Thal minor questions

hello, i'll be brief as possible since english is not my native language

almost 30 year old male, thal beta minor (unconfirmed, but my sister has it and my mom)...
experienced fatique, depression, tiredness, no strength and so on all my life...
never could do sports because i've always felt tired and without energy or strength, would start enthusiasticaly and then experience so much tiredness i just couldn't continue...
finished college instead
thought extremely low blood pressure from my fathers side is the cause...
been given as a young boy iron supplements, only made it worse! 186cm tall, 65 kg heavy - very hard to gain weight...
now for my blood results lately:

eritrocytes 5.34
RDW 23.2
hemoglobin 116
HCT 0.365
MCV 68.4
MCH 21.7
MCHC 318
trombocytes (PLT) 239
WBC 5.7
LYM 52.8 (a little higher all my life as is in my father too)
NEU 32.6
iron 23.4
bilirubin 23.1 (a little higher because of b complex said my doctor she presumes)

i can write more indicators if needed!

Thanks to this forum i found out vitamin d so i took 2000IU from KAL and being an indoors guy all my life (computers and college, very pale guy) IT CHANGED MY LIFE! and no placebo effect too i swear.
I have more energy than ever before! sleep "only" 8 hours a day, before vitamin D i slept for 10 hours and i woke every day tired as hell.
Also i'm taking B complex super strength from KAL too since you reccomende it, also it is good for appetite (but couldnt get more weight anyway sadly)
this is b complex im using: http://www.vitacost.com/kal-b-complex-super-strength

My questions are this:
1. I now know that extra iron is bad for me, because i'm at normal level of iron, but i dont know how many vitamin c should i use if any? i use at the moment water soluble tablets from the shop i dont know how much mg of vitamin c are in it...however i do feel better when using vitamin c, also i eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and my diet is mostly "healthy" and greeny most of my life...
2. I cannot afford to check my vit D levels but i know being inside all my life and such that level is low, so my question is should i take 5000IU of D or my current 2000IU is enough?
3. Is 1L of milk good for me every day? Cause i drink eat every day all year and absolutely love milk but dont know how does that affect my health considering beta minor thal....
4. I cannot afford other supplements, and i dont even know should i be taking at all more supplements, so my question is are vit d , vit c and b complex good enough for me to function at my best?

I cannot remember more questions right now, when i do i'll ask.
Thx in advance for answers, and sorry for bad english...
 

Ivan,

Low MCV, MCH, MCHC and hemoglobin. High bilirubin. All point to thal minor. The bilirubin is high in thals because the small pale red blood cells break down more quickly. This causes high bilirubin. Taking B complex can help fight this, but you cannot eliminate it. You should be aware that this can eventually lead to gallstones. B complex, magnesium and antioxidants can be of help with this.
Yes, take vitamin C. It is a very important nutrient and one of the very best antioxidants. It will not make you absorb too much iron from your diet. That won't happen in thal minor. Take at least 500 mg daily.
Try 5000 IU vitamin D for a couple weeks. If you feel better, continue the dose. Keep your good diet. Fresh fruit and vegetables contain high amounts of antioxidants and this is very important in thals. If milk agrees with you, it's fine to drink it. If you were to add anymore supplements, natural vitamin E and magnesium would be most important.

thank you Andy for answers!

OK, so it will be highly reccomende that i raise more money for vitamin E and magnesium because they are a must right?
Any particular gains from them are what exactly?
Thx in advance...

Natural vitamin E is one of the best antioxidant vitamins and also helps to keep the blood thinner, which is important in thal because the bad red blood cells and the by-products after their destruction have a tendency to thicken the blood. Both E and magnesium play a role in the health of red blood cells and magnesium is also quite important for the heart.

vit E and fish oil helps me out a lot, and I assure you, my blood is thicker than most people.. also I did not have endurance to do sports either, until I discovered bodybuilding. It is the perfect thal sport. Lots of endurance is not needed. Also check your T... This is very important. But thals have to be monitored much closer than everyone else. Bodybuild, take supliments, add some T and you will be great.... But with T be mindfull of polycythemia and hematoipiosis, which I believe thals are more susceptible. Also I get a lot out of a vitamin called OPTI-MEN.

thank you for answers, actualy for the first time in my life i'm going to the gym starting tommorow.... haha hope i'll suit me, because i'm little low on weight as you can presume so i hope it will change my life a little better...

also what is T that you mention? i didn't figure that out?...

Testosterone. Make sure you have a good gym plan..... I recommend "body beast" look on google

oh, i won't take T cause i'm not gonna jeopardize my health or wallet for that matter with such things (even thou i know it would help me)...
i'm starting the gym tommorow and i hope i will gain some kg in a year cause even low bmi is making me depresive along with thal...
also, why is it important to make blood thiner?
and what you would reccomend for T supstitute (natural, food etc.) because i suspect low T along with thal minor is making my libido very low, i mean all my life i'm strugling with libido and i now suspect that thal, low T, low weight only makes it worse as i age... damn...

T helps with depression, libido, bmi, and energy...... how does it jepordize your health? if monitored properly, it will give you the quality of life you want. Vit E, nobody wants "sticky" blood. I had my spleen removed last year so my blood is EXTRA EXTRA sticky. The is NO natural substitute for T.... If you are not willing to get it checked and spend the $ if necessary, then it may be your fault that you feel the way that you do.

so i have been to the gym now 3 times last week , and it did wonders for me!
however the same weakness came back, i only managed to train for 30 minutes medium training...then dizziness, loss of breath, inability to lift anything, headache...
on the bright side i managed to do 5 minutes of training more with each new visit...and am feeling better than any day...

have a question for you all (especially Andy): i'm planning to stop using b complex super strength from KAL because i found out that most of it i don't need, as i see from urine when going to the bathroom (green/yellow color of excess b vitamins that my body doesn't need). I am planning instead (which is vital for us thal minors) to buy KAL's folic acid since it has 200% of daily value needed and it is the most important b vitamin for us thal minors, and because in previous KAL b complex super strength there is only 100% daily value of folic acid...

i'm low on money so i would appreciate a comment for this!
thx in advance!

Folic acid is essential, so if you have to choose, go with that, but make sure your diet provides plenty of B vitamins.

hello, i'll be brief as possible since english is not my native language

almost 30 year old male, thal beta minor (unconfirmed, but my sister has it and my mom)...
experienced fatique, depression, tiredness, no strength and so on all my life...
never could do sports because i've always felt tired and without energy or strength, would start enthusiasticaly and then experience so much tiredness i just couldn't continue...
finished college instead
thought extremely low blood pressure from my fathers side is the cause...
been given as a young boy iron supplements, only made it worse! 186cm tall, 65 kg heavy - very hard to gain weight...
now for my blood results lately:

eritrocytes 5.34  5.51
RDW 23.2  21.0
hemoglobin 116  114
HCT 0.365 0.36
MCV 68.4 65
MCH 21.7 20.7
MCHC 318  316
trombocytes (PLT) 239 224
WBC 5.7  4.47
LYM 52.8 (a little higher all my life as is in my father too)  39.2
NEU 32.6  
iron 23.4  19.0
bilirubin 23.1 22.0  

i can write more indicators if needed!

Thx in advance and sorry for bad english...
 

Hello Andy,

I'm just updating my 3 years old post with the latest blood work done and to ask you if you have any good advice or point to say regarding my thal beta minor...
As you can see in the 2017 (bolded) results, my blood work is somewhat deteriorated, but I feel better than ever since I've started working in the period.
Also, I've stopped taking ANY supplements as of the last 6 months...

So I would ask you for a comment of blood work done (if its everything "OK" or is something troubling)...

There's actually not much difference in your reports from the prior tests. Thee small differences noted would be expected to be seen from test to test. I would suggest trying a daily B12 sublingual (dissolves under the tongue) to see if it helps boost your energy more.

There's actually not much difference in your reports from the prior tests. Thee small differences noted would be expected to be seen from test to test. I would suggest trying a daily B12 sublingual (dissolves under the tongue) to see if it helps boost your energy more.

Thank you for the reply.

Dear Andy,

do you recommend any supplement regarding the low MCV because all of my life I've been pale skin, and frankly I want to look "normal".
I read that because of our thal beta minor and low MCV we have such pale skin, so to increase the MCV a supplement of B12 is necessary.
What do you think and can I take anything to look normal because nothing helped so far...

Currently I take Natural wealth b complex and solgar vit D 2200IU...