Sort of I guess 
, but personally I don’t like living with people or without them,a fine balance there is my friend. And it just IS. 
1 Like
Hah, there’s a great song about that… with or without you 
1 Like
My crazy is happening. I am keeping myself as busy as possible but cravings are through the roof for alcohol and oddly a cigarette and I haven’t had one of those in almost 3 years. Also just bought a bag of Halloween candy 
Back to pulling weeds lol
@Its_me_Stella I almost bumped it yesterday lol
4 Likes
I am feeling not ‘so’ good, either. The kitten are taking a bit the edge off. That’s good. They cannot do much to prevent me from hating myself but they keep me busy and they are happy to be cuddled.
4 Likes
Feeling sad and lonely today. Just want to cry
4 Likes
Had a pretty big cry day before and started today. Even with starting I feel a ton better probably the cry did me some good. Have a good day everyone!
4 Likes
Rosa…
Maybe this is why you are feeling blue.
3 Likes
Here we are again. I’m one angry person today. You could drop a pen and piss me off. And I’m craving mostly just to subside the anger I feel inside.
6 Likes
I went grocery shopping yesterday and have been eating so much junk 
fucking period can just come on whenever it wants so I can move on with life lol only to do it again next month 
I heard a podcast that said eating junk food can make your cramps worse and mine are baddddd possible connection or coincidence
4 Likes
Me too, my period is 3 weeks late, pms just building and building, want it to just arrive so I can get it over with.
4 Likes
Has anyone got any helpful experiences of dealing with anemia or iron deficiency they can share? Recently had some blood tests done and while I’m not anemic, my ferritin levels came back as 5 (normal range 22 - 300) which helps explain the tiredness. Maybe some other stuff!
(See this interesting article about low iron which is linked to a wide range of conditions in a large number of women and often missed or misdiagnosed.)
I don’t think my periods are particularly heavy so not really sure why this has come up. Apparently in a blood test 8 years ago my ferritin levels were low although not low enough for them to say anything at the time. I generally have a good vegetarian diet for iron and on the absorption side I don’t eat much dairy and seem to eat well based on the guidance for gut health. Am going to be more conscious of eating vitamin c based foods to help increase iron absorption from non meat sources.
Anyway the doctor suggested a prescription for iron tablets but the side effects sound pretty horrible so I have opted to try Floradix. Based on some reading I’ve done, a good ferritin level to aim for is something like 100.
Anyone managed to increase ferritin levels using over the counter supplements instead of prescription iron? Or would anyone recommend biting the bullet and dealing with the gastro stuff to get some of energy back?!
My next blood test isn’t until November so am poking around here for personal experiences if anyone has them 
5 Likes
Dear, you are severely deficient (it should be at least over 30, preferably somewhere between 50 and 100), but there is hope. The reason among heavy periods might be other blood loss (f exp surgery, birth giving, miscarriage), vegan or plant based diet and problems with your gastrointestinal track, malabsorbtion, celiac and certain parasites.
Over the counter supplements might help if you find the suitable product, but it takes time from months to year. Iron supplements should be taken every other day because of the hepsidine cycle in your system. Usually coffee, dairy products and calcium should be avoided when taking iron, but vitamin C with iron is beneficial. Sometimes also copper.
There are roughly two types of iron supplements of which the other one doesn’t help much. Due to my poor language skills cannot define the difference but a qualified pharmacist can help you with it.
Best of luck @siand!
5 Likes
…And unfortunately I didn’t benefit from long term, various iron supplement intake. Also it gave me non wanted side effects like stomach pain, nausea and weight loss. But we are individuals.
There is also a theory that plant based iron doesn’t build up your ferritine. I had to quit vegan/vegetarian diet because of it.
3 Likes
Thanks for all the helpful info! I am considering trying to put an amount of meat and fish back in my diet. If the body needs it, it needs it 
Good idea to talk to the pharmacist, will try that tomorrow 
When I spoke to the doctor she just said ‘your iron is quite low’ - I was speaking to a friend after who suggested asking for a print out of the results which is how I know the ferritin number. If I’d realised the details I would have asked the doctor more questions. But such is life. Thank goodness for the internet!
4 Likes
Most of the doctor’s are not familiar with iron deficiency without anaemia and they just look at your hemoglobin. If you’re on Facebook I might suggest you to find a local peer group for iron problems, they usually share information of specialised doctors and other important stuff.
Hope you will get good results and your energy back 
2 Likes
Thank you 
Will have a poke about on Facebook and see what I can find. I’m wondering how much of my mental health stuff has all been linked to this… Will be interesting to see how it all plays out. At the moment it mainly feels like I’m hungover all the time, although without the nausea fortunately!
3 Likes