<p>I believe I am anemic. As an athlete, how do I combat this? Any tips would great, and I need to get better as soon as I can, though I know it might take awhile. Is there anyone here that was anemic once? How did you fix, i.e, what did you eat? Thank you.</p>
<p>Don’t fool around with this. Go to a doctor and have the appropriate blood work done. If you are anemic, it is important as well to find out the cause(s) of the anemia. I see from your other posts that you are a male distance runner- google “runner’s anemia”. You don’t say why you suspect that you are anemic. If you lacking stamina and your times are becoming worse, etc . . . because of anemia dietary changes will not be enough to correct the problem. GO TO A DOCTOR. If you can, go to a doctor with a special interest in sports medicine and/or adolescent medicine. I am speaking from experience with someone very close to me.</p>
<p>Thanks. I will google it and hopefully I can go to the doctor. I don’t know if I can though, because my family lacks insurance. I will try my best though. Thank you for the advice.</p>
<p>I started this before I read your post #3, BrickTamland:</p>
<p>I showed this thread to the person referenced above. (S)he said to add:</p>
<p>The blood work should include ferritin and TIBC tests. (Google these if you are interested in detailed information.) And definitely don’t mess around with increased rest or a change in diet, take a supplement. Finally, YOU KNOW YOUR BODY BEST…don’t let anyone reassure you that it’s just muscle fatigue from a strenuous workout.</p>
<p>I disagree with this in part because you should not take an iron supplement without seeing a doctor. You can overdose on iron! (See Runners2 below.) Are you currently taking a multi-vitamin, including iron?</p>
<p>I agree with farfellena - the only way to determine if you’re anemic is through blood work. You really need to do that to diagnose anemia and then again to monitor your response to iron supplements. If you are anemic and they don’t find an underlying cause other than being an athlete in a high impact sport, then you’ll probably be put on an iron supplement (little pills to take) - but too much iron is harmful, so they will need to do additional bloodwork to monitor your response. Good luck and take care of yourself!</p>
<p>Between now and when you can see a doctor</p>
<p>Check your nutrition–Eat lots of dark green veggies (kale, spinach, etc) -Have some beef, calves liver etc…eat alot of fresh fruits etc
Drink plenty of water - no soda.
Get plenty of sleep.</p>
<p>Last year our student hit a big slump–just could not take another step—
It meant kiddo was missing out on something important–which cost a big opportunity nationally
However we kept kiddo home for the weekend–for meals, hydration and plenty of rest…kiddo was just too spent. We also got our kiddo a B shot.
KIddo was working out too much and not getting enough rest to recover well…so we tried to be sure kiddo had a recovery day during the week</p>
<p>Hope you are feeling better soon</p>
<p>Google for the phone number of your county health department. Call them and see what services they offer and what the fees are. Best wishes for a return to good health.</p>
<p>What makes you think you are anemic? It’s hard to be anemic if you are a young, healthy, American male, with a reasonable ( not vegetarian) diet. Keep in mind even some “blood” tests need to be corrected for age, sex, and ethnicity. For example. alpha thalasemmia LOOKS like anemia , but is common in some ethnicities, and will not be corrected with iron. You can’t go wrong with a good diet, but this does not preclude good medical care.</p>
<p>To answer your question shrinkrap, I think I’m anemic because: I feel abnormally fatigued in workouts, I drink a lot of milk and take vitamin E and zinc supplements, I’m a distance runner, and my recent races have sucked in comparison to previous years races. </p>
<p>Thank you all for the responses, and I will try some local free clinics. I justed started today taking a more powerful multivitamin that has some iron (but not a whole lot - I’ll wait until I see a doctor before I increase the dosage).</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Just so you know, if it turns out that you are anemic and need an iron supplement, calcium inhibits iron absorption and Vitamin C increases iron absorption. So, you’ll want to take your iron supplement with a glass of orange juice, not milk. Good health to you, BrickTamland.</p>
<p>Iron Rich Foods form Iron Deficiency Anemia</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.healthcastle.com/iron.shtml[/url]”>http://www.healthcastle.com/iron.shtml</a></p>
<p>( not that I’m saying that’s what I think you have…)</p>
<p>Hi Brick,
I have some experience with this, both as a parent of distance runners who’ve had anemia, and through my husband, who is a medical professional who treats this.</p>
<p>First, you do have to get tested. You need to get your ferratin level (not just your hematocrit.)</p>
<p>Once you have this number, a doc can tell you if you’re anemic. Many docs don’t know about foot-strike anemia, and just how common anemia is in distance runners, so you must go to someone who knows about this stuff. If there is a university in your area, and a sports-medicine clinic or practice associated with it, that might be your best bet. Whoever looks after the track athletes is going to have some good ideas about how to read your labs, and whether you need treatment. Most (all?) D1 XC programs test all their athletes at least once a year for anemia, so their associated clinics are used to running the tests and helping athletes figure out how to get their iron levels up.</p>
<p>It IS possible though rare to have a condition that causes you to store excess amounts of iron, which is why all of us are insisting that you get tested. You could do more harm than good if you take extra iron when that’s not really the problem. </p>
<p>If you find you are anemic, you will be talking with your doc about supplementation, of course. </p>
<p>There are three ways to accomplish this, in addition to increasing your consumption of foods high in iron. One is basic vitamin supplements in the form of ferrous sulfate, found in the vitamin aisle. The second is liquid iron called ferrous sulfate elixer, also available over the counter (at Walgreens) which you mix with orange juice. In either case, use the dose suggested on the bottle, and no more, unless your doc recommends more. The third way of delivering iron is by IV. This is used for the most extreme cases, but even in high school athletes, we’ve seen kids with ferratin levels below 10 who couldn’t finish a 5k. Weeks later, after ferratin supplementation, they’re back to pre-anemia performance. </p>
<p>Get tested as soon as possible, and find a clinic that understands anemia and athletes, and especially the condition in distance runners called “foot-strike anemia.” This is where you are mechanically breaking red blood cells as they circulate through your feet. For male distance runners, this can be a common source of blood loss.</p>
<p>Call around until you find someone who knows what you’re talking about. I know the lab and doc visit seems expensive, but if you are fast, you are probably planning on running to pay for part of college. The cost of figuring this out and saving your XC season is worth some cash. I also must mention depression is sometimes linked to anemia. Don’t wait around on this one. </p>
<p>Best wishes.</p>
<p>^
This is really good to know
glad I read your post Riverrunner</p>
<p>make sure when you go to the doc you stress the ferritin test. sometimes the regular iron test can come back fine and they don’t want to waste their/your time on another test, but you have to INSIST. I had a friend who suffered through an entire track season and that summer with anemia because her regular iron test came back fine, even though the second they finally tried the ferritin it showed a huge deficiency</p>
<p>Good luck! :)</p>
<p>“make sure when you go to the doc you stress the ferritin test. sometimes the regular iron test can come back fine and they don’t want to waste their/your time on another test, but you have to INSIST…I had a friend who suffered through an entire track season and that summer with anemia because her regular iron test came back fine, even though the second they finally tried the ferritin it showed a huge deficiency”</p>
<p>How did the results effect the treatment? Was it worth your friends $100? 200$? With no insurance, these are important questions. Maybe even if there IS insurance. Is it more worth it if insurrance/someone else is paying? Would the treatment(for ferritin defficiancy) be wrong without the tests?</p>
<p>well if you want prescription iron pills, you need to have low iron which a standard iron test might not show until the levels are waaay to low. ferritin test shows a deficiency a lot earlier.</p>
<p>if they do the regular iron test on you and find that you’re iron’s low and offer you the pills, then theres obvs no need to take another test</p>
<p>The “normal” test is the hematocrit. This can be at normal levels even though the ferratin level is low. Without the ferratin level, it’s not possible to know if the person can replace red blood cells fast enough to keep up with losses from menstruation, foot-strike anemia and general low ferratin levels teenagers seem prone to showing. </p>
<p>leapinglizards is completely correct that most docs order a standard panel that only tests for the hematocrit, often masking the underlying anemia that would be apparent with the ferratin level reading.</p>
<p>It’s important for people to know if they’re anemic, not just to perform at their athletic peak, but because people suffering from anemia are often so tired that they can’t function in class or at work, find themselves napping away the day, and even show signs of depression. The test is not free, but the treatment is not that expensive- tens of dollars a month for supplements- and may result in a pretty drastic improvement in quality of life.</p>
<p>
<a href=“http://www.stolaf.edu/athletics/sportsmed/media/ferritininfo.doc[/url]”>www.stolaf.edu/athletics/sportsmed/media/ferritininfo.doc</a></p>
<p>The distinction is between anemia (hemoglobin and hematocrit) and inadequate iron stores (ferritin) and the significance of the latter for endurance athletes.</p>
<p>I see. What would happen if you took OTC iron as directed on the bottle, in that situation?</p>
<p>I’ll be honest; this is all good information, but as a physician ( and married to physician), I can think of other causes for these symptoms, and I’m not sure insisting on a ferritin test would be where I’d recommend putting limited health expenditures. Why not get the opinion of the person evaluating you? </p>
<p>Still, it’s good information. With insurance, I’d sure want to keep it in mind.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I am not comfortable revealing a lot of personal information, especially concerning a third party’s health, but I agree with riverrunner:
</p>
<p>So, yes, get the opinion of the person evaluating you-most everyone here is saying see a doctor. However, if that person is unfamiliar with adolescent athletes and these issues, you need to bring this to their attention.</p>