Anaemic and vegetarian

[halfwildlingwoman]

Hi
I have just had a blood test due to tiredness which says that I am anaemic. I have been vegetarian for 27 years so I'm not entirely surprised. However, when I was pregnant I started eating fish, maybe once a fortnight. So, I have re-read the list of foods rich in iron and other than the meat, I already eat them all regularly! I eat practically no processed food. I have had very heavy periods for the last six months which may well be the cause.
I suspect the GP will just put me on iron tablets. When I took these in pregnancy the constipation was almost as bad as the tiredness!
Anyone been in a similar situation? What did you do?

[TheSpottedZebra]

Did you mention those symptoms to the doc when you requested blood test?

Or are you not in UK quite possibly?

Certainly, periods that are heavy, are IMHO (lay, not medic!) worth investigating -they're not something that we should just put up with. So dont be fobbed off. Paired with frequent urination and bloating, yes, I would be mentioning all this to docs.

I'm another anaemic veggie, with heavy periods. I ant take hormonal medication, and don't want ablation so am pretty much resigned to managing the periods, and taking iron supplements every day, and more when I am bleeding. I take ferrous fumarate, which suits me ok.

[halfwildlingwoman]

Thank you everybody - the posts about heavy periods got me thinking more. I do think I have a pretty balanced diet and it would be odd that this has only come up twice in all the time I have been vege.
I followed links on NHS choices and now think I may have fibroids. I have the following symptons:
heavy periods
frequent urination (one of the reasons I requested a blood test as was worried about diabetes.
bloating - despite being a size 10 my stomach is large. I have been doing daily exercises for separated stomach muscles for 18 months to little effect.
Anyone else think this is a possibility? Should I push to be referred for a sonogram?

[PacificDogwood]

Ah thanks, I did not not know about baggie capsules - useful to know

[idlevice]

Supplements with the iron in heme form are the most absorbable (& therefore most expensive) & less of a constipating effect. Iron bisglycinate supplements are another highly absorbable & non-constipating iron compound. Both available online. You could use these short-term to boost levels then maintain with more readily available supplements.

Make sure both your haemoglobin and ferritin levels are monitored. Commonly people tend to mean haemoglobin when referring to iron levels, which is circulating iron whereas ferritin is stored iron.

[FrancesOldhamKelseyRIP]

In addition to all the other great advice above, try drinking orange juice with your spinach and bran flakes (or your iron tablets) the vitamin C really aids absorption.

[sumoweeble]

No, haven't tried it personally, stilllearnin but it's had coverage on the news eg BBC quite a bit recently and sounds like a rather ace idea to me.

[stilllearnin]

hmmm is that a testimonial? have you tried this.

[sumoweeble]

Get a lucky iron fish

[stilllearnin]

oh classic double post - sorry

[stilllearnin]

When people say they cannot take the iron tablets, what do you mean?

My ds (14) is veggie and has just been diagnosed anemic with iron deficiency. His diet had become a bit samey and so I have sorted that. But he is taking the ferrous tablets. He has stomach ache quite a bit and I cannot work out if that is related. He was quite ill a few years ago and so he is not good at telling me about symptoms as he generally expects to feel crap. (we found out he was anemic because he was falling asleep at school). I think he may be constipated so have given him senakot. He also gets ridiculously tired when he tries to eat. Obviously he will go back to the dr in about a month but does anyone have any other advice in the meantime please?

[stilllearnin]

When people say they cannot take the iron tablets, what do you mean?

My ds (14) is veggie and has just been diagnosed anemic with iron deficiency. His diet had become a bit samey and so I have sorted that. But he is taking the ferrous tablets. He has stomach ache quite a bit and I cannot work out if that is related. He was quite ill a few years ago and so he is not good at telling me about symptoms as he generally expects to feel crap. (we found out he was anemic because he was falling asleep at school). I think he may be constipated so have given him senakot. He also gets ridiculously tired when he tries to eat. Obviously he will go back to the dr in about a month but does anyone have any other advice in the meantime please?

[KatharineClifton]

Ye, you can get vegy capsules i.e. EPO. At a premium obviously.

[MarthaCostello]

Oops, sorry, I'd completely forgotten about that unfortunately I have had to compromise on them as they seem to be the only thing preventing me from being severely anaemic, but obviously not suitable for anyone wanting to remain strictly vegetarian.

Pacific I've had vegetarian capsules, I think they're made from cellulose, but couldn't be certain!

[PacificDogwood]

Most (?all) capsules contain porcine gelatin.

Heavy periods can contribute to iron deficiency anaemia; a good vegetation diet has enough iron (provided it is not vegetarian like my uni flat mate's was: cheese on toast and nought else ).

Vegetarians are more at risk from Vit B12 deficiency as this vitamin is found in meat and meat products.

And, to make things even more confusing, there is a whole host of other possible causes of anaemia - speak to your GP in more detail.

[greenhill]

Tranexamic acid really helps with heavy periods. Once you've sorted that out, you'll retain more iron, naturally, but look for some vegetarian B vitamins too.

[KatharineClifton]

MarthaCostello just looked up those pills and they contain gelatine and shellac so not vegetarian.

[KatharineClifton]

And it's so rotten that anaemia actually makes periods heavier. A vicious cycle!

[KatharineClifton]

Same here, doc put me on the mini-pill which I was dubious about. Periods that meant I had to stay at home for 3 days rarely come at all now, and are very light and last only about 3 days. Made a massive difference to me. Still borderline anaemic and taking ferrous sulphate which is the one which best suits me, and thinking about eating fish, but not sure it would make a massive difference so undecided.

[PacificDogwood]

Find out more about the nature of your anaemia: is it iron deficiency or Vit B/folic acid deficiency related? This is common in vegetarian.
And yes, heavy periods won't help.
Speak to your GP.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

It took me months to get my levels back to even the bottom end of normal, and the only thing that helped was sorting the periods.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Get the heavy periods fixed. Otherwise, all the iron tablets in the world won't help because you'll just lose so much blood every month that you're never properly topped up with iron.

[butterfly86]

I was vegetarian for 10 years then I started eating a little meat but lots of fish, I should still describe myself as pescatarian really as I eat barely any meat. I started feeling exhausted to the point it was dangerous my dd was 6 months old and I was fobbed off with "you've just had a baby it's normal to be tired" I knew it wasn't normal to feel that bad so kept going back and eventually a different doctor found I was b12 deficient so I was started on injections the loading dose worked brilliantly but it's wearing off now and I feel dreadful again but I can't have the next injection for another 4 weeks I'm going to be ill by then. Hope you find something that works for you and start to feel better soon :)

[LilQueenie]

I took vitamins from holland and barrett that included iron and upped my green veg intake. Was back to normal within a week. Im veggie too.

[darkpandora]

Hey I am A vegetarian and last time I had a blood test it came back my iron levels were too low and I was anaemic I got given iron tablets but couldn't take them so I found spatone with added vitamin C they come in a box and are like little drinks (taste like apple juice with a slight metallic taste for a few seconds) you get 28 In a box and you just drink one everyday. I drank one every morning. Anyway had blood test done a week ago and my iron levels are back to normal again. I don't know if they are the reason but I didn't do anything else might be worth a try

[MarthaCostello]

I'm a lifelong vegetarian and I've never been anaemic until I had major bowel surgery a few years back. A friend has also been vegetarian a long time and had a spate of heavy/prolonged periods and became anaemic, so I would think it is that. Have you been offered any solutions for the periods?

I have a leaflet from my dietitian and I was looking at the chart the other day, from memory I don't think fish contains that much iron.

I take Vitabioitics Feroglobin B12 capsules. They are slow release, but have a decent dose of iron, and some other useful things. I have tried all of the prescription iron supplements and had major couldn't-leave-the-house issues with all of them (they affect me differently because of my surgery). These ones actually seem to be doing something, but I will need to wait for another blood test to confirm.

I have everything crossed because if these don't work the only option left is to wait until I become anaemic enough to warrant an iron infusion. Unfortunately by that point I will barely be able to function

I hope you find a solution and start to feel better soon