do i look like i'm turning into a vampire?

i've been on iron pills for about a month now, but haven't really noticed any improvement. i'm also trying to eat a lot of foods with iron in them. and, i heard Guinness has iron in it.

perhaps i'm just a 24 pack away from being healthy again.

i have, however, expanded the list of symptoms i experience. i don't know if all of these are caused by iron deficiency anemia, or if some have as-of-yet unknown causes. besides the obvious overwhelming fatigue, here are some of my other symptoms:

i have a constant feeling of tingling in my legs, which i've heard referred to as restless leg syndrome. this is actually a well known symptom of iron deficiency.


difficulty concentrating. my head always feels cloudy, and more so than usual.


weakness. my arms and legs always feel like jello. i also tend to have swollen hands and feet. for the first few weeks, i actually had a swollen tongue. that wasn't fun.


hair loss. this one is particularly difficult for me, as i used to have a LOT of THICK hair, and i'm only 29, and, i'm a woman!! i've definately noticed a lot more hair around the house than usual. makes me wonder if i wasn't just going crazy from studying for the bar when i wrote this a year and a half ago.


short term memory loss. it has become very difficult for me to remember the......wait......what was i saying?


difficulty regulating my body temperature. i can go from feeling very cold to very hot in a matter of minutes.


the most interesting symptom by far is craving blood. pica, which means the craving of non-food items, is not unusual in iron deficiency. usually people crave things like ice, dirt, or clay. i, however, crave blood. it started as craving rare bloody meat, which is probably normal for someone who is lacking iron since red meat has a lot of iron. but after a while, it turned more into craving the "bloody", and not so much the "meat". i haven't actually consumed blood, nor do i intend to, but the craving is definitely there. i feel a little like a vampire.


perhaps that could be a new career choice.


out.
- L