Iron Deficiency?

[Mochagirl]

I've been on the low everything diet for over 3 months now, and for the past month or so, I've had extreme, unexplained bruising. At first I blamed the Baby Aspirin. I cut down from one a day to one every 3-4 days, and the bruises have continued. Is it possible my iron is getting so low I'm getting anemic? These bruises are huge - one I have right now covers my entire shin - and I have no idea where it came from. The other leg is mottled with about 10 dark, good sized bruises as well. When one finally fades away, a new one comes to replace it. I should note that I've always been prone to bruising, but definitely never this badly.

Is this something I should worry about? Should I start trying to include more vegetarian sources of iron? Should I stop taking Baby Aspirin altogether? I'm about a week and a half from this month's attempt.

[Zivic-Bubac]

I'm not sure what caused bruises, but if you think it might be iron deficiency, take some iron supps, iron does not sway. Maybe you could check your blood iron levels first?

I have bruises on my thighs all the time, always 1-2 at the time, they are 3-4cm, when one fade away, other shows almost immediately.

[Mochagirl]

My iron levels have always been very high. Last pregnancy, the midwife commented on my blood results. I'm wondering if the sudden change to NO meat and very few beans, etc and other sources of iron is causing havoc on my body. I don't even eat real pasta anymore (which is normally fortified with iron), because it's too high in protein! I'll look into iron supplements.

[atomic sagebrush]

I'm not sure what caused bruises, but if you think it might be iron deficiency, take some iron supps, iron does not sway. Maybe you could check your blood iron levels first?

I have bruises on my thighs all the time, always 1-2 at the time, they are 3-4cm, when one fade away, other shows almost immediately.

Tamara does not think iron sways, but I think it could possibly sway. One study showed that some people with low T had low iron - whether or not that was a coincidence, no one is sure.

I think it's the aspirin. You may have to wean yourself back still further or cut it out entirely (please do this gradually).

Iron supps are very badly absorbed by the body and they will make you really really sick. You may have seen this already but a TTC pink iron booster is to heat unsweetened cran juice mixed with blackstrap molasses in a cast iron pan and then drink it - the acid in the cran juice will leach the iron from the pan and the blackstrap molasses also has iron in it.

[purplepoet20]

I have had a Iron Deficiency since I was very young... If the bruising is from that you would have other symptoms to like chest pain (like a mild heart attack).

I am with atomic on the asprin because if taken to long it can cause blood vessels to became weak and cause bruising. It should be stopped a together because it is possible you have a mild allergy to it or you are just taking to much... a friend of mine has two kids with albanism and she was told to never give them asprin or anything that prevents clotting. They bruise very easily. But they are on a req amount of vitamins that promote healthy blood cell formation. Like A, E, C, and iron.

Vitamins can be found in everything we eat and you absorb it better from food then from pills.... meat=iron and red meat=lots of iron which would tell me that maybe iron does sway boy.

[Mochagirl]

Well, happily I haven't experienced any chest pains, so maybe it's not an iron deficiency after all. As I said, I've only been taking Baby Aspirin once every 3-4 days, so maybe I'll increase that to every 5 days, and if I don't see an improvement once a week then none at all.

I don't have a cast iron pan, so I doubt I'll try that cranberry drink, but maybe just in case my iron's a little low I'll try to eat more spinach, potatoes, broccoli and other things I found here: http://www.hhsc.ca/documents/Patient...esIron-trh.pdf

Thanks everyone for your help. My friends already think I'm anorexic because of this diet, and the bruises are making them worry about me even more!

[queen-of-harts]

What about Cream of wheat? My Ob told me this has more iron than even liver does,not sure if its allowed on your diet though.

[Mochagirl]

Thanks, queen-of-hearts. I think it's pretty high in sodium, so it probably wouldn't work with the diet, but it's worth keeping in mind in case things don't improve when I stop the Baby Aspirin.

[atomic sagebrush]

I have had a Iron Deficiency since I was very young... If the bruising is from that you would have other symptoms to like chest pain (like a mild heart attack).

I am with atomic on the asprin because if taken to long it can cause blood vessels to became weak and cause bruising. It should be stopped a together because it is possible you have a mild allergy to it or you are just taking to much... a friend of mine has two kids with albanism and she was told to never give them asprin or anything that prevents clotting. They bruise very easily. But they are on a req amount of vitamins that promote healthy blood cell formation. Like A, E, C, and iron.

Vitamins can be found in everything we eat and you absorb it better from food then from pills.... meat=iron and red meat=lots of iron which would tell me that maybe iron does sway boy.

Well, but I just read a study that said it was bad for your health to just quit taking aspirin cold turkey (and that is what my personal belief has been as well.)

PP thank you for mentioning that about iron because you're absolutely right, there are other, more common symptoms of iron deficiency that would develop long before bruising would. Also, most of the people who really truly develop anemia are suffering from things that are actually CAUSING them to lose blood constantly, like intestinal parasites or ulcers.

Mocha, you can get a cast iron pan at a second-hand store cheaply (and I have even heard tell that you can boil iron nails in juice (I don't recommend that in case the nails have otehr metals in them). Or else you can just do the cran juice-blackstrap molasses combo and still get iron that way. The iron in blackstrap molasses is easy for the body to digest (supposedly) and the Vit. C in the cran juice also helps you absorb iron.

[atomic sagebrush]

What about Cream of wheat? My Ob told me this has more iron than even liver does,not sure if its allowed on your diet though.

We have a kind of cereal called Bear Mush that my kids like, that is kinda like Cream of Wheat, but it's very low in sodium. Still has iron.

http://www.arrowheadmills.com/produc...ush-hot-cereal