A day with no obligations...and no energy.

[figmo]

I don't have to be anywhere today. Yeow. I'm not used to this.

I have so many things I want to do, but the damned anemia is outweighing my mental enthusiasm.

What my brain wants to do:

• Go to Fr. John's party.
• Have a fancy brunch.
• Go back to doing comedy class.
• Work out.
• Clean house.
• Take lady for a long walk.

What my body wants to do:

• Think about Fr. John's party.
• Have brunch in bed.
• Watch Comedy Central.
• Think about working out.
• Look at the mess.
• Lie next to Lady in bed.

If there's some way I could goose my energy level I'd love to know it. I already take three iron pills/day and three folic acid pills with B and C vitamins added/day. Despite this, my hemocrit levels are low.

Comments

[cat-herder.livejournal.com]

You have my permission to spend the day sleeping. Honestly.

[fr-john.livejournal.com]

You have mine as well.

[dinogrl.livejournal.com]

Um, Fr. John's party? Party? What Party?
And I second vegging out. You just need those days sometimes.

[fr-john.livejournal.com]

10th anniversary of ordination.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

I felt bad about having to miss your ordination. One of the few things that could have superceded it did -- a college friend of mine from back east who now lives out here was getting married the same day.

[cat-herder.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, dude.

[tiggerypum.livejournal.com]

I tend towards anemic also.... I don't know which iron pills you're taking, but it's been shown that for the most part, we barely absorb most vitamin/mineral pills.

There are some that are done with various amino acids that are supposed to help - my midwife also found that the liquid health food store iron seemed to get better results for some of her patients, that's what I used while pregnant.

Are your blood sugar levels holding steady? That's the other thing that will really hit people hard.
*hugs*

[figmo.livejournal.com]

I watch my blood sugar levels like a hawk.

When I have eaten and am still low energy, I know something is "off."

So...what amino acids do you know of that help?

[tiggerypum.livejournal.com]

I don't even remember, the 'baby' is 14 now.

One bit I remember is that lemon juice combined with spinach was said to make that iron more absorbed (back then). I suggest some web searches - long as the combination isn't dangerous wouldn't hurt to try something different for a few weeks and see if it helps.

What type of iron?

[hvideo.livejournal.com]

I recall reading studies showing that certain types of iron supplements are absorbed better than others, even with the folic acid supplements to help. I'd have to dig into my files a bit to find out which was better, but if you mention what you've got it might trigger a memory of "that's well absorbed" or "that's not so well absorbed".

Re: What type of iron?

[hvideo.livejournal.com]

A quick medline search shows Ferrous Sulphate as the preferred treatment for Iron Deficiency Anemia (giving it an "A" for "strong evidence"), and they also mention it as a treatment for "Fatigue in women with low ferritin levels." However, they only give it a "C" on the latter, which means that scientific evidence is "unclear". The dose studied for fatigue was 80 mg/day. Since that's for "low/borderline" as opposed to actual "deficiency", presumably you're already being given a larger dose for the "deficiency" - but until your iron levels come up, we can't tell if the fatigue is related to the iron levels or not.

Carbonyl Iron is a form that releases the iron more slowly and is more expensive, but apparently is roughly as effective as Ferrous Sulphate with perhaps less stomach discomfort.

I'll hit the high points regarding iron:

Iron from plant sources is generally less well absorbed than from animal sources, so you should take twice as much if you follow a strict vegetarian diet.

Calcium reduces how much iron is absorbed, so if you are taking calcium supplements this will be a problem if you take them with food/supplements. This also applies to milk at meals. Take the calcium separately, at bedtime.

Speaking of acid, stomach acid is needed for proper absorption of iron, so if you are taking an acid-blocker (Tagamet, Zantac, Pepcid AC) or antacids this is a problem. If you are using Calcium-based antacids after a meal you are getting a double whammy.

Both coffee and tea also reduce iron absorption.

You're already getting vitamins B (I presume it's B2/Riboflavin) and C, which help. If you have a deficiency in vitamin A, taking some extra there would help as well - but it won't help if you're not actually deficient in vitamin A.

There are also medicines that affect iron absorption.

Re: What type of iron?

[figmo.livejournal.com]

One of the doctors was afraid to have me take ferrous sulfate because of my sulfa drug allergy.

I have been avoiding taking the iron at breakfast (coffee and milk in one meal). I am not a vegetarian, so I'm fine with animal sources of iron. I do, however, take Nexium daily in the morning.