This is one of those posts that I’ve thought about in my head for a while but haven’t figured out how to put “pen to paper” or “fingers to keyboard.”
No one likes being sick. But, what I find to be even worse than being sick is being sick when no one, including doctors and nurses, can figure out why you’re sick. I’ve watched as friends and acquaintances have shared their stories online as they stay strong and fight through ailments like injuries, migraines, cancer, and Crohn’s Disease. Trust me, what I’m going to share with you today does not nearly compare to what many of them are battling. But, in order to be honest with readers, I wanted to share what I’m going through as it will explain a few things you’ve been seeing such as a HUGE increase in meat, carbs, sleep, and a few tough workouts.
In December, when Bo and I were home in Savannah for Christmas we both fell ill with what was first affectionately deemed the London hack before it evolved into full blown flu and then bronchitis.
I went to the doctor in hopes of kicking the illness as fast as possible as we had lots of family in town for the holidays and I had no desire to spend the week in bed. While at the doctor’s office, they took advantage of the fact that I was home in the states and decided to do a thorough physical including a body exam, blood test and urine analysis. Luckily the body exam nor urine analysis showed anything odd. But, the blood test was a whole different hot mess.
In fact, the blood test for the “healthy 30 year old” who called herself active on the physical questionnaire came back so skewed that in the course of one week I had 3 blood tests. According to the results, my iron, saturation and ferritin levels were beyond low. In fact, they were extremely low and should result in a lethargic almost listless human. Normal iron levels are 4.4 – 35.6 but mine were between 2.9-3.1.
My doctor immediately recommended that I start taking over the counter iron pills as well as trying to incorporate more iron rich foods into my diet. Some of these are harder to incorporate than others but over the past two months I’ve included almonds, dried apricots, eggs, and either chicken, beef or sardines in my diet daily. I’ve also started topping my lunch salad with tuna and lentils as both are offered on our salad bar each day.
After the combination of iron supplements and a more iron rich diet I hoped that I’d get a clean bill of health last week when I went to my doctor in Geneva. Unfortunately after taking 8 tubes of blood in order to do a very, very thorough blood test which included cholesterol and celiac, the results came back even worse than December. The good news is that I don’t have Celiac disease, I finally know my blood type (O negative) and I don’t have high cholesterol. But, the bad news is that my body still isn’t absorbing any of the iron and to make matters worse, I’m starting to feel some of the symptoms of anemia and low iron. For the next 6 weeks my Swiss doctor has me on a regimen of prescription iron taken daily with OJ along with increasing the iron rich foods.
While I am not necessarily lethargic, my body has been needing more than the normal 6 hours of sleep. Morning workouts are near impossible unless I get at least 7 hours of sleep and I’m finding myself craving sweets and carbohydrates in a crazy way. In addition to this, over the past few weeks I’ve started showing a few other symptoms:
- cracks near the lips
- insomnia
- pale skin (that could be due to lack of Vitamin D)
- high heartbeat when doing exercises which aren’t too strenuous
- difficulty concentrating
- shortness of breath or fatigue when exercising
This weekend’s half marathon was a perfect example of my iron deficiency. If you look at the training runs I did complete prior to the half, I should have been able to maintain a steady pace of closer to a 9:45. Instead, during the race I continuously became short of breath and asked Charlie to stop a few times so I could catch my breath and stretch. I may not have been in PR shape but I should be able to run this distance comfortably. At work, in our open desk area where no one has privacy or peace and tranquility, I’ve found it harder to focus on the task at hand. This week I’ve spent a large amount of time in huddle rooms so I can work in complete quiet and stay focused. Last night, I was up 4 times during the night and unable to fall asleep until 2 hours after I went to bed.
Trust me, I know there are people out there who are fighting far larger evils and far more ill than I am. But, it’s super frustrating that after four doctor’s appointments in 2 months nothing is working and I have to wait four more weeks before I can go to a hematologist for further testing. I just want to be back to normal.
In the meantime, I am not going to stop training, running or working long hours. What I am doing is trying to work smarter and more efficiently. Gia and I have put a PR training plan in place for the Geneva Half marathon which includes workouts which each have a serious purpose. I may only run four times a week but each run is for either speed, distance, hills, or steady state long run. In addition, I’m spending more time in the goal pace range than ever before. I am doing my best to get the sleep I need and I’m willing to be smart if I have a night of insomnia. Today I wanted nothing more than to get out on the trail with Renaud but I knew my body need a massage, yoga and rest after just a few hours of sleep last night. I’m not invincible and I’m not wonder woman.
You know what’s even cuter? The fact that my husband put an Outlook calendar invite on my work calendar which is titled Iron and is a recurring invite each day. My parents and Bo have been amazing the past few months whether to hug me when I’m weak, force feed me red meat, remind me take my iron pills, or tell me to take it easy when I’m tired.
So what does this mean for you guys? Hopefully, it means nothing. I’m not taking prescription strength iron each morning with freshly squeezed orange juice as vitamin C is supposed to help my body absorb the iron. However, if you follow me on Instagram you’ll see lots of red meat in my dinner pictures as each weekend I’m trying to enjoy at least two beef rich meals.
Has your doctor mentioned Thalassemia? My husband went through a similar situation as you’re describing back in the late 1990’s. After many (MANY) tests they tentatively diagnosed him with it. He went back 2 summers ago and they now have a definitive testing process for it and it was confirmed. No matter how much iron he eats, his body can only carry so much due to different red blood cells. It’s very “livable” and there is a lot of information out there. I hope you get some answers soon and feel better!
Thalessemia is a genetic disorder! Does anyone else is his family have it? It’s recessive so they might carry the gene, but not actually have the disease. Thalessemia generally affects people of Mediterranean, Asian, or African American descent…so that may or may not apply.
Sorry I got a little excited…haven’t heard Thalessemia since nursing school. Glad your husband found out what’s wrong, hope he’s doing well!
He was adopted which is one reason we didn’t do anything further back in the 90’s. He’s since met both birth parents and neither seem to have a history. I believe he has the beta version which is “the” version to have. He’s taking Folic Acid pills that supposedly help him absorb as much iron as possible. He does well overall, just occasionally has “run-down” periods. He does require more sleep than any other human I know! 🙂
Hi, Ashley –
I’m so sorry to hear you’re dealing with this. Not sure if you’re aware, but I was in a very similar (if not identical) situation about two years ago. My iron count was at about the same level as yours and they immediately put my on multiple doses of OTC iron supplements. After a few months, my blood was retested and my iron was even lower. I was ultimately forced to undergo an iron infusion. The iron infusion was awful and painful and if you can avoid it, please do not subject yourself to it. However, it did raise my iron levels back up to a healthy spot and I started receiving B12 shots, in addition to iron supplements (to help boost energy levels).
Over the next few months, my iron began dropping again and it became clear to my doctors that my body was not properly absorbing the iron supplements and it was very likely I’d be needing another infusion.
Of course, I spoke with my mother about this situation constantly. And she hated seeing me feel so terrible…I mean she’s a mom, duh. She started sending me a different kind of iron supplement called PurAbsorb. It is liquid iron, so I started adding one to a morning spinach smoothie each day. Fast forward one month and my blood tests show a miraculous uptick in iron count.
Finally, after three months of PurAbsorb spinach smoothies, my blood test showed normal iron levels.
My doctor believes it worked because my stomach was able to absorb the liquid iron, but would pass the iron pills straight through. I highly suggest you try adding liquid iron to your iron supplement, especially if your iron count did not improve after you added the supplement into your daily diet. (I also suggest adding a stool softner to your daily plan…but that’s a different story for a different day.)
I hope you start feeling better soon!!! Also, we will miss you tons on Saturday. It won’t be the same without you and Bo!
Best,
Lacey
Ugh!! Not knowing is the worst! You’ll find some answers. It just sucks that it takes so dang long sometimes!
But, I do have a question….how the heck do you live off of only 6 hours of sleep?? My iron levels are just fine, but if I don’t get 8-9 hours a night….oh man….it’s not good! 😉
Keep making them test you! It took my doctors (went through about 6 or so) forever to figure out I have Crohn’s. Sounds like you have a great team working for you right now!
I was severely anemic in high school – my coach pulled off the track during a race and told me I wasn’t running again until I went to the doctor. Lo and behold, I was so anemic they almost gave me transfusions but wanted to try pills first. It all made sense one the diagnosis was made…I was white as a sheet, couldn’t stay awake at all, and running was just awful. We would do fartlek workouts where my “fast” was a slow jog and my “slow” was a walk…I thought I was just having some bad running! Luckily a few months of iron three times per day worked like a charm, although I’m currently feeling some of those effects so I need to make an appointment to get some blood checked.
Eat that red meat! Iron from meat is much more readily absorbed than from non-meat sources (Here’s a good resources: http://www.mckinley.illinois.edu/handouts/dietary_sources_iron.html). Calcium can decrease absorption of iron too, so don’t get a yogurt with that OJ and iron pill! Side note that iron pills can sometimes cause constipation, so you have that to look forward to. (I didn’t have any issues, in case you were wondering…) Alright, enough oversharing for now! 🙂 Good luck!
Sorry you’re not feeling well. Medical issues are always frustrating. Hopefully, spring sunshine will having you feeling great again soon!
This is so crazy! Please keep us posted! Hope it gets better.
Ahh I totally get how you feel. Not the same thing totally but when I was 21 I was diagnosed with goodpastures, one of the main symptoms is severe anaemia. I got banging headaches, was really short of breath just walking across the room – had to sit at the top of the stairs for 10minutes to catch my breath and calm down. I was constantly exhausted and not very well at all.
Anaemia sucks. However bad you have it. Hope you feel better soon x
Ok I have so been where you are with going from doctor to doctor, I know how frustrating it is!!!! Have you considered looking for an alternative medicine doctor? That’s how we finally got to the root of my issue, which did all center around digestion {not absorbing nutrients}. I know it’s totally not the same, but if you do need any info feel free to email me. I truly hope you get to feeling better!!
So sorry that you are having to deal with this:( I know it’s super frustrating when they can’t figure it out!! Hope you feel better soon!
Low iron…jeez. Take the pills and pipe down. Maybe not going out of town every single weekend and relaxing a little bit will help.
Don’t diminish what you’re going through — it’s tough and you’re amazing to be persevering through it like you have been! I know the feeling and it’s relentless. . .
I hate that you’re going through this but glad you’re getting some answers.
I’ve always been borderline anemic (it runs in the family) and since I’m also a vegetarian, I’m very conscious and concerned about iron levels…so I appreciate you sharing your experience so we can all learn a little!
No fun! How frustrating it is for your body to not be operating at its optimum — especially when you work so hard to be healthy!
general fatigue from working long hours and training for distance running can be debilitating enough, but add to that the super low iron levels I’m sure you’re really getting frustrated. Hang in there. And don’t diminish this silly!!!
Sorry to hear about this, I’ve been through spats of anemia and can relate. At one point, I had to drastically decrease my running mileage. Echoing what Susan said, I just couldn’t run like I used to (as you probably know, there is just less oxygen circulating in your blood.) Most of all, it wasn’t fun. It was frustrating to be suffering through something that I loved, something that I used to look forward to doing daily. I went to all sorts of doctors and had a number of gastrointestinal tests…nada. My doctor recommended I visit an oncologist, which was fortunately, just a way to eliminate the possibility of something cancer related. Like Susan, it just got better over time through taking my supplements, eating more red meat and cutting back on my mileage.
You probably know that B12 is essential to your recovery as well! Liver is actually the original anemia cure–B12 was discovered as a vitamin that is naturally found liver. My favorite supplement was Floradix, it worked well. And I would put blackstrap molasses in my oatmeal.
I never figured out the cause, but I found some research that suggests exercise can help induce anemia. I hadn’t found any clinical trials, but I believe it is possible. Exercise is a form of stress, so too much is not great! I had been increasing my mileage before going through it, and in my case, it could have been a major contributor to my problem.
I’m sorry Ashley. I’m anemic too and don’t wish it on anyone. It’s a pain to feel like you’re not in control of your body. Mine got so bad that at times I couldn’t read words out loud correctly. It’s hard Bc running makes it worst or at least harder to recover since you lose iron running. But sounds like you have a great support system. Best wishes.
I can related, I also developed severe iron deficiency when I lived in Switzerland. While I was not an endurance runner, I was mostly a vegetarian for 8 years at that point, but what pushed me over the edge was….. the Swiss coffee, which is really strong. — Caffeine interferes with iron absorption, and besides using supplements and eating iron rich foods, you might want to go cold turkey on coffee/espressos/lattes etc, for 1-2 months, no diet coke etc either, drink herbal tea instead and see where this takes you. For me, it solved the problem. I’ve been off coffee ever since (besides one cup in the morning).
http://www.livestrong.com/article/481280-iron-deficiency-caffeine/
Sweetheart, low iron or not, you need more than 6 hours of sleep!!!
Ash thanks for sharing . Being sick is hard for anyone and I can imagine especially frustrating for someone who loves to be active. It’s great that you’re focusing on making the smartest choices for your body . Just keep listening and to what feels right .
I have suffered from anemia as well too. I tried taking OTC iron supplements, but it never seemed to make much of a difference. Now I take my iron supplement and pre-natal vitamins, even though I am not pregnant, because apparently the folate in the pre-natal vitamins help with iron absorption. That has seemed to help!
I also have chronic low iron — to the point that I had to have an emergency blood transfusion and have had multiple iron infusions to get to “alive” levels. One of the things my doctors stressed was to absorb as much as possible, I should take a chewable vitamin — I take 2 Flintstone’s with extra iron every day (with a Vitamin C supplement to aid absorption). Also, calcium inhibits iron absorption, so if you take a calcium supplement or anything, do it at night — space out the two. I also take B12 and D in the morning as both help in retaining iron. Has your doctor mentioned anything about B12 injections? Those were also remarkably helpful in making me feel human again.