RunningAHEAD - Topic: Constant fatigue

jcasetnl

posted: 5/25/2007 at 11:11 PM

Just wondering if anyone has been diagnosed as iron deficient and what their experiences were. The last few weeks I made some changes to my diet. I find I'm tired/lethargic all the time. I first thought it was due to too much coffee. It was causing some sleep issues, so I cut back to one or two cups a day in the morning only. That improved sleep greatly and now I get 8 solid hours, minimum. Sometimes I wake up tired and other days I wake feeling somewhat rested but within an hour or so, I can feel the drowsiness creep in. Sometimes I feel slightly weak for a workout. Other days, I feel a little slow getting started but once I'm warmed up, I'm fine. And after the workout I feel energized for a few hours. However, the following morning, I'm back to where I was. Just wondering if this sounds particularly familiar to any of you. I'm going to have some blood work done in the near future and get it specifically checked out, and in the meantime I'm making a point to eat iron-rich foods and took a pill. One specific question if you've experience this personally, how long did it take from taking the supplements until an improvement of the situation was noticed. I've read that it can take up to 4 months to be completely back to "your old self", since that's the life of a red blood cell.

Chenille

posted: 5/25/2007 at 11:45 PM
modified: 5/25/2007 at 11:45 PM

you should check that your blood work includes a serum ferritin level. Normal values (depends on lab?) can be 10-300 - if you are under 50, you might want to discuss supplements with your doc. Hope you feel better soon. Smile

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away...(unkown)

• Go With The Flow
• Thyroid Support Group

tschepsit

Burninated Peasant

posted: 6/6/2007 at 5:04 PM

Another thing you might want to take a look at is whether or not you have thyroid issues - hypothyroidism, maybe? If you're already getting bloodwork done, odds are good they'll check for this anyway. Also, too much iron can cause feelings of weakness and fatigue just like too little iron - This is called hemochromatosis.

shonanbrioche

shonan marathon, girl

posted: 1/23/2008 at 9:15 PM
modified: 1/23/2008 at 9:18 PM

I broke my toe last summer and returned to training in the fall. After two months back, my swim and run times started getting progressively slower and slower. I eat 5 meals a day, drink plenty of fluids, and take a women's vitamin and an iron supplement of 50mg. I was surprised to see that it became continually hard to move my legs while running and found my lungs burning at times. I thought it's just going to take more time to get back to my normal self, be patient and quit whinning. In January, I went running with two friends and I pushed myself to run at my normal pace, I could hardly keep up. Then I had a half marathon last weekend. I did a reasonable amount of training to prepare for the race. After 10k, I could hardly move my legs and was walking practically to the finish. My normal 1:54 half marathon time turned out to 2:48! This confirmed that something was wrong for sure. I went to the hospital the next day and found out that I had stage 3 anemia, the worst. It is amazing that I could even run 21k. My iron level was half of lowest minimum limit! Last July when I had blood work done, my level was just fine. The doctor ordered me to see the ob/gyn and have some other testing done to check my stomach and other areas for blood loss. Sorry I don't know the English medical terms for the checkups they have me scheduled for just the Japanese. All this time, all my triathlon friends have been wondering what happened to me, why my times have been so slow. I was swimming in the middle of the pack and now I am like a little tadpole struggling to keep up. I found myself upset and crying after practice. NO wonder! Not enough oxygen getting to my muscles to keep me going, shortness of breath and no endurance for long distance running or swimming. That is why I have been constantly stopping and resting. It feels like I have been swimming and running at high altitudes in Tibet. In my normal life when I am not exercising, I don't sense anything strange at all. I just want to tell all the girls that make sure you get enough iron and if you start experiencing constant fatigue and slower finish times go see your doctor! I have a won a spot to run the Tokyo Marathon on Feburary 17th. Out of 150,000 applicants, only 35,000 were selected for the 42k run so I am not about to give up trying to run this race. I haven't told the doctor yet about the race. I am sure she will advice me not to do it. Normal people think all marathon runners and triathletes are crazy and don't see us as normal people. The time limit for the upcoming marathon is 7 hours, so I think I can do it. Anyway, winners never quit and quitters never win is what I believe. I have so many races and other goals that I want to do. I think it will take about 4 months to get my iron levels back to normal. It makes me excited to think how much energy and how great I am going to feel when I fully recover.

next race SHONAN MARATHON nov 3rd, 2012, OSAKA MARATHON nov 25th, i am aiming for nyc!

roccapriore

posted: 1/25/2008 at 3:04 PM

About three months ago I found out I was "borderline iron deficient anemic" at a routine checkup at the docs. I don't eat meat, and I had recently switched my daily vitamin to one without iron (my stupid mistake). I felt exactly like jcasetnl did. Getting started on a run was awful, but about a mile in I would be fine. I would still be drained by the end of the day, and even getting out of bed the next morning was a chore. I started taking 65mg of an iron supplement about 2 1/2 months ago (as well as switching back to my old vitamins), and today I feel muuuuuch better, even though the iron makes it taste like I have a mouth full of pennies in the morning. Get the blood work done, doctors seem to know what they're talking about (more so then me anyway).

Lifesabeach

posted: 1/25/2008 at 3:57 PM
modified: 1/25/2008 at 3:57 PM

I highly recommend Floradix...you can find it at your local HFS. It's an all natural liquid iron and herb supplement that is highly absorbable and does not have the common side effects that you might find with tablet iron supplements.

Jennifer mm#1231

ChknWingy

Oh Mighty Wing

posted: 1/25/2008 at 8:27 PM

are you sure you are getting enough protein? I was feeling that way all the time right before the holiday's after being a veggie for 7 months. I couldn't take it anymore. I went back to meat... Life is MUCH happier and energetic. I have a student who is anemic. She puts iron in her water... she seems like a very normal energetic teenager.

rururunner

posted: 1/26/2008 at 12:06 AM

Maybe you are over-exercising? If you try to do too much without giving yourself enough time to recover, that can cause severe fatigue as well. Where do you live? I live in Canada and it's been a cold January. Everyone at work is complaining about being tired. Shorter days, less light - that can effect your mood as well. Won't hurt to see the doc, though.

Suffering Benefiting from mature onset exercise addiction and low aerobic endorphin release threshold. Hoping there is no cure.

Constant fatigue - iron? (Read 1078 times)