The Hidden Weakness during the Cold: Iron Deficiency and Anemia

 How is it possible to still feel exhausted after sleeping for 12 Hours straight? Or how is it possible to be frigid and shivering despite wearing 5 layers of sweaters and pants? These are common situations and feelings that people with Anemia face daily. The medicated list of symptoms goes on and on, you could read the lists forever, but living them daily is a whole other story. 

Why is Anemia "Hidden"?

Anemia and Iron deficiency are hidden killers, that make every day harder and harder to get through. Anemia is a condition that is not discovered overnight by the person. No anemic person woke up one day, felt a huge difference, and suddenly went to get their blood tested. The symptoms of Anemia are unnoticeable at first, people who are diagnosed are used to the lifestyle dealing with the symptoms and truly may believe and be used to the symptoms, which makes them think it is the regular. Before being diagnosed, the symptoms just may seem to be what the person has gotten used to. They won't realize that others do not feel the same way they do and that life is much more pleasurable when you have the right iron levels. For example, they may think feeling tired and dizzy all the time is normal. 

How does the Diagnosis Work?

Testing for Anemia includes the complete blood count. The provider will most likely ask you about both your medical history and even your family's because iron deficiency is caused by common things, we will discuss that below. The provider will include a blood test, and will do a CBC (Complete blood count.)

Daily as a person with Anemia

Having Anemia is a struggle, many like myself don't realize it till their iron levels hit a peak again. Personally, my diagnosis started with a CBC. I went to the doctor because I had a high fever, and I told my doctor that I had been getting sick pretty often. She originally tested me for Celiac Disease, but the report came back with a shock. She claimed my iron levels were dangerously low, and discussed the symptoms with me. Thats when my perspective changed, I thought that feeling tired all the time was normal and that I should just sleep more. I thought the constant headache was normal, and I just needed to chug some water. I also thought the constant shivering was completely normal, so I continued to layer every single day. This affected my life in sports and school, always being tired and not being able to keep up or pay attention. 

Dietary Changes 

When I discussed with my doctor how low my iron levels were, she told me that just taking supplements would not be enough. So, me and my family brought many iron-rich foods into our diet. Now, looking at a South Asian diet, the diet lacks iron, since many like myself do not include meat or fish in our diets. Here are a couple things I replaced or brought into my diet as a South Asian with a very traditional South Asian diet. The small changes made all the difference, look below for tips!

• Boiled Eggs (Or Eggs in general)! My mom would boil a dozen eggs on Sunday nights, and every morning or afternoon, whenever we remembered, I would just snack on a boiled egg. As a vegetarian, if not meat, I relied on eggs for my protein and iron. 
• Spinach! Now, I know what your thinking...Spinach, Really? But you don't need to be eating a salad to eat Spinach. My mother would start to incorporate spinach in different curry dishes, since spinach barely has a taste, it would be no problem. Even egg and spinach bites are an amazing way to get double iron, in a small and portable way. 
• Oats! When I say Oats, I don't mean boring old oatmeal. I'm talking overnight oats. Overnight oats boost your iron so much and are so easy to make, just soak chia seeds and oats in almond milk overnight, and in the morning your get a delicious serving of fiber and iron. 

Start looking out for signs

I wish someone had told me to look out for signs earlier, so my levels had not dropped as low as they did so look out for these EASY signs either...

1. White Eyelids
2. Brittle Nails
3. Unexplained Fatigue 
4. Hair Loss
5. Frequent Headaches

Thank you for reading, I urge you to stay aware, and know that your not alone, and we should take this condition more seriously.