Mildly anemic?
by
, 02-29-2016 at 04:40 PM (3689 Views)
I have been cleared to donate blood for a few months now. I go every two months like clock work. Each time you donate your vitals must be good and hemoglobin has to be above 12.5
I had my finger stick and it was 10.4....the low end of normal is 12.1
There are a few different reasons why that # could be low but based on what I've researched and discussed with the nurse I think I have low iron.
*For the past 6 weeks I have been irritable and haven't had much energy. I thought maybe it was cabin fever or maybe I wasn't getting enough protien. Started drinking my "protien shake" (that's in quotations because it's not a typical shake. It's my shake) after a few days I started feeling a little better. When I donated last, on 12/29/15 my # was 13.4. Nothing has changed since then. No new meds, nothing EXCEPT that I started drinking tea in January. Every morning. I got this info online--
*"Compounds in tea called tannins can combine with nonheme iron and make it less available for absorption. Drinking tea with a meal can decrease iron absorption by 50% or more, and that may increase the chances of iron deficiency. Putting lemon juice in the tea helps counter the negative effect by increasing iron absorption. Coffee may also decrease iron absorption, though not as much as tea."
Interesting
I checked and my multi vitamin doesn't have iron in it. So I added iron, 65mg a day and I take it at the same time I take vitamin C vit. C is supposed to help absorb the iron.
Later in the day I take a B12, D3, multi-vitamin with omega and biotin. Am I missing any vitamins here? Doc never said I had to take anything else. He prescribed pre-natal vitamins but those thing are horse pills!! I'll be going for routine blood work soon enough, so we will see what goes on. I'm going to schedule to donate in a few weeks, give my body time to get on track. No more tea for me.