Skip to main content

Pumping Iron




Good Monday morning!  Sandy is having an impact on most of eastern North America.  Even here in Toronto, it's rainy and DARK!  Oh what a week it's going to be, and Halloween week, no less!  Anyways...

Since first trying it last year, I have become a regular blood donor.  It's not an unpleasant task, and I feel like it's just such a good thing to do.

Unfortunately, I have started having some difficulty with the restrictions.  No, not the exchanging bodily fluids with monkeys stuff...no, my blood pressure, which is really low, has almost been too low a few times, and last week, I was actually rejected altogether because I twice failed the hemoglobin test.

I have never had problems with my iron levels before, not even while pregnant, so I was a bit surprised.  Even more surprise that the nurse started barking at me that given just how low my iron was, I must be feeling tired (um, no) and she could SEE it in my face.  Thanks.  Something tells me that looking anemic is not a good thing.  She also told me to start eating spinach.  Ha ha, she clearly didn't have a clue who she was dealing with! 

The nurse ordered me to start taking an iron supplement as soon as possible, warning me about the constipation that will accompany it.  Yeah, I already knew about that.  So even though I don't feel tired (geez, I'm usually referred to as the Energizer Bunny!), I've started taking iron pills.  Hey, who can't use a little more energy? When I consulted one of the fertility doctors I work with, however, he said my levels are just a bit below normal and really nothing to be concerned about, but he did say I should try the pills and see how I tolerate them.

I just worry - given my past problems with insomnia - that if this puts me over the top into bouncing-off-the-walls-land, that I'll start having difficulty sleeping.  As it was, when I announced to my spinning class yesterday that apparently I haven't been functioning at full capacity and potentially will have even MORE energy soon, they groaned.

We shall see...I'll keep you posted on the sleep and the poop, since I'm sure you'll want to know all the gruesome details.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: The A to Z of Children's Health

Hey there, welcome to Monday!  We had a delightful, relatively quiet weekend.  How was yours?  Hopefully no one in your home was sick...there is a lot of nasty stuff going around these days. If you're a parent, than you have probably spent far more time that you would like to desperately searching Google and/or parenting books trying to figure out if your child's rash, cough or fever warrants a trip to the doctor or if there is something that can be done to treat it.  It's hard not to worry that it could be something more ominous that just an every day infection and while you'd make yourself (and everyone around you) nuts if you panicked every time your kid has the sniffles, as a parent, you naturally want to do everything in your power to prevent your child from harm. Recently I was sent The A to Z of Children's Health , written by doctors Jeremy Friedman, Natasha Saunders, and Norman Saunders, of Toronto's very own Hospital for Sick Children .  One of th...
164 comments
Read more

How to Look Like a Celebrity

Okay, I know you're going to be interested in this post! I am sure virtually every woman in North America has wondered how Hollywood celebrities achieve such 'perfect' bodies.  Well, at CAN FIT PRO last week, one of Hollywood's top fitness trainers, Eric the Trainer , was there to tell us fitness professionals the secrets! Eric the Trainer, gave several presentations, and I caught the one on Celebrity Secrets, and it was most interesting!!!  I also found some of what he said rather disturbing. First off, he was very upfront about the fact that celebrities come to him for improve their appearance.  Not to improve their health or athletic performance.  To look their best.  He admitted that his approach then, is entirely dedicated to that end. Male and female celebrities are trained in completely different ways because Hollywood wants women to be lithe and thin and in his words, "look like they dropped out of heaven looking this way without every having ...
1 comment
Read more

Blackfly Coolers: Product Review

Summer is over! Well, at least if you're a student. Officially it doesn't end for a few weeks, and it certainly still feels like summer. Yeah, I hate it. This f*cking hot, humid weather needs to end NOW! We made the most of our last weekend of the summer with our annual trip to the CNE on Friday, with a crowd of friends. It wasn't unbearably lot, thank goodness, and the girls and their friends had a blast on the rides.  Saturday I had to work, and Sunday was errand day. Monday we took the girls berry/apple/pear picking but didn't last long due to the heat. I organized the house to prepare for the construction workers starting back up yesterday, while Adam took the girls for a swim in our neighbourhood pool. Yesterday was the first day of school. Grade 2 and Grade 5. Yep, the girls are growing up.  We are fortunate that the girls don't have much anxiety about school, they are so much more confident than I ever was as a kid! But now, in the midst of our reno ch...
1 comment
Read more