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Frustrated with Iron Deficiency Anemia Situation - Any Positive Experience?



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I've been that route for the last 10 years even before surgery- give yourself 3 weeks you will feel fab

Thank you! 1 week down, 2 to go, then :-) How frequently do you need treatments?

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I've been that route for the last 10 years even before surgery- give yourself 3 weeks you will feel fab

How often do you recieve infusions. I was at a manageable point in the past (a blood transfusion here and there and a 4 week series of Iron every few months) however now it's just not working like it used to.

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I did 4 weeks then I was good for a couple of years twice- now I do Iron shots instead- try not to get too low

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Hang in there and good luck. May GOD bless!

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What are the symptoms ,we should be on the look out?

My symptoms were easy to dismiss & ignore. If I would have paid attention & gotten treatment sooner it wouldn't been so much better.

My symptoms are the following:

-extreme fatigue (think full body exhaustion)

-lack of motivation; apathy

-craving ice & mints (pica-non food cravings)

-always FREEZING

-irritable

-depression

-heart palpitations

-shortness of breath

-lack of endurance doing my routine work outs

-restless legs

-muscle soreness

-lack of ability to concentrate

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Those symptoms are spot on. I have all of them. Sept will be my two year anniversary. I was hospitalized last month for a week with dangerously low Iron levels. I am feeling bad again and going back for more lab work. I was referred to a hematologist. He said I will be coming in weekly. I hope he is able to help me. I love my weight loss but need to get healthy.

Edited by JCP

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I am 3 1/2 years post op and went to have gallbladder removed and bloodwork showed anemia. 7.6 was my hemoglobin. I too feel horrible. No energy. Starting on Iron tablets hoping that will help. I am also scheduled for endoscopy and colonoscopy just to make sure its not from blood loss, but i am sure it has to do with the sleeve.

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@@livvsmum I dealt with iron-deficiency anemia for about 6 years, I took every form of oral Iron available, ate iron-rich foods, blahblahblah. I finally ended up with a great doctor in the DC area who took my symptoms seriously and really looked at the details of my anemia vs just my hemoglobin and hematocrit. First, she addressed the source of the anemia which was my heavy periods. Once I'd had an endometrial ablation and the bleeding was eliminated, I did 3 rounds of 7 weeks of infusions, with Iron dextran. My body's iron stores were so depleted that I was almost done with the second 7 week round before I started any feeling better at all. It took a few months after the last round for my numbers to stay in the normal range.
I had my sleeve surgery on 6/21 and my hematocrit was great, my RBCs are normal size and shape and my iron binding capacity is finally in normal range again.
I think many times moderate iron-deficiency anemia is dismissed, but I'm living proof that your numbers don't have to be at "OHMYGOD that's so LOW" to do long-term damage to your body. I spent most of my 40s exhausted, out of breath, in a mental fog and just feeling like crap. Good luck to you, I hope you're able to get your numbers back to a reasonable level.

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Are you using Iron dextrin? I have just started my infusions,.takes about 3 hours for me but everyone else about an hour ,my hematologist wanted me in twice a week,b it I only go once week, it will continue for 6 weeks then a full blood panel to see if my numbers improve,a and I feel crappy after the infusions

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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