Anyone successfully treat iron deficiancy anemia w/ PB? page

[mommyrunmommy]

I was diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia a couple months ago. I took the iron supplements for a couple weeks. They caused the worst abdominal pain and constipation - and nothing I took (or ate or drank) to counteract it helped. I stopped taking the iron. I am 100% PB now, and have been for the past 2 weeks. I am hoping that getting my body on the right diet will help fix the problem. But I don't know if it will mostly because my doctor can't figure out why I got so low in Iron/ferritin in the first place. It could be from my last child - I lost more blood than usual with him. I don't have any vitiamin deficiency's that cold cause it. My ferritin was down to 4; suffered from exreme coldness and frequent fatigue.

Since going Primal I definately don't feel cold as often and the fatigue isn't as severe (I can stay awake past 8pm now).

I am wondering if anyone else has had iron deficiancy anemia and cured it with eating Primal instead of taking iron.

[RitaRose]

I don't know if I actually cured it with Primal, but I do remember being borderline anemic a long time ago. Not enough to do anything about, but my doc wanted to keep an eye on it.

Now my iron level is fine. Whether that was Primal, the passage of time, impending menopause or something else, I don't know. I do know that some of the people eating Primal have a problem with too much iron, especially men and women that don't get periods anymore. Simple solution for that one is to just donate blood, so it's a win/win.

I would think it would depend on why you are anemic. If it's just that you weren't ingesting enough, that's one thing. If it's a matter of absorption, that's another. It could even be that a food you ate was blocking absorption of iron, so I'm hoping someone that knows more answers as well.

[HeatherJ]

I also had low iron but was not considered anaemic by my doctor as my level was 21 (the cutoff is 20, so only 1 point above anaemic. Ferritin should be at least 40!).

In addition to eating a clean PB diet, I started taking a supplement that hasn't caused me any adverse reactions:Floradix Floravital Yeast and Gluten fr 250ml

Once my levels test above 40 I'm going to stop taking it and just focus on eating an iron-rich diet.

PS- RitaRose brings up a good point; absorption. I don't know too much about this, but I do know that eating foods rich in vitamin C along with iron helps it absorb better, and ingesting iron along with coffee or tea inhibits absorption (the tannins are what does it, so presumably wine is also out).

[mommyrunmommy]

Thanks Heather. Do you know if that supplement has made a difference? Just wondering if you've been tested again, or if you've noticed a change in other symptoms since taking it.

I also had low iron but was not considered anaemic by my doctor as my level was 21 (the cutoff is 20, so only 1 point above anaemic. Ferritin should be at least 40!).

In addition to eating a clean PB diet, I started taking a supplement that hasn't caused me any adverse reactions:Floradix Floravital Yeast and Gluten fr 250ml

Once my levels test above 40 I'm going to stop taking it and just focus on eating an iron-rich diet.

[HeatherJ]

I think it's definitely made a difference. My fatigue and coldness has improved, and my hair is much healthier (ferritin is needed in order for hair growth to occur). I don't know what my levels are; I had them checked at the end of september when it was 21, so I wanted to give it a good few months before re-checking. I'll probably get retested in march (as I'm on holiday the whole month of february) so hopefully they will be normal again.

I've been anaemic or borderline anaemic ever since I can remember. I've never been able to donate blood because of it, so hopefully I'll be able to after this!

Oh- I will also add that when I got my iron checked, I had already been primal for 9 months, and I believe it was lower when I started, due to the change in symptoms.

[namelesswonder]

I was borderline anaemic according to my bloodwork last November. I finally got the results and started supplementing ferritin chelate with Vitamin C (surprised your doctor did not tell you to supplement this, t stopped the constipation I had over the first couple of days I started the ferritin without the C. My excess shedding (hair loss) stopped so I'm taking that as a sign that it's working. Since I eat a lot of meat and cook with cast iron, my doctor said that there's like an absorption issue. I'd have had my levels checked before, this was part of the testing I had done about constant fatigue.

What Foods Prevent Iron Absorption? | LIVESTRONG.COM Sweetened foods (processed) also prevent absorption, but aren't listed there.

Funny, because the food that prevents iron absorption is mostly what we don't eat! Problems with Vitamin A can also affect your iron levels, or seem to affect them.

[ASmallOne]

not exactly a defeat but i've been anemic before ( a lot! ) prior to eating this way, i have not yet been anemic eating this way and it's been over a year.
my body tends to be pretty noisy about what minerals it wants though. if it wants iron, i'll crave beef madly. if it wants pottasium, i'll crave chicken.

do you use the CRON-o meter for tracking micronutrients? i don't do it every day but sometimes if I feel a craving i put in my intake there to see where i'm actually deficient.