Okay, so I’ve been feeling like absolute garbage lately. Seriously, just drained all the time, you know? And it’s not just me being lazy, I swear! I’m talking about that bone-deep kind of tired where even getting out of bed feels like running a marathon.
So, I started thinking, maybe it’s not just me being a couch potato. Maybe there’s something else going on. I started Googling, and you know how it is – one minute you’re looking up “why am I so tired” and the next you’re convinced you have some rare tropical disease.
But then I stumbled upon this thing about iron deficiency. Apparently, it’s pretty common, and the symptoms sounded awfully familiar. I mean, I’m not a doctor or anything, but feeling tired all the time, weak, dizzy sometimes when standing up too quick, and honestly, I haven’t been feeling that hungry. These could be the signals of iron deficiency.
Doing the quiz
Then I found this online quiz – “Do I Have Iron Deficiency?” It was just eight simple questions. I thought, “What the heck, let’s give it a shot.” So, I took the quiz, answering as honestly as I could.
- Have you been feeling unusually tired or fatigued?Yes
- Do you often feel weak or like you have no energy?Yes
- Have you experienced any dizziness or lightheadedness?Yes
- Have you noticed a decrease in your appetite?Yes
- Do you have difficulty concentrating or focusing?No
- Have you been experiencing shortness of breath, even with mild activity?No
- Do you have pale skin or notice that your inner eyelids are pale?No
- Have you been craving non-food items like ice or dirt?No
After hitting submit, the result suggested that I might want to look into it further. It wasn’t a diagnosis, of course, but more like a “hey, this might be something to check out” kind of thing.
The Realization
It got me thinking, maybe my body’s been trying to tell me something, and I just haven’t been listening. I read somewhere that iron can be tricky for the body to absorb, so even if you eat iron-rich foods, you might not be getting enough. I did not know that iron levels should be checked regularly, like for males, the normal range is 50 to 150 mcg/dL, and for females, it’s 35 to 145 mcg/dL. For the total iron binding capacity, it should be 171 to 505 mcg/dL for males and 149 to 492 mcg/dL for females. It is not a big range.
So, next step? I’m gonna book an appointment with my doctor. I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry, and if it turns out I do have low iron, at least I can start doing something about it. And if not, well, at least I’ll rule something out, right?
This whole thing has been a bit of a wake-up call, to be honest. It’s easy to ignore our bodies when we’re busy with life, but sometimes, we gotta stop and pay attention to what it’s trying to tell us. Wish me luck!
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