Am I anaemic?

[Moomin]

I wonder if anyone can help me. I know this is no substitute for seeing the doc but there are no appointments until Friday and in the meantime would like advice from anyone who's suffered similar symptoms to those I seem to have at the moment. A bit of background history (sorry to go on):

Dd is 9m old; had a c-section due to placenta praevia. Took quite a while before scar pain subsided and I still get dull achey pain across scar when I've been walking or standing for a while. However, seems to hurt a lot more these days.
Feel really tired in the day. Dd is excellent sleeper and I don't have broken nights or excessive early mornings as dh and I take turns. Have lost sex drive a fair bit over last month. Had a coil fitted 8 weeks ago.
Feel very lethargic and almost disinterested in most things - not depressed or tearful but just like "whatever". Have always been very energetic and happy before. Baby, marriage and job all fine so I think it must be a physical problem.
Lastly, feel quite clumsy recently and a bit spaced out. Fell down 3 or 4 stairs the other day and landed on my bum. The bruise that has come up is something else - huge and jet black - quite impressive!
Started exercising regularly in the last month but don't seem to be getting any benefits from it (e.g. no increase in stamina) and also have been sensibly dieting (just cutting down) but no weight has shifted at all, - if anything may have put some on.
Could it be anaemia?

moomin have you had any other sypmptons such as dizzyness and shortness of breath on exertion. How is your complexion a good indicator of anaemia is also if you pull down your lower eyelid it should be bright red but if its pale the you may be anaemic.

Ask the doc for blood tests - some thyroid imbalances cause symptoms like these (my mum had an underactive thyroid and fell over a lot, plus it can cause weight gain, tiredness and depression). But it could be anaemia, a mild illness or it might still be tiredness - I think baby tiredness is partially due to thinking about someone else ALL the time. I feel like that a lot!

Thanks - both postings v interesting. Haven't looked at my eyelids yet but will do when I go up to bed! Thyroid thing also interesting. Can you just develop it suddenly, then? Are some people more susceptible than others? I'm wondering if my scar's been hurting with the extra weight? Oh why can't I have an OVER active thyroid if anything?! At least then I'd be able to get into my own clothes instead of keep having to borrow dh's shirts!

Moomin - were you on iron tablets post natally? Do you know your iron level post delivery? If you were on iron - how long for? I assume you WERE on iron, as blood loss at your caesarean would have been anticipated to be high with placenta praevia. Did your GP check you iron levels at your 6 wk post natal check? All this should have been done. If not, and you were not on iron at all, it is possible tou are still suffering from anaemia. A good diet will radically help to boost iron stores, but your iron levels don't shoot up - they take time to improve. Quite often our diet is not as good as it could be after having a baby - when do we get the time?!!
Prophylactically, dried fruits (like apricots) are rich in iron, as are things like dark green, leafy veg, red meat, some cereals etc. Get eating more of these - won't do you any harn - even if you're found not to be anamic! First port of call should be the GP to do a routine full blood count though, which will show instantly if you need iron supplements. If the results are normal, he can then look into further tests, such as thyroid function etc.
All your symptoms do sound reminiscent of anaemia, but then they could be indicative of other things, as mentioned! Do you feel clammy at all? Fast pulse? Breathless?

Hi Moomin, About 30% of women have some kind of thyroid imbalance and having a baby can be a trigger, apparently. I also used to dream of having an overactive thyriod and becoming v skinny effortlessly, but it also gives you a goitre and Marty Feldman eyes, so perhaps not..

I think aloha could be onto something here it could be hypothyriodism does your hair and skin feel quite dry? other signs may be constipation, low body temperature and pulse(

Thanks all for your postings. Went to doc's on Friday - she said she thought it sounded more like underactive thyroid but has sorted out a number of tests. Trouble is, can't even get an appointment to have the tests until 2 weeks' time! And then she said the results would take up to another 2 weeks!!!

leese - Funny what you said about iron tablets. No, I wasn't on them at all, before or after the birth. The only precaution they took for excessive blood loss was cross-matching my blood type every 5 mins (or that's what it felt like, anyway!) As it happens, the consultant said I didn't have a huge blood loss at all during the birth - it all went to plan, but no test was done for levels at the 6 week check anyway.

Other symptoms mentioned - yes I do feel clammy at times and have done since the birth. I put it down to hormones raging and doing their thing. And yes, I do suffer from constipation quite a bit...oh, the joys!

My diet's fairly good and always has been. I'm semi-veggie (I do eat fish) but I eat very well anyway - obviously too well, looking at my saggy stomach!

Also, I do have quite dry skin. Don't know if anything else runs in the family as I'm adopted.
It just all seems funny that everything was fine (or at least felt that way) until the last 6 weeks or so. I'm going to pray to the god of Mummies tonight to give me a tummy tuck and my sex life back asap!

p.s. what's a goitre?

Moomin - you mentioned that your c-section scar aches, I had a c-section almost 11 months ago, it was very sore for a few months and it still aches now. ( What I find infuritating is that my GP doesn't seem to believe me and has just said, 'well it looks like it's healing well' ).
From what I can find out, achey scars seem to just occur in a minority of women.
Hope you feel better soon.

Hi
A goitre is a swelling on the throat that makes you look as if you have an Adam's Apple - but that's with OVER-active thyroid. Regarding the anaemia and thyroid, you can be tested for both at once - I was and I was OK, but I'm paranoid about it because my mum has it and it went undetected for ages (well over a year) and it made her suffer from depression quite severely as it got worse and worse (her GP was useless), plus she had some nasty falls and her hair fell out in handfuls and it was a very worrying time for her (&me!). But it is more common in older women, so I hope I'm not worrying you, it was just a thought. Let us know the results of your tests.

Moomin
i had similar symptoms to yours that were picked up at 6wk check and have been having blood tests reguarly since,Ds is now 5 m o.I have a low blood count but its steadily but slowly rising,my latest tests are for Glandular fever symptoms being extreme tiredness slight sore throat generally feeling crap but i dont get my results till tomorrowso hopefully i'll get to the bottom of it then!

Moomin,
Never heard the outcome of your tests - are things improved ?