Some people love gold and some people love silver; some people love copper and some people love brass but my favorite mineral is iron.
When I first began feeling so bad, I could barely walk across the room, Dr. Wenrich ran some tests and discovered that I was severely anemic. She recommended buying over-the-counter iron pills. I began calling them my miracle pills because I could not believe how quickly I began feeling better after I started taking them.
These are not all the symptoms of iron deficiency anemia and not everyone will experience all of them but I suffered from the majority. Fatigue, most of all. I was so tired, my body felt as if it weighed 1000 pounds. I barely had the strength to carry it around. At the same time, my brain felt foggy and slow. I was always cold, especially my feet. My nails were brittle and cracked. In bed, I could hardly sleep because I felt as if electrical shocks were going through my legs so I had to keep moving them. I had pain in the back of my calves when I walked. My appetite disappeared. I had to force myself to eat. I experienced shortness of breath.
Within a few weeks, all these symptoms had disappeared after I began taking the iron. Yay!
Then a couple of months ago, I started going down. I felt so terrible, I honestly thought, "well, you've had a good run but this is it, Girl."
Then Blythe came over one day.
"You look like death warmed over," she said.
"I feel like death warmed over."
"Are you taking all your medicine?"
"Yes."
She picked up the bottle of iron pills on the table.
"What the hell, Vic? These are 21 milligrams. I thought you were supposed to take the 325 milligram ones."
"Yes, I am."
She showed me the bottle, then went home and got me a bottle of the right ones.
In my usual slap-dash fashion, I had grabbed the first bottle I saw under the assumption than when you've seen one iron pill, you seen them all. That is very definitely not the case.
It's taken a while but I feel good again. My energy is back, my appetite is back, my restless legs are gone. I can climb the stairs without pausing to catch my breath on every third step.
Iron deficiency can do so many negative things to your mind and body. If you or anyone you know has one or more of the symptoms listed above, advise them to have a test done to see if they need iron.
It can literally feel like a life saver.
