Iron/B-12 Deficiency Possibility? Please help.

LiberatedJenn

Luna bars have both iron and b-12. I used to have horrible dry skin (as in the skin on my hands would split and bleed), and after adding more fats to my diet, it has improved greatly. (Avocados, olive oil, a little butter, fish oil supplement, whole fat, or 2% dairy, free range eggs).

Wow, I have a friend who deals with splitting hands, but she doesn't eat much of anything. . . I will let her know about the Luna bars.

My skin is actually fairly oily. The only symptoms on my skin are just around my mouth and that's the cheilitis. I will check the ingredients in the Luna bar and try it out. Long as I don't get any crazy IBS symptoms from it, that would be great way to get the iron and b-12.

phoenixoncemore

I'm not a doctor but a molecular biologist for the record. Your symptoms may still be symptoms of something other than vitamin/mineral deficiency (like pernicious anemia) or they may be an underlying factor (bacterial overgrowth or some medications used) which inhibits your B12 and/or iron absorption. Hence if you have the opportunity, you really should see a doctor. Or if you can cover/have such an option, get a blood count for hematocrit, hemoglobin and ferritin.

That said, you're not limited to meat when it comes to iron. Lentils, black /kidney /lima /soy beans, oats, tofu, even bread are good sources of iron (actually some vegetable sources like beans are better than any meat).

If you are pesceterian for a long time, even though B12 deficiency due to depletion is a rare condition in adults, it is still possible in your case. There are some nutritional yeasts fortified with B12 for vegans which you can use, you need to make sure to buy the fortified ones though. Milk, cheese and eggs are B12 sources as well but extremely poor ones compared to, for example, liver.

Try integrating these to your diet, but if you are consuming those iron sources generously and taking B12 supplements for a couple of weeks now and still have these symptoms, then you must consider seeing a doctor.

I was actually considering trying to donate blood just to get my blood checked. That may give me an idea of whether or not I'm really deficient. I will truly have to be dying to go to the doctor, and even then, if i am already dying, there isn't much they can do. That sounds extreme, but so are these ER bills.

Unfortunately, I can't eat dairy, bread and beans because they SEVERELY trigger my IBS symptoms. I drink fortified soy milk milk for the calcium. I will have to check to see if they have any with iron or b-12.

Please see a doctor, even if you have to save up to do it. I had iron deficiency and it really messes your body up. And don't donate blood. I'm a blood donor and the iron test they do is just for measuring the level in your blood, not your ferritin (think like iron stores) It is possible to be deficient in iron but still have just enough in your blood to get by, I know as this was what happened to me! Your body will divert it from everything to keep it there. So you may just scrape through, but have no stores of iron left to replenish it after having a pint of blood taken out of you, and that is definately not good.

It took me 9 months of Ferrous Sulphate 250, 4 times per day to get my ferritin levels back up to the low end of normal. So you need to find out for sure how low you are, if at all, as if you are that low I don't see it being possible to get your levels up just by eating some extra beans now and then.

Take care and once again please get some proper advice, for the sake of your health. :flowerforyou:

LiberatedJenn

I'm not a doctor but a molecular biologist for the record. Your symptoms may still be symptoms of something other than vitamin/mineral deficiency (like pernicious anemia) or they may be an underlying factor (bacterial overgrowth or some medications used) which inhibits your B12 and/or iron absorption. Hence if you have the opportunity, you really should see a doctor. Or if you can cover/have such an option, get a blood count for hematocrit, hemoglobin and ferritin.

That said, you're not limited to meat when it comes to iron. Lentils, black /kidney /lima /soy beans, oats, tofu, even bread are good sources of iron (actually some vegetable sources like beans are better than any meat).

If you are pesceterian for a long time, even though B12 deficiency due to depletion is a rare condition in adults, it is still possible in your case. There are some nutritional yeasts fortified with B12 for vegans which you can use, you need to make sure to buy the fortified ones though. Milk, cheese and eggs are B12 sources as well but extremely poor ones compared to, for example, liver.

Try integrating these to your diet, but if you are consuming those iron sources generously and taking B12 supplements for a couple of weeks now and still have these symptoms, then you must consider seeing a doctor.

I was actually considering trying to donate blood just to get my blood checked. That may give me an idea of whether or not I'm really deficient. I will truly have to be dying to go to the doctor, and even then, if i am already dying, there isn't much they can do. That sounds extreme, but so are these ER bills.

Unfortunately, I can't eat dairy, bread and beans because they SEVERELY trigger my IBS symptoms. I drink fortified soy milk milk for the calcium. I will have to check to see if they have any with iron or b-12.

Please see a doctor, even if you have to save up to do it. I had iron deficiency and it really messes your body up. And don't donate blood. I'm a blood donor and the iron test they do is just for measuring the level in your blood, not your ferritin (think like iron stores) It is possible to be deficient in iron but still have just enough in your blood to get by, I know as this was what happened to me! Your body will divert it from everything to keep it there. So you may just scrape through, but have no stores of iron left to replenish it after having a pint of blood taken out of you, and that is definately not good.

It took me 9 months of Ferrous Sulphate 250, 4 times per day to get my ferritin levels back up to the low end of normal. So you need to find out for sure how low you are, if at all, as if you are that low I don't see it being possible to get your levels up just by eating some extra beans now and then.

Take care and once again please get some proper advice, for the sake of your health. :flowerforyou:

Thanks. I will not donate blood!