Thank you! Thank you!

Hi, @cristiana, @trents is correct.  Red blood cell size is important. High blood glucose blood levels can affect red blood cells causing them to bloat, then shrink which causes the iron to become concentrated, thus higher mchc.   Have you increased your carbs to compensate for reducing your meat?   All those oats?  Have you had an A1C test recently?   My blood glucose levels go up not only if I overeat carbs, but also when I have digestive issues and chronic inflammation like from eating something I thought I was doing okay with but turned out not so.  I think you're on the right track cutting out the oats for a while! 

Yes, there are different kinds of anemia. Ferritin is an iron storage protein so you can have plenty of iron floating around in your blood but not enough in storage in some cases. Also, the shape and size of red blood cells figures into all of this somehow. If they are the wrong shape and size they don't function properly for binding with oxygen like they should I believe, even though there may be plenty of iron in them.

Hi Trents Good to hear from you and thanks for your prompt response.  As far as I know I don't have any other autoimmune diseases but this elevated MCHC which has been in the background for some years now makes me wonder if I have something that has hitherto gone under the radar.    I do wonder about B12 anemia.  When I was diagnosed with coeliac disease I was told by my nutritionist that had she been my GP she would have given me some B12 injections, she felt my levels were  far too low at diagnosis to just 'supplement'.  Since then, unless I supplement, my B12 seems to bump along the low normal readings. I wonder if my gastroenterologist may have ordered the newfangled B12 test for me, he may be thinking that perhaps the old blood test wasn't showing an accurate picture? Iron anemia could be a thing, except strangely I have normal hemoglobin.  Anyway, I guess if he feels my ferritin shouldn't have gone down 14 points in 18 months I might need an endoscopy and colonoscopy again. I think my coeliac disease is quite well controlled but these past few months I've probably been overdoing the gluten free oats which have made me uncomfortable and given me similar symptoms to mild glutening (which of course makes me wonder about the contamination of oats, as per that post a few weeks ago).  My TTG results will be telling. Anyway, thank you for your suggestion, I suspect anemia of some sort or another could be to blame. Cristiana

Causes of High MCHC: A high MCHC can also be due to anemia, depending on the type of anemia you have. Hemolytic anemia may lead to an MCHC measurement above the normal range.1 Hemolytic anemia develops when red blood cells break down faster than they can be replaced.8 This type of anemia can happen for several reasons, including: Autoimmune conditions Blood transfusion complications Infections Sickle cell disease Higher-than-normal MCHC results may also be attributable to hereditary spherocytosis, a rare genetic condition in which the body makes abnormally shaped red blood cells. https://www.health.com/mchc-blood-test-7092747   Cristiana, note the first listed cause, "Autoimmune conditions". Celiac Disease is an autoimmune condition. Do you have any other autoimmune conditions, which as you know, they tend to cluster? Anemia is also stated as another possible cause, which you seem to also have a mild case of with a Ferritin level in the below normal range.