Last week I told you that I had to get blood work done. Yesterday morning, after not hearing back from my doctor, I gave her a call. I ended up talking to the receptionist about my results. My B12 levels rose a bit, which was a good sign, but she sounded pretty concerned when she told me that I was anemic. She told me that I have an iron deficiency and that I’d be required to take some iron supplements and get another blood test done in 10-12 weeks to check up on things. I’ve been told in the past to check if I was anemic, but the levels always came back normal.
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What is iron deficiency anemia?
According to Mayo Clinic, iron deficiency anemia is a “condition in which blood lacks adequate healthy red blood cells.” Your red blood cells are the ones that help carry oxygen to the body’s tissues and organs. Because of my deficiency, my body can’t produce enough hemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that enable them to carry the oxygen.
What are the symptoms?
Some of the symptoms that I’ve noticed have been extreme fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath (maybe this is why I thought I had asthma?), irritability, and brittle nails.
What are the causes?
Causes may include blood loss from menstrual bleeding or slow blood loss from a peptic ulcer or colorectal cancer, a lack of iron in the diet, an intestinal disorder like celiac disease which causes an inability to absorb iron from food, or pregnancy. I’m going to guess that my cause is probably a lack of iron in my diet, because Mayo Clinic said that vegetarians are likely to develop anemia because they don’t eat meat.
What are the long term complications?
If I don’t get the help I need now, I can suffer with heart problems/failure or problems during pregnancy. When pregnant women have anemia, it can be linked to premature births and low birth weight babies.
What do I do now?
1. Take iron tablets. I’m going to try and look for iron gummy vitamins because I hate swallowing regular pills. The iron tablets are recommended to be taken alongside vitamin C in order to improve the absorption of the iron. Unfortunately, a side effect of the iron supplement is constipation. Bleh.
2. Eat iron rich foods. For me, these include: beans, dried fruit, dark leafy veggies, eggs, iron-fortified cereal, peas, and seafood (because I don’t eat meat).
Do any of you have anemia? If so, how do you handle it?
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I don’t have anemia but have been very conscious of it – I already take iron supplements a few days a week because I don’t eat meat, either. Good luck and feel well!
Thanks Meredith. I’ll start taking vitamins this week!
Tired, wheezing…these are me, too. I just got my blood work back the other day from an annual physical and found that my hematocrit took a huge dive from a year ago. I’ve been diagnosed as anemic before, but this is the first time that I’m really feeling the affects.
I had extensive testing on my anemia before and it’s not an iron deficient anemia, it’s a genetic anemia. Still, something has to be done! Last year I had a holistic doctor recommend I take copper supplements, which I did and was able to get my hematocrit back up. So I’m doing that again.
Good luck to you!
Sending my sister your way….she needs this post (and a list of iron rich foods 🙂 Ill get her that)