It turns out that it's not "just stress" that makes me exhausted all the time. (I put that in quotes because people say things are just because of stress as though stress is an imaginary entity, something that doesn't really exist and have actual impact on our physical bodies and world.) My hematocrit is low, and my iron is extremely low. That's not something that happens overnight, that is a chronic issue. So, a good recipe for creating iron deficiency anemia is to be vegetarian for 20 years without paying much attention to what you are actually eating, have a diet high in carbs and not much iron rich food source, then lose 70 pounds, shed a large portion of your lean body mass, then get pregnant and breastfeed, all while adding ever-increasing stress to your life (especially the constant escalation of stress involved with living with someone in active addiction). Seems legit.
My iron is low enough that my doctor wants me to skip the oral supplementation and go to IV infusions, 5 of them. I hope that this will help increase my energy level a little, although I'm sure it's not the only cause.
I'm tired, but not just physically. I am spiritually tired. I have nothing left to draw upon. I've been thinking a lot about how to get self care back into my life. It's something that has slowly gone by the wayside, and I need to renew myself.
Friday, May 11, 2012
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