Has Anyone Got/Had Anaemia?

[RabbitsRock]

Recent blood tests showed I am borderline anaemic & I have another test next week to hopefully discover the cause. Meanwhile I feel dreadful! Not all the time luckily but the most horrendous tiredness will come over me & I really struggle to keep my eyes open. I didn’t think anything could feel worse than my Vit B12 deficiency but this does 😢 Plus I sometimes get a little bit dizzy when I stand up, particularly from crouching down, and I’m a bit headachey although some of that is not drinking enough water I think. Just wondering if there’s anything I can do? I did look up iron rich foods.

Why aren’t you taking iron tablets?

I suffered all of last year and still this year a bit. It’s awful isn’t it?

You need to be prescribed iron once the cause is identified.
Some gps need pushing to prescribe because there is a wide so called “ normal” range on blood tests but if you are symptomatic and anywhere near borderline you really need treatment.
There are different types of iron, some you may find more tolerable than others.
I get anaemia without a permanent iron prescription due to poor diet linked to cancer treatment and disability. Plus I am a vegetarian to start with.
It is also really common with women who have heavy periods which I did though I am post menopause now.
Before I was on iron I felt like I was walking through treacle because it took much more effort to get anywhere plus I was finding so much hair in my brush or sink.
I hope you can get it sorted quickly.

Yes I have it quite badly, I'm Arab and there's a gene that appears more commonly in Middle Eastern people that means you don't absorb it well no matter how much you eat. I'm an ethical vegetarian and won't budge on that (not that it would make much difference: see above) so the only answer is very heavy supplementation and occasional infusions that bypass the stomach entirely. Get some ferrous fumarate. The ones I take are 322mg per tablet.

I haven’t been prescribed any iron tablets. Also, I worry about constipation as I’m prone to it.

Take them every other day with 1000mg vitamin c and up your water for the constipation