So as I have mentioned I was told (rather flippantly) that I was anaemic. I have worked with a Nutritionist to try and sort this in the natural way (eating more iron rich foods) but after a few weeks and with me still feeling incredibly tired, we decided that it was best for me to have another blood test to check for a number of different things, including my iron profile. What became clear (and please don’t ask me for the specifics,) is that my iron profile is generally horrendous. I dont have any iron, the iron isnt being used, etc etc etc. With ferritin level at 7 (they should be 23 at the lowest) I have been feeling incredibly tired and really struggling to make it through most of the time.
I spoke with my consultant and he asked for a check on my iron through the NHS as well at my weekly blood tests and SHOCKER my iron levels are low (who would have thunked it?!).
Cue the ultimate panic from the NHS as the IBD team nurse told me they were, and I quote, “a wee bit low”. I was prescribed an iron infusion and it was pushed through within a couple of days in order to get it done. Maybe I wasn’t just a “wee bit” iron deficient?
The other parts of my blood test from the Nutritionist revealed a B12 deficiency (common amongst people with Ulcerative Colitis) and also folate deficiencies and vitamin D deficiencies. Most of these will be because my body isnt absorbing things as it should be which is resulting in me running low. From this I am now rattling like a pill pot as I take a true concoction of vitamins and minerals to try and get my levels to a point where I dont feel like I am participating in life with a 40kg weight vest on permanently.
I will be taking a multivitamin, iron, barleygrass, calcium and magnesium, B12, Omega-3 fish oil and L-glutamine. Lets hope this concoction of supplements makes me feel a little more like the old Ellie, who my Mum always nicknamed Tigger for my unrelenting energy and my Grandad called Eleanor Wriggly (sing it like the Beatles) because I just never stopped moving…