Anemia...from running?

trud72

You should have more iron the more exercise you do,i have found this in the past along with the other stuff protein ect! :bigsmile:

skinnymalinkyscot

I have anaemia at the moment, like other posters have already commented I had to have an endoscope to rule out internal hidden blood loss, once I got the all clear from that and also the doctor had taken blood samples to check for any other underlying disorder I have been put on 200mg iron tablets 3 times a day for the foreseeable future. Its not for you to have to guess why you might be anaemic, your doctor should be getting to the root cause of it for you and treating it until youre better. In the meantime dont donate blood.

stefjc

My first shriek would be for bloods to be taken to rule out pernicious and/or megablastic anaemia. You are a little bit old to get this, usually hits in 30/40s, as I am only too aware.

If you do have pernicious then no dietary supplement will make a blind bit of difference as you won't have the Intrinsic Factor in your gut to process any of it.

But 8 weekly blood donation does sound excessive and may be involved.

I hope you get it sorted, quickly, but don't clutch at straws, keep pestering your doctor.

vivaldirules

Just for information, 8 weeks is the minimum interval for blood donations in the U.S. and Canada but this varies widely between countries. I've often wondered who is being overly cautious or who overly risky. At least I've always been tested for hematocrit before every donation and I would assume that's a universal practice. I've donated at the maximum rate for 15 years and only now have had a problem which appears to be unrelated to my donating blood. I should add that I know many others who do the same with no apparent problem.

I should also chime in with some of you that anyone with symptoms of anemia should see their doctor. One of the few unanimous statements I've read many times is that if you're an adult male or non-menstruating female, the likelihood that you have internal bleeding in your digestive tract from colon cancer, gastric ulcers, or small bowel bleeding is well over 90%. Don't just shrug this off or attribute it to your diet (this is quite rare apparently) or exercise. Taking some iron pills would help you only put off the problem while you continue to bleed.

neandermagnon

Just for information, 8 weeks is the minimum interval for blood donations in the U.S. and Canada but this varies widely between countries. I've often wondered who is being overly cautious or who overly risky. At least I've always been tested for hematocrit before every donation and I would assume that's a universal practice. I've donated at the maximum rate for 15 years and only now have had a problem which appears to be unrelated to my donating blood. I should add that I know many others who do the same with no apparent problem.

I should also chime in with some of you that anyone with symptoms of anemia should see their doctor. One of the few unanimous statements I've read many times is that if you're an adult male or non-menstruating female, the likelihood that you have internal bleeding in your digestive tract from colon cancer, gastric ulcers, or small bowel bleeding is well over 90%. Don't just shrug this off or attribute it to your diet (this is quite rare apparently) or exercise. Taking some iron pills would help you only put off the problem while you continue to bleed.

blood donation = bleeding. That is a huge amount of iron and a huge amount of blood cells. the body can take it and replace it if it's not too often. But you've admitted to taking a ton of iron supplements to "pass" the blood donation test and keep donating... you're putting a big stress on your body by doing this. It's not just iron your body needs to replace that blood. Are you on this site to lose weight or gain muscle? Either of those goals is going to affect your body's ability to make new blood. Or goals related to succeeding at weightlifting or endurance sports.... You've basically pushed your body to the limit when it comes to making new blood. It's not making it as fast enough to replace the blood lost in donations. Even if your body coped in the past, you're older now.

Yes anaemia in men and non-menstruating women is rare, and usually the sign of a serious problem. In your case, if i was a betting person (I'm not, but if I was) then I'd bet the cause is donating too much blood. It's possible there's another factor as well, but seriously you want to stop giving blood for a long time.

As to who's over cautious... I know in the UK they'll in some circumstances accept donations at 8 week intervals but the reason they don't under normal circumstances is because people will give as much blood as they're allowed to and end up stressing their body to the point that they get ill from it. Seems like that's what you've done. Especially the bit about taking loads of iron tablets until you can pass the test... you should have taken that as a warning sign that maybe you need to give your body more time to recover.

I'm not a doctor but I have a background in biological sciences. Do get a doctor's opinion, definitely, because there may be another cause like a slow internal bleed, but really it sounds like you donated too much blood, and the transfusion services shouldn't, in my opinion, have let you do that.

neandermagnon

I just want to add that anyone who gives blood is amazing and a life saver.... no doubt about that. But you do need to keep an eye on your own health, and look after yourself, and look for warning signs that maybe you need to lay off donating for a while.

I also don't think they should just take blood every 8 weeks without further health checks. IMO the blood transfusion people failed in this case.

vienna_h

I have iron deficiency anemia (my hemogloblin is fine, it's my ferretin, aka iron stores, that are rock bottom).

I really doubt that running is the cause of anemia. Lack of iron either means a) you are't getting enough in your diet or b) your losing your iron through blood loss (example. blood donations, mensturation, or internal bleeding).

Definitely stop donating blood! You cannot afford to lose iron at this point. I even stopped getting my period (I take birth control pills continuously, without a break) to prevent any sort of blood (read:iron) loss. I have endometriosis so I would lose a LOT of blood. I accidently forgot a couple pills and got my first "period" in almost a year last week... omg it tired me out soooo much!! I could not workout at ALL, could barely even do normal activities. So now I'm taking my prescription iron pills again. My diet alone is not enough to replenish my iron stores (ferretin).

I'd see a hemotologist rather than a naturopath at this point. You may need a serious iron supplement, not just a multivitamin. Take it with vitamin c, and AVOID calcium! (Many vitamin C supplements also have calcium as a non-medical ingredient, be careful!) Calcium binds to iron and prevents it from being absorbed by the body. Vitamin C on the other hand helps the body absorb it better.

Get heme iron in your diet. You get heme iron from meat, especially red meat. Non-heme iron sources like spinach and other veggies are much harder for your body to absorb. I used to be vegetarian, but now I need to eat meat occasionally (yuk), as well as take prescription iron pills (I take euro-fer pills, I use to take pallafer but the capsules were too big.)


EDIT: I totally overlooked the part that said this was a dude. Men with low iron are pretty rare.... You need a doctor! ASAP!

scottb81

Summertime running in the heat will increase blood serum volume without increasing red blood cells. The result is that when tested your hemoglobin will indicate low.

I agree though that yours is lower than it ought to be.

I run a lot in GA in high heat and take an over the counter iron supplement nearly every day. My blood was tested last month: Red Blood Cell Count - 4.56 (low); Hemoglobin - 14.6 (low end of normal); and Hematocrit - 42.8 (low end of normal). We are about the same age.

vivaldirules

Summertime running in the heat will increase blood serum volume without increasing red blood cells. The result is that when tested your hemoglobin will indicate low.

I agree though that yours is lower than it ought to be.

I run a lot in GA in high heat and take an over the counter iron supplement nearly every day. My blood was tested last month: Red Blood Cell Count - 4.56 (low); Hemoglobin - 14.6 (low end of normal); and Hematocrit - 42.8 (low end of normal). We are about the same age.

Scott, what I've read would say that if you, as an adult maale, have to take an iron supplement daily to maintain your hematocrit, you should see your doctor. The consensus medical opinion is that taking such supplements in a healthy male is unnecessary and should lead to a higher than normal iron level with toxic effects (mostly indicated by digestive upsets of one kind or another). It may be you have the types of problems I've mentioned earlier. Please give that serious consideration.

By the way, I did not take supplements to pass the blood donation hematocrits. I simply added red meat, spinach, lentils, thyme, beets, etc. to my diet for three days prior. After still failing the hematocrit again 8 weeks later, I saw a doctor by which time my hematocrit had cratered. My stupidity was in giving blood twice when I was barely passing the test.

tjthegreatone

Hmm, while I'm glad most of the scary stuff has been ruled out I'm still concerned something is missing here.
I mean it could be due to excessive blood donation (which you've stopped) but if you are eating an otherwise varied diet it is very unusual for an adult male to be anaemic. I have heard of people who do lots of running getting 'march' haemoglobinuria (where you basically pee blood a day/two after strenuous exercise) but I don't know if that's enough to make you chronically anaemic (the blood may be microscopic and not visible to the naked eye).