Anemia

I battle with anemia; yucky stuff. I take a supplement with a vitamin C twice daily. I eat as many iron rich foods as I can. If you are a grit eater, they are excellent sources of iron. Many cold cereals are as well. I eat leafy green veggies as often as I can. Hang in there! The anemia tired is horrible.

Have your doctor check your Vitamin B12 level. Low levels are common with vegan diet. (I do realize you are not totally vegan)

- Calcium and tannins (found in tea) interfere with the absorption of iron so make sure you take it separately.

- Vitamin C and B12 help the absorption of iron so take your iron with something rich in those like strawberries or an orange.

- Shreddies, Chex cereal and cream of wheat are good sources of iron.

- I like the liquid iron supplements. It's easier on the stomach.

Anemia is my only health problem. I have been anemic all my life, even before I was a vegan. I have been vegan since age 18. Requiring extreme amount of sleep is a cross I have borne my whole life.Energy is, and always has been, a foreign concept to me. I have never experienced what it feels like to not be fatigued. I am 61. Other than anemia, I am extraordinarily healthy. Never sick. The weird thing is, the severe anemia symptoms didn't kick in till AFTER menopause. I have endured several bouts of severe anemia symptoms. The.first was at age 55, 2 years after menopause. Suddenly, I couldn't endure the July heat; it made me dizzy and faint. By November, I was literally crawling on the ground. I felt fine lying down or sitting down. Every time I stood up I felt dizzy, a crushing pain in the center of my chest and trouble breathing-- I was only able to take a few steps before I had to squat down in the sidewalk or floor and rest. One time it nearly killed me because I crossed a street and couldn't squat down in the middle of the road-- by the time I reached the sidewalk, my breathing was so impaired that I COULD NOT GET ANY AIR. I lived through that barely, my breathing recovering just in time to keep me from passing out. So after 2 months of this, one of my friends convinced me to go to the ER; he rode there with me on the bus. The doctor said my red blood count was 18 and was supposed to be 40. I signed myself out ofthe ER against medical advice. The doctor wanted to admit me and run more tests because she had never seen a red blood count that low that did not indicate internal bleeding. Apparently, she had never seen a long-term vegan who has been so poor all her life that she has had to live mainly on potato chips. She said she orders blood transfusions for a red blood count of 25 and mine was only 18. She said I could drop dead at any time from a heart attack or possibly a stroke. I said no transfusions for me and where do I sign (the AMA form). She said my blood count will never be normal without transfusions,but she prescribed mega-dosesof iron/ B12, and folic acid. She said with the supplements, I might feel some improvement in about a year. I never got the supplements because I can't afford vegan supplements. One of my friends bought me a bunch of better food and after 4 days of bed rest and better food, I started improving. The second bout was 2 years later and I blame it on dieting from 131 pounds (which was my weight at the time of the first bout) to 112. I believe the diet just was too hard on my body. Again, I was crawling everywhere. Another of my friends bought me a bunch of better food and I recovered after a couple of weeks of bed rest. Then in 2013, two years later, it hit me again hard; ALSO after a diet where I lost from 127 to 112 and then dropping down once to 108 and once to 109 because I was trying to maintain but ended up losing weight. So I tried to eat better food and get more rest and made it through. I am a vegan for ethical reasons, not for health. I believe it is possible to avoid anemia as a vegan if you always take vegan iron supplements and get enough B-12 from vegan supplements or fortified vegan soy milk, and don't try to live on potatoes and potato chips.

Good luck with trying to determine whether the iron in enriched cereals/crackers/breads, etc., is of animal origin or not. 99% of the time, the product manufacturer will not know, and will tell you their ingredient suppliers say it is proprietary information. Therefore, I believe it to be literally impossible for a vegan to get sufficient iron without vegan supplements.

Good morning! I believe that the supplements would work if you do not allow the anemia to get as bad as mine has. If you are able to PREVENT such an extreme degree of anemia, by never allowing your iron and B12 to drop down that far, it is possible with supplements to maintain a normal red blood count. The Silk vanilla soy milk is what is keeping me alive. It does not contain much iron but it does have B12. All Silk brand products are vegan. I fully believe that it is impossible for a vegan to obtain sufficient iron from food, without taking supplements. I am not convinced that a vegan diet is overall healthier than a nonvegan diet. As I said, I am vegan for ethical reasons, not health; theoretically, with supplements and a well-planned vegan diet, a vegan can be healthy. The challenges are that 1) vegan supplements and nutritious vegan food are very expensive and 2) controlling calorie intake isn't easy on a nutritious vegan diet. Soy milk, for example, is not low in calories! It is far easier for nonvegans to get all their required nutrients, keep their caloric intake low, and eat on a tight budget. All of those things are hard for a vegan. Yes, I have allowed myself to gain weight sometimes because I knew that by eating better I would feel better! But then I have to go on a reducing diet yet again. I am only 5' 3 1/2" and so I am overweight right now at 121 pounds. I will be starting a reducing diet by the end of this week. I plan to use some of my allowed calories each day for a 16- ounce glass of soy milk.

Thank you, tahinilove. Please don't make the same mistake that I did, if you can avoid it-- try your very best to prevent your anemia from becoming so severe as to be irrevocable!