Anemia Sucks

My body appears to be rebelling against me, and I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that I have to listen to it.

by Ben Cohen

I’ve been trying to write something about my recent anemia diagnosis for several days now, but the symptoms have been so awful that I can barely read a full length article without losing concentration.

My body appears to be rebelling against me, and I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that I have to listen to it. Contrary to my initial impression that I would eat a couple of steaks, down a few iron supplements and bounce back to full speed within a few days, it seems like this condition is going to take a while to recover from. Anemia, as it turns out, is pretty fucking serious.

When I hauled myself to urgent care last week, my blood test showed the following levels of iron:

The most important indicator here are my very, very low ferritin levels. Ferritin is a blood protein that contains iron, and the level indicates how much iron your body stores. In my case, my stored iron significantly below the bare minimum. Further testing has indicated the cause is almost certainly dietary (there are no signs of internal bleeding thank God), so I am doing everything in my power to get back to full health as fast as I can.

The effects of anemia are shocking, particularly when you are used to living a very active life. I do boxing workouts three times a week, teach Martial Arts two nights a week, lift weights twice a week, and go on occasional runs. Now I can barely make it up a hill without getting exhausted. Too much exertion makes me light headed, and as my heart pumps more blood to make up for the lack of oxygen in the blood, it beats uncontrollably for several minutes at a time. Now that I know I’m not having a heart attack, it isn’t as scary as it was before my diagnosis, but it still isn’t a lot of fun. I’m sleeping a lot during the day, have a lot of mental fog, and can barely get out of bed in the morning. I also have serious head aches, chest pains and muscle soreness that flares up without warning. Medication helps ease the pain a bit, but I can tell there is something very seriously wrong with me.

Thankfully the iron supplements and the grass fed beef do seem to be helping. The worst symptoms have gradually decreased and the chest pains, body aches, and headaches are far less severe than before. Today I’m feeling a little more human, thus sitting down to write this. But bloody hell this is difficult.

Having sleuthed the internet for hours on end, I now understand that just as my iron levels likely took months and maybe years to decline to dangerous levels, it is going to quite a bit of time to rebuild them to normal levels — probably six weeks at a minimum. I’m known in my household for being quite stubborn and persistent, but I feel like anemia is now running the show, not me. So I have to rest and come to terms with it.

Thankfully the transition back to red meat has been surprisingly easy. No offense to the vegans and vegetarians, but if it it comes down to a choice between me or the cow, it’s going to be me. I’m sourcing ethically, organically raised meat because I have absolutely no interest in participating in any type of cruelty towards animals. As my research tells me, this is probably far better for my body too. Having gone down the red meat rabbit hole (is rabbit red meat?), I’ve come to understand that the nutrient profile of grass fed beef is entirely different to grain fed beef — so much so that it’s almost a completely different animal. It has higher levels of iron, higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and a far healthier vitamin/mineral profile. I don’t want to eat as much red meat as I’m eating now, but it seems to be helping me more than anything else.

On another positive note, I’m hoping my low iron levels explain other health issues I’ve been dealing with over the years, namely fibromyalgia. Studies have linked low ferritin levels to the condition so I’m hopeful that sorting my iron levels out will ease my fibromyalgia symptoms. This could be a potential game changer for me.

I’m trying to pay attention to the world outside as much as I can, but right now I don’t really have the energy to digest it all. Thankfully Bob and Justin are holding down the fort while I get on top of this thing. Given things do seem to be moving in the right direction this week, I am aiming to record the podcast on Friday. I’m sure most of it will be me asking Bob and Justin what the hell is going on (did Trump get arrested or something?).

I’d like to thank everyone again for all the kind comments and messages. This has been a very tough time and your support has meant a great deal.

One last thing: if you’ve been dealing with fatigue, low energy, muscle/joint pain for an extended period of time, for God’s sake get your blood work done. In fact, just get your blood work done if you haven’t in a while. A lot of people unknowingly suffer from low iron levels and anemia, and it is easily preventable and treatable.

Ben

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