Skip to main content

Overall, it's been a lousy year

OK, so it hasn't really been that bad a year. I'm not sure how anyone could claim it was a bad year after surviving open heart surgery the previous one?

That is except for me of course. :)

Despite being mostly back to normal, I'm still experiencing the occasional, unexpected ache or pain, which I can't help but worry is a precursor to some other new, unwanted problem.

I've also gained some weight over the past few months, which I'm finding difficult to get rid of, and the shorter days and colder weather, which always seem to occur this time of year, aren't helping the matter either.

Then there's the adventure associated with taking an iron supplement. I've been anemic for the past several years without suffering too many ill effects, so why I felt as though I needed to start taking one now, and endure all the unpleasant side effects, is beyond me.

I'd like to stop (I think it may be attributing some to my weight gain), but my last blood test showed an increase in hemoglobin to 13 g/dl, after hovering between 10 and 12 g/dL for the past 5 years, so I'm reluctant. I'm not sure I feel any difference in energy levels just yet, but I'm hoping, in time, I will.

I am reducing the dosage some, hoping it will help mitigate some of the more obtrusive side effects. It may take longer to build up my iron stores, but the process should be easier to take.

I'm just hoping the new year brings some much needed change. For the better that is.
Labels:

Comments

Alan said…
There are various formulations of Iron supplements i.e. ferrous sulfate, ferrous fumarate etc. Have you tried different preparations? The side effects can differ with each prepearation.
1:08 AM
Marc said…
I tried ferrous gluconate, and that was a disaster. Don't know if it was contaminated or not, but it kept making an infection in my eye flair up each time I took a tablet. I stopped after the second one. Haven't tried fumerate yet. I'll try it after I run out of the sulfate,

My biggest problem is constipation which combined with my enlarged spleen, gets my liver feeling like my spleen. It's very uncomfortable. Plus I feel more tired than when my hemoglobin was lower. Don't understand that.

I think I'm going to try 32.5 mg, half a 65 mg ferrous sulfate tablet every other day, and see how that goes. Then gradually increase after that.
4:31 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The results are in

And I am iron deficient, big time. [Which would account for my low hemoglobin] Test Result Ref Range IRON 30 59-158 mcg/dL TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY 231 250-420 mcg/dL IRON SAT 13 20-50 % My Ferritin levels were good, but that could be because Ferritin is also an "acute phase reactant", that is sometimes increased with acute or chronic disease. Folate and B12 levels were also within the normal range. The only problem now is determining what is causing the iron deficiency, which in the case of men, is [very] rare. My oncologist has given me a Globin Fecal test to perform, and has scheduled me for a consultation with a colorectal surgeon to discuss performing a colonoscopy, which could be problematic because of my large spleen. In the mean time, I've decided to start taking an iron supplement, it's only the quantity that is causing me some consternation. I've been told by a very knowledgeable person that to overcome an iron deficiency, I need to be taking 300 mg o...
5 comments
Read more

This is just one of those days

It's one of those days you just want to sit around the house and do absolutely nothing, or watch some movies you have recorded. It might even be a good day to read a book, if you were so inclined, which I am not. As you should be able to see from the view out my bedroom window, it is raining outside. The rain started last night, and hasn't let up since. I can't complain too much though, as this is the rainy season, and we do need the rain. Plus Monday's are typically my day off from exercise, so I will surprise everyone, and not complain. I just feel sorry for anyone who might be visiting from, say Argentina, like a friend of mine (fellow MCLer), who happens to be in Cambria today. He might be a little disappointed. Fortunately the rest of the week, when he will be in LA, will be nice, and the real intent of his trip was to visit his son in Tahoe, who works at one of the ski resorts, and ski, so I know he's not complaining too much either. This weather will actually...
6 comments
Read more

When is enough, enough?

Today I learned, Lance Armstrong, the most drug tested athlete in the history of sport, is being accused of doping, again . This time by the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA), who claim they have collected blood samples from him in 2009 and 2010 that were “fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.” Really! What took them so long? The French have been trying to make allegations of drug doping stick for years, ever since he won his first Tour d'France, but to no avail. And now the USADA claims to have evidence to support that claim, and they've waited almost 3 years before releasing this evidence. Needless to say, I am skeptical. Then there's this from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): Increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack eventually would increase Medicare and Social Security spending, slightly. Eventually? What is the CBO suggesting here? That we should encourage smoking, because if we don't, in...
11 comments
Read more