A-thal Minor Supplements

I discovered my Alpha-Thal Minor trait several years ago after questioning my doctor about the irregularities in my CBC. Specifically, I wanted to know why the MCV and MCH were both so low. During this period, I also had chronic bone pain in my legs, pale skin and fatigue, however my doctor said that A-Thal-minor did not cause symptoms, hence I moved on with my life in spite of my symptoms. 

I'm so happy that I discovered this forum and the recommendation of taking folic acid. Soon after starting the supplement ( 1.6mg), my symptoms began to get better.  Therefore, my question is exactly how much ( mg) of folic acid should I supplement with per day?


By the way, listed below are recent labs.

F   WBC   3.0  L   4.0-10.5 (K/uL)
F   LYMPH#   1.1   0.6-4.1 (K/uL)
F   LY%   37.1   10.0-58.0 (%)
F   MID#   0.3   0.0-1.8 (K/uL)
F   MID%   9.9   0.1-24.0 (%)
F   GRAN#   1.6  L   2.0-7.8 (K/uL)
F   GRAN%   53.0   37.0-92.0 (%)
F   RBC   5.89  H   4.10-5.60 (M/uL)
F   HGB   14.8   12.5-17.0 (g/dL)
F   HCT   47.4   36.0-50.0 (%)
F   MCV   80.5   80.0-98.0 (fl)
F   MCH   25.1  L   27.0-34.0 (pg)
F   MCHC   31.2  L   32.0-36.0 (g/dL)
F   RDW   13.1   11.7-15.0 (%)
F   PLT   239   140-415 (K/uL)
F   MPV   9.7   0.0-10.0 (fl)

F   Vitamin D-25   30.2   30.0-100.0 (ng/mL)

I usually suggest 2-5 mg folate daily for alpha thal minors. I would also suggest a vitamin D supplement, as your level is 30, which is low end of normal and not really sufficient for most people, but especially those carrying thal. Your MCV won't change much, as you will always have some smaller red blood cells that lower the overall average volume.

I just want to note that due to what it says in the medical literature, I long believed alpha thal minors did not have symptoms. That has not proven to be the case in the real world where many alpha minors do have problems like anemia, fatigue and lowered immune systems.

Thanks for the reply Andy! So taking Folate is better than taking folic acid for thal?

Yes, folate is more effective than folic acid.

I took 2 mg of 5-MTHF for half a year and had no effects really. Since then I'm only taking a vitamin B-100 complex and a high-dosed vitamin D. Folate is just too expensive to the probably non-existent effect it has.

Sofear, your experience is not the same as that of many others who have gotten very good results using folate. I would not label the effect non-existent based on one case.

Andy, is there something extra a breast feeding beta-thal
Minor should take? Should the supplements be the same as they were during pregnancy

This is what I take:

Folate 4mg
Vit E 400iu
Vitron-c two tablets= iron 130mg
B-12 sublinguals
Vit-D3  2000iu
Plus the normal GNC prenatals without iron.(  1mg folic acid  etc)

Everything is good except the iron. I would not recommend iron unless deficiency has been demonstrated through both an iron panel and a look at the RBC and RDW values in a CBC. I would also suggets having the D tested to see if your dose is adequate.