Wednesday, January 5, 2011

A Week of Fatigue

When people ask me what I do for a living, I never know what to say. I'm always on the run. Mostly with my child or our pets, but sometimes it's just me. And sometimes it's with my spouse.

I've had a lot to do this week. I'm still trying to get to the bottom of my low iron and low protein levels. New bloodwork showed that with my diet efforts and iron supplements I've raised my levels 8 points... The  healthy range is between 50-150... I'm at a 41. But I guess that's better than a 33.

It also shows my protein level staying just under normal, regardless of my efforts to eat more (almost double the recommended protein amounts). This probably means that my small intestine isn't absorbing nutrients right OR I'm losing blood somewhere. On Monday, I head in to radiology for a pelvic ultrasound. I also get to go back to the lab next week and get tested for a gluten intolerance/celiac disease.

Similarly to the protein issue, my platelet levels are just below normal. This can sometimes go hand in hand with the borderline anemia. I've had low iron off and on through my lifetime, usually fixed with supplements. That didn't happen this time.

All I know is that throughout this week, I've been feeling very fatigued between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. I'm making it through the day. But on my most terrible days I'm taking 20-40 minute cat naps in the middle of the afternoon just to make it through dinner.

My life requires energy. What happens when I'm tapped out?

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