New to anemia
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archersport
Posts: 65 Member
Hi, I've been having troubles absorbing vitamins leading to iron & B12 anemia. One side effect of this illness was a weight gain of almost 30lbs (I was so deficient I experienced organ problems and a shut-down in my metabolism). I'm on doctor-prescribed supplements that are working but I am 3-4 months out from a full recovery (rate of blood cell replacement turnover) if I can keep ahead of the menses-setbacks. Because the anemia is new to me, and the joyous feeling of energetic health is so rare, I find I am completely out of touch with how to regulate myself. I feel like I'm doing normal to low activity and then am completely wiped. I want to (absolutely need to for my job) ramp up my endurance but I can't figure out the signs of crossing the line. Is anyone else out there experienced in this and can lead me through?
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Replies
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Hi! Been there.
Make sure you make a dietary change to include more iron as well. Supplements are fine, but I've found the most seamless additions are food. Plus- you don't get the nasty side effects that come with a daily iron supp(find a nice fiber additive to water or coffee- if you haven't needed yet- you will soon).
Lots of water. One day at a time! Glad you're feeling better.1 -
I think that's a normal feeling if you're anemic, from experience of family it improves over time with your treatment but it's gradual. Maybe a 20 minute lunchtime/afternoon nap can help you with energy management and perhaps you need more sleep than usual as your body is recovering. Also, I haven't heard of anyone doing this to speed up treatment of anemia, but there are women, e.g. astronauts and athletes, who use the pill to suppress their periods (temporarily), of course under guidance of their physician. I don't recommend anything and I haven't done it myself, it's just something to know.
If you want to exercise to improve your endurance you can try rowing or cycling on a gentle setting for a few minutes and slowly increase the time as you improve or take a short stroll around the block and gradually increase the length. Added benefit of rowing/cycling indoors is that you're sitting down so any lightheadedness/feeling faint doesn't make you fall down. Do this just a few times a week so you have plenty of time to recover.
In addition, eating and drinking enough is important. I personally find it difficult to eat the amount of iron and vitamin B that is recommended to us women and that's while eating generous portions of meat and bread. With absorption issues you probably need even more, so it's extra important to eat iron and vit B rich (and generally nutritious) foods and track your intake. As for weight loss I'd wait with calorie restriction until the anemia has resolved and your body has had time to repair its metabolism.1 -
Waaaaay back in college I had my ferritin tested which was borderline low. Doctor suggested to use birth control to stop my cycles (mostly- maybe had 7-8 cycles past 5 years?) to keep iron stores up and it was life changing. Not an option for everyone though. There is no medical reason to have a period.2
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Hi! Been there.
Make sure you make a dietary change to include more iron as well. Supplements are fine, but I've found the most seamless additions are food. Plus- you don't get the nasty side effects that come with a daily iron supp(find a nice fiber additive to water or coffee- if you haven't needed yet- you will soon).
Lots of water. One day at a time! Glad you're feeling better.
I've heard about iron supplements causing constipation, but constipation has not been an issue for me since I started taking vitamin C to bowel tolerance years ago.
It's also possible some forms of iron are more constipating. I had to try many forms of iron before I found one that got both my iron and energy levels back up. I'm currently taking iron bisglycinate.
I also take 1 T of blackstrap molasses daily and eat liverwurst when I have my period, but don't feel like I could get enough iron from my diet to replace what I get from the supplements.1 -
Waaaaay back in college I had my ferritin tested which was borderline low. Doctor suggested to use birth control to stop my cycles (mostly- maybe had 7-8 cycles past 5 years?) to keep iron stores up and it was life changing. Not an option for everyone though. There is no medical reason to have a period.
"No medical reason for periods" sounds like marketing BS from the makers of pills that stop periods.
I have dreadful periods which would stop if I got a hysterectomy, but I prefer to hang on to my uterus.
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Ahhhh...I've been anemic all my life. Not fun!
I've learned to like chicken livers. Don't forget fiber and lots of water.1 -
archersport wrote: »Hi, I've been having troubles absorbing vitamins leading to iron & B12 anemia. One side effect of this illness was a weight gain of almost 30lbs (I was so deficient I experienced organ problems and a shut-down in my metabolism). I'm on doctor-prescribed supplements that are working but I am 3-4 months out from a full recovery (rate of blood cell replacement turnover) if I can keep ahead of the menses-setbacks. Because the anemia is new to me, and the joyous feeling of energetic health is so rare, I find I am completely out of touch with how to regulate myself. I feel like I'm doing normal to low activity and then am completely wiped. I want to (absolutely need to for my job) ramp up my endurance but I can't figure out the signs of crossing the line. Is anyone else out there experienced in this and can lead me through?
I'm anemic and have large fibroids which cause very heavy bleeding. My energy levels are wildly different depending on where I am in my cycle. As I start to recover from my period, I feel energetic, but easily get wiped out. At this time, I utilize Spoon Theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory
I want to do X, Y, and Z, but past experience tells me that if even though I feel like I can do all three, realistically I can only do one, so I have to decide which is most important and do that first, and the rest may have to be saved for later.
I have a running mantra of "pace yourself, pace yourself." Which is also somewhat of a family joke as my father used to say this all the time. He was good at pacing himself, while my brother, mother, and I are not.1 -
Birth control pills allow "periods" (which are just withdrawal bleeding, not true periods, as ovulation never occurred) because the inventor thought women needed it to feel like taking the pill was ok. It doesn't really serve a purpose, and I would absolutely consider skipping periods if you're on the pill anyway. If not, then it's a medication decision to be made considering all of the pros and cons.kshama2001 wrote: »Waaaaay back in college I had my ferritin tested which was borderline low. Doctor suggested to use birth control to stop my cycles (mostly- maybe had 7-8 cycles past 5 years?) to keep iron stores up and it was life changing. Not an option for everyone though. There is no medical reason to have a period.
"No medical reason for periods" sounds like marketing BS from the makers of pills that stop periods.
I have dreadful periods which would stop if I got a hysterectomy, but I prefer to hang on to my uterus.
I also just had low ferritin and felt pretty crappy; hope you feel better soon, OP! Do what you can, and expect improvement over time.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Waaaaay back in college I had my ferritin tested which was borderline low. Doctor suggested to use birth control to stop my cycles (mostly- maybe had 7-8 cycles past 5 years?) to keep iron stores up and it was life changing. Not an option for everyone though. There is no medical reason to have a period.
"No medical reason for periods" sounds like marketing BS from the makers of pills that stop periods.
I have dreadful periods which would stop if I got a hysterectomy, but I prefer to hang on to my uterus.
I had an IUD and didn't have periods for 5 years. My anemia got much worse when I took the IUD out.2 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Waaaaay back in college I had my ferritin tested which was borderline low. Doctor suggested to use birth control to stop my cycles (mostly- maybe had 7-8 cycles past 5 years?) to keep iron stores up and it was life changing. Not an option for everyone though. There is no medical reason to have a period.
"No medical reason for periods" sounds like marketing BS from the makers of pills that stop periods.
I have dreadful periods which would stop if I got a hysterectomy, but I prefer to hang on to my uterus.
Do.... you even understand how it all works lol?! Yeah I'm sure countless OB/GYNs over the years have just been giving me damaging health advice. Skipping periods on birth control is not the same as having a hysterectomy, my uterus is chilling happily right where it belongs lol.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »archersport wrote: »Hi, I've been having troubles absorbing vitamins leading to iron & B12 anemia. One side effect of this illness was a weight gain of almost 30lbs (I was so deficient I experienced organ problems and a shut-down in my metabolism). I'm on doctor-prescribed supplements that are working but I am 3-4 months out from a full recovery (rate of blood cell replacement turnover) if I can keep ahead of the menses-setbacks. Because the anemia is new to me, and the joyous feeling of energetic health is so rare, I find I am completely out of touch with how to regulate myself. I feel like I'm doing normal to low activity and then am completely wiped. I want to (absolutely need to for my job) ramp up my endurance but I can't figure out the signs of crossing the line. Is anyone else out there experienced in this and can lead me through?
I'm anemic and have large fibroids which cause very heavy bleeding. My energy levels are wildly different depending on where I am in my cycle. As I start to recover from my period, I feel energetic, but easily get wiped out. At this time, I utilize Spoon Theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory
I want to do X, Y, and Z, but past experience tells me that if even though I feel like I can do all three, realistically I can only do one, so I have to decide which is most important and do that first, and the rest may have to be saved for later.
I have a running mantra of "pace yourself, pace yourself." Which is also somewhat of a family joke as my father used to say this all the time. He was good at pacing himself, while my brother, mother, and I are not.
That's actually pretty similar to how I've had to learn to approach life. I would love to have enough energy to do my 10K steps a day and go for a bicycle ride and be productive at work and study random language number N. The reality is that I first need to worry about the work productivity. Anything else is a bonus depending on where I am in my cycle. It has gotten a bit better since I've been put on BC, but I still need to worry about pacing myself and will probably need to worry for the rest of my life.
Since I don't react well to oral iron supplements, I get an infusion roughly every 6 months. So my energy level also depend rather directly on how long it's been since the last injection.1 -
Thanks everyone who took time to comment1
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archersport wrote: »Hi, I've been having troubles absorbing vitamins leading to iron & B12 anemia. One side effect of this illness was a weight gain of almost 30lbs (I was so deficient I experienced organ problems and a shut-down in my metabolism). I'm on doctor-prescribed supplements that are working but I am 3-4 months out from a full recovery (rate of blood cell replacement turnover) if I can keep ahead of the menses-setbacks. Because the anemia is new to me, and the joyous feeling of energetic health is so rare, I find I am completely out of touch with how to regulate myself. I feel like I'm doing normal to low activity and then am completely wiped. I want to (absolutely need to for my job) ramp up my endurance but I can't figure out the signs of crossing the line. Is anyone else out there experienced in this and can lead me through?
If you are low in B12, you will feel exhausted, regardless of being anemic or not. It takes time to get back to normal, and there is nothing you can do other than take your supplements, checking your levels every few weeks and being patient. What you describe is typical B12 deficiency symptoms. Be patient, it will get better.0
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