'ish for one, but top of the range for another now, but feel much better.
Get a full set done, and also Testosterone if you are male (and heamatocrit).
If feeling ‘rubbish’, then go see your GP and get a full sets of bloods done.
Thanks, but not really my question.
If you go to donate blood, it is just a finger prick for the anaemia test. Then they use a centrifuge to give a number for iron. It used to be just how fast it took to sink, which only gave a yes/no result.
I presume most doctors could do a similar sort of thing.
Best option is the GP
I looked at various kits a while back and the reviews and wasn't really convinced by any. The web is a mess of reviews these days though so it's really difficult to tell
If feeling ‘rubbish’, then go see your GP and get a full sets of bloods done.
Just out of idle curiosity, how do you get this done, surely you can't just ask for a treatment? Last time I was ill they just stuck a multi-tab stick in a vial of urine to test for infection etc and I scored a full house, which he hastened to add wasn't a good thing.
cut your finger with a knife and use a fridge magnet lol
Short answer is 'no'.
Anaemia is not just iron deficiency so that finger prick test will only tell you that you may have a low ferritin level and won't even give you the level. Ferritin (which is used to test for iron stores) levels are affected by inflammation so the result may not be useful on its own. Anaemia can also be B12 deficiency or other causes. Go to your GP, if you have anaemia without an obvious cause it is time for further investigations. If the issue is with needles get help with that.
It's for my daughter. Currently the only way to get needles in her would be for several people to pin her down as she screams and fights, assuming the staff could find a vein. She'd rather be ill.
Depending on the age of your child it may be possible to do a proper fbc on capillary blood (ie a finger prick). This is the only way to get blood from a newborn. At our local children’s hospital they also do this in outpatients. I recall taking my daughter there a few years ago. However our local dgh would have done a venoussample. We prescribe lidocaine cream to numb the skin beforehand. Also we send all under 16s to hospital for bloods as my phlebotomists not happy doing kids.
Needle phobic adults have been referred to the psychological services team for help in the past.
Short answer. Ask your GP practice
Currently the only way to get needles in her would be for several people to pin her down as she screams and fights
We have a cat like that, I had to inject him everyday for a week and it was a painful experience for all of us; I have scars up my arms as a reminder...
Ah, thanks for clearing up OP. My son has a needle phobia, and guess what, he is Type 1.
It's more an issue with people sticking needles in him, not the other way round.
Your best option is to see a GP - they might have options as a finger prick, but they are the best folk to speak to, not something off 'the web'. It might need more 'blood' than a finger prick can get out though.
You could try iron rich dark greens (not easy with kids) or iron supplements.
Alright thanks. So it's potentially feasible. I do think that in hospital last year they did a thumb prick at one point.
We already eat quite a bit of veg compared to most kids. I might ask if it's ok to give a little iron supplementation without poisoning her just to see if it helps in the short term. At least then if she did perk up it would give a pointer. Obviously if there's a root cause it needs to be found.
ah yes, my daughter is like that as was I. I explained this to my dentist once so she told me to close my eyes while she did the injection. Still with eyes screwed closed a minute later I asked when she was going to do the injection and she said it was done. All she had done was warm the needle to body temp so i didn't feel it 🙂 . It might be possible they can do something to make the process less stressful
Breaking the skin is not the worst part. It's the 5 minutes of digging around looking for veins, then the wait for the next person to come and have a go, then the next person, and then the next, each time the new person choosing a new part of the body and looking for places that aren't bruised to hell.
It's grim, to be fair. "If you prick me, do I not bleed?" Actually no, I don't.
We already eat quite a bit of veg compared to most kids.
Have a look at which foods are better for iron absorption . While there's iron present in green veg its not necessity as readily absorbed as from other foods. Quantiities of green veg would only be an indicator if your daughter wasn't eating other foods. Vegetarians and vegans are prone to anaemia even when they have comparable amounts of iron in their diet to omnivores.
That said a shortage of iron isn't the only cause of anaemia. And you haven't established that its anaemia
I might ask if it’s ok to give a little iron supplementation without poisoning her just to see if it helps in the short term. At least then if she did perk up it would give a pointer. Obviously if there’s a root cause it needs to be found.
which you'd maybe be masking by trying solutions before establishing the problem
Before you start supplementing with iron I'd want to find out if she was iron deficient, you don't excrete excess iron like you would with a vitamin C tablet. Oral iron tablets are also not that nice to take, they may cause side effects in a good proportion of people but you also won't eat your way out of anaemia if it is caused by iron deficiency. I'd go down the route of the anaesthetic cream and a good phlebotomist who is used to dealing with kids.
It’s the 5 minutes of digging around looking for veins,
Can I just say, argggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I’d go down the route of the anaesthetic cream and a good phlebotomist who is used to dealing with kids.
We basically went through every specialist in Cardiff hospital.. 🙁
If your kid has a phobia, it's impossible. My son has more or less got over it, (4 years Type 1) but it was a major issue for his secondary school 'booster' injections - tried loads of times to get them done. Eventually it was done in the hospital by his Diabetes nurses - they know what they are doing.
Certainly talk to your health professionals. I find the phlebotomists at hosptial far better at taking blood than some others. Doctors are the worst (from my stay in a spinal unit for 6 weeks).
It’s the 5 minutes of digging around looking for veins,
Can I just say, argggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I'd happily swap that for 5 mins digging around trying to find synovial fluid 🙂
Short answer is ‘no’.
Anaemia is not just iron deficiency so that finger prick test will only tell you that you may have a low ferritin level and won’t even give you the level. Ferritin (which is used to test for iron stores) levels are affected by inflammation so the result may not be useful on its own. Anaemia can also be B12 deficiency or other causes. Go to your GP, if you have anaemia without an obvious cause it is time for further investigations. If the issue is with needles get help with that.
This.. See a doctor.
My old man has anemia and is currently in hospital and has had 3 bags of blood transfused after having a heart attack because his blood got that bad. They are trying to dig out the cause.
Anemia is quite often just a symptom of something else.
In my dad's case it's probably a battered liver.