Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is the reason why I was rejected the last 3 times I've tried giving blood. I can't give my blood away now! Apparently the American Red Cross's acceptable range of iron is from 13-17 (gm/dL). I was below that level each time. I don't feel any different than when I was consistently in the 14-15 range, but apparently all of my iron levels have been trending down recently (ever since I've become semi-vegan in sympathy with MJ). I'm not saying my iron levels are down BECAUSE of that necessarily as correlation does not equal causation, but eating meat does help the body process foods into iron, which I'm lacking. Every nurse I've talked to about my low iron count has given my a different explanation, from 1.) eat some leafy greens, 2.) you need iron supplements, 3.) your diet lacks iron sources, and the last one, which is very interesting: 4.) you give blood too much. Never considered that, but yes I have given platelets quite a lot in the last few months.....maybe the taking of platelets was the final straw in an overall decrease in iron count? Oh and I'm a little skeptical of one of my donations when the nurse saw the iron number (the moment of truth after pricking one of my fingers and squeezing some blood out) and said, "your iron is good" without telling me the number.......did he just round up from 12.7 or something to 13.0? Who knows now.
This new iron deficiency issue isn't that concerning for me, I'm not too worried, but it does highlight the importance of getting different opinions from different medical professionals. It reminds me of when I went to different dermatologists in my late teens/ 20's due to my acne problems. The explanations for my acne ranged from 1.) I didn't use the right soap, 2.) I needed to take antibiotics, 3.) I drank too much milk, among other suggestions, and sometimes different theories FROM THE SAME DOCTOR. Sometimes I guess medical conditions just can't be explained by one specific thing, there's a combination of different facotrs, or the most concerning scenario, the medical professionals themselves don't really know and they're just guessing. I heard recently that anesthesiologists don't really know why people go to sleep from anesthetics, they just know it works. Some things are just unexplained; makes you wonder about how much we should have been listening to Anthony Fauci and all the health professionals at the beginning of the pandemic.
The most frustrating thing right now about lack of explanations is our fertility issues; I guess part of me is brought back to all those years of visiting dermatologists for my skin problems even though all of my peers had outgrown acne issues and moved on with clear skin, yet I was still growing them at an alarming rate. The fertility issues are kinda the opposite (we're not still growing acne, we just can't grow a baby) but the frustration of not getting what I want while everyone else is feels the same; we're being left behind. It's a lonely feeling, seeing a lot of friends who I went to high school/college/law school with showing off their babies, sometimes 2nd or 3rd babies. Much like acne, it makes me wonder, "Why me? What did I do to deserve this? What can I do to stop it?" (until recently, my way of trying to get good karma was to donate blood.....and I can't even do that anymore!)
And the worst thing is, we don't even have a clear answer for why we have these issues. Much like trying accutane, which was the last step for doctors to try getting rid of acne, which I almost resorted to before ultimately not donig it because it required blood work, etc, MJ and I have tried taking further steps and it still hasn't worked, and our doctor has given us a vague answer of "maybe you guys are in the 10-15% of people we just don't have a good answer for why you aren't getting pregnant." Well that's not a very helpful answer now, is it doctor? Hate to be critical of doctors, a lot of them are good and doing their best and have good intentions, but there's a reason why people get 2nd or 3rd opinions, and this seems to be one of those times. Hey, maybe it's because I don't have enough iron? (doubtful but another reasno to get my supplements up!)
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