Anemia Support Group

I think i have had anemia for a little while cause i would get really bad dizzy spells and had less and less energy...

Lately i have been feeling awful i have been to er several times for chest pain,fast heartbeat and shortness of breath..one of the symptoms i have and maybey someone can tell me what this is ...i lose my breath for a second and my heart beats really fast or it just skips a beat...sometimes i just cant bbreathe for a second and i am always short of breath..

Sometimes i hate being alone cause my anxiety kicks in and some days i feel somewhat ok....i dont have a docter,i am looking for one...er docter told me my hemoglobin is 7.5...i am taking one iron pill a day and i sometimes take blackstrap mollasses..my mom said it would help..

I am really glad i found this group i would love to hear your stories also...thanks for reading

Oh dear, 7.5 is considered "severe" anemia. You really do need to find a doctor a.s.a.p. as this is rather serious. Please tell your mom that, have her read this and other posts on here. The symptoms you are having, breathlessness and heart palpitations, dizziness and even fainting, are common when your anemia is as bad as yours is. I don't want to be a scare monger, but you need to know that having anemia in the severe range is taxing your cardio-vascular system quite badly and can lead to an enlarged heart--in other words, heart disease. And the lack of oxygen to all your other organs is not good for them either. This is quite serious, please get to a doctor _today_ if possible.

Also, contrary to popular belief, taking blackstrap molasses does very little good in the way of restoring iron, because it has just about as much calcium as iron and the molecules of calcium and iron fit together like a hand in a glove (bind) and therefore neither mineral absorbs. That's why you'll be told not to take your iron pills with milk or dairy. Once your iron is depleted to a certain extent, you really can't get it restored simply by eating iron rich foods, therefore, supplements are necessary. You are quite beyond that "certain extent". For nutritional analysis of blackstrap molasses see: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrientprofile&dbid=85

Your doctor will probably want to do a bit more blood work and try to determine why your are anemic. If it is determined that you are iron deficient anemic, s/he will probably put you on 325 mg ferrous sulfate tablets (each tablet contains 65 mgs elemental iron) 3 times a day OR s/he may very well decide that an iron infusion is called for. My doctor was very concerned about me and wanted me to get an IV iron infusion at a hemoglobin of 8.6 which is considered moderate anemia. I will warn you that ferrous sulfate (iron) is hard on your stomach. Doctors usually start you out on one pill a day and build up to two or three. However, just one pill a day can cause constipation, (about 7% of people will get diarrhea instead) so do not hesitate to ask your doctor for a remedy for that. Take your iron pills with non-calcium enriched, non pulp orange juice, tomato juice or what I've found works best because it is very acidic and has no fiber is Tang.

I hope I have convinced you to get to a doctor right away, even if you have to go to a free clinic somewhere, do it, and soon. Please keep us updated on how you are doing.

cancellation list - if anyone calls to cancel an appointment.

or call in everyday to see if anyone has canceled an appointment.

i would even go to emergency if you are short of breath just to

let someone know what is going on with you.