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Anemic!
Soooo after doing my yearly blood test I shocked to see that my levels have anemia have dropped even further.I’m sure that having an IUD – hormone free – which also causes very heavy periods hasn’t helped my condition. Also the fact that I stopped eating any form of meat or chicken for five years has definitely not helped as well. Buttttt the good news is I have slowly but surely started eating those things (silent gag) again.
So here’s my question – how long does it take your body to move up a point before I do another blood test. I’ve started taking supplements (is there a specific on I should take?) with my vitamin C as well as broccoli and prune juice in the morning (I never knew prune juice has iron!) and I’m excited to do another blood test but want to make sure I’ve given my body enough time to improve.
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4 Replies
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Hey ,
Being anaemic is no joke! I hope you feel fine soon! Usually, I tell my clients that red blood cells live for around 3 months. Many people can feel after 6 weeks already a change in their energy levels.
If you don’t feel the progress you could test after 6 weeks. If you feel improvement but would like to know how your values are, you could retest after 3 months to see how your red blood cell has changed.
Another thing that influences your health journey is how low your iron really is. If your iron was really low, it could take a while longer to get your numbers back in the optimal range. If you don’t feel improvement after 6 weeks with very low iron, it would be important to retest after 6 weeks as well. Perhaps you can share your numbers!
I hope this was an answer to your question!
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Thanks for this reply Daniel! I strangely feel great but the numbers speak otherwise soooo I’m overdosing on prune juice, pumpkin seeds, broccoli and everything else with iron…yes, yes including meat even though I don’t love it. I might retest in a few weeks after starting iron supplements! Also have you heard of this that I just ordered? (copy pasting):
Iron Fish Cooking Tool to Add Original Iron Supplement to Food and Water, Iron Supplement Tool for Iron Deficiency -
Hey ,
I have never heard of it. Is it this lucky fish here? I think the idea is brilliant. I do however have some doubts. It is hard to determine dosages with this fish. More importantly, I can’t tell what form of iron you are actually supplementing with.
Usually water, iron and heat change the metal iron into 4Fe(OH)₃ which is rust. I have never seen this used as a supplement form. Research does show it can reduce anemia (Click here to dive deeper if you would like to).
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ingesting rust in small amounts will not harm your health (unless you have a rare disease called hemochromatosis, which causes your internal organs to retain iron).
Personally, I have my doubts if this is the way to go and wouldn’t recommend it.
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Hi – what type of IUD do you have? And can you please share your iron markers: iron, ferritin, TIBC, and % saturation
I also want to encourage you to watch this short video on the risk factors of iron deficiency to help you start thinking about the possible root causes in your case specifically. It’s not always iron related.
And then watch this video for solutions on how to correct an iron deficiency (if it’s truly a need for more iron). Cooking in a high quality cast iron skillet like the Lodge brand can also help bring on board more iron.
Of course, I am going to encourage you to increase heme based iron from animal sources, because they are superior to non-heme plant sources in terms of absorption and bio-availability.
Don’t kill me, but please please please try my liver pate recipe. If you like butter, you’ll likely enjoy this recipe. Spreading a little on a cracker or sourdough bread every day can really help boost your levels of not only iron, but B vitamins, vitamin A, copper, and zinc. True superfood. Plus the butyric acid in grass-fed butter is pure love for your colon.
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