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Can Beta-Thalassemia Minor have symptoms?


I am 22 years old and have been diagnosed with Beta Thallassemia minor by a doctor. All my life I have felt tired, had palpitations (When I was younger), flatulence and difficulty concentrating and fuzziness. I cannot really look people directly in the eye sometimes because its too hard on my eyes (it strains them) even though I have perfect vision. Doctors have told me that I need no treatment and that Thallassemia has no symtpoms. I go to sleep tired and I wake up tired. I can be tired after 12 hours sleep! Can I be suffering symptoms from my thallassemia. Does any one else feel the same way that I do? This is a little bit hard for me, but I don't want to complain.
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Nice theory. The problem is that some of us could not understand why we could not compete with the rest of the world, until we were diagnosed. In other words, our symptoms preceded a diagnosis.
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I am 22 years old and I was recently diagnosed with beta thalassemia minor.The doctor says its genetic but none of my parents have it. I also have an enlarged thyroid gland. I am always tired and suffer from shortness of breath. Its impossible for me to climb stairs. I sleep a lot which is very unusual..and I eat a lot as well..all kinds of food but I cannot gain weight. I cannot take the sunlight and I tend to blackout every time I try to work a bit harder than I usually do. I feel dizzy a lot. Its very hard for me to attend classes as I stay extremely tired after the journey. I am not taking any kind of medications or treatments at the moment.  I was taking iron tablets but I stopped it when I heard its not good for the liver.Please let me know of any suggestions..
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Good one. I laughed with loving oranges and mandarins as my family used to hide these from me as I would eat them all the time. Lol!
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I have the disorder too and I am nearly sixty but look more like forty. Very pleased with this side effect, however, I have had pain in my knee and feet since a child. My mum told me it was growing pains, and she had them when she was growing up too. (She was Italian). I pass out in the heat, and have done this since early childhood. I am not a hypochondriac and have a high level of pain tolerance. I have lots of headaches and sometimes have migraines that are so bad the doctor comes to our home and gives anti nausea injections because I can't move without vomiting when these occur. Now, I have arthritis in my jaw, Back, hips, neck, knees, ankles and hands. All have been confirmed through X-rays. I have always been very fit and played lots of sport. My children also have the disorder and they have similar traits but each is different.  So you can't assume all of us are hypochondriacs
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I'm 48 years old.  Was diagnosed with Thalassemia minor 32 years ago (Greek).  One of my sons just got diagnosed with it today.  My other two kids didn't get it.  I have been low energy all my life, had trouble in college with being able to focus and retain information, and also had severe dizzy spells in college.  I can sleep until noon. Three healthy and great pregnancies.  I have never been depressed.  I have a great immune system - pretty much never get a flu or cold.  My hands and feet are cold all of the time, but I have very low heat tolerance - you would think I am drunk when it is really hot outside,  the way I talk with slurred speech and stumble when I walk. Was diagnosed at age 47 though with Osteoarthritis, despite the fact that I rarely exercise and couldn't have worn out my hip joints (too tired to exercise, except I enjoy skiing in the winter).
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Avatar universal
You are a nasty and ignorant person who lacks even the smallest degree of understanding about genetic variation and prevalence in a population.  There are numerous symptoms associated with BTM that can negatively impair a person's quality of life.  Genetic mutations can become more prevalent when it confers survivability for a population in a specific environment.  This is the case for both beta thalassemia and sickle cell, which confer some resistance to malaria in individuals with these mutations because it negatively affects red blood cell development.  This results in greater/more rapid destruction of altered RBCs and fewer malaria parasites being able to complete their life cycle.  This confers a selective survival advantage to carriers, however, it is a genetic trade-off and has consequences to the carrier that can vary depending on the type and severity of the mutation.  Try to educate yourself a bit before posting such an insensitive, nasty comment.
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