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Couch to 5K
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Anaemic not going backwards!

Last week I went to the doctors about a nasty looking bite on my leg, I got some antibiotics and had some blood tests to check it wasn't Lymes disease.

Found out today I'm all clear on the Lymes disease but I am anaemic and quite badly too! That would explain my breathlessness which I had been blaming on my running not being as rigidly structured as it had been whilst doing c25k! I seriously thought i was slacking and am soooo pleased to be proven wrong this time! :)

More blood tests tomorrow and I'm trying to up my iron naturally, rather than take drugs. I had those when I was pregnant and it wasn't nice!

My life was never this complicated or interesting before c25k ;)

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believe red wine and plain chocolate are good for increasing iron....or is that just wishful thinking

hope your are back to 100% soon

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Well done for running at all. You must be feeling sooo tired. If you are trying to increase your iron intake by diet please remember to eat a rich vitamin c source at the same time to help absorption of the iron.

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I don't like red wine or plain chocolate :(

I was told about the vitamin c for absorption so I'm eating a boat load of oranges and I've also got some vit c tablets that dissolve in water (meant for hydrating before/after a long run) that I'm using.

Thanks for any and all the advice.

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Yes I remember reading this when I was pregnant. I used to have a glass of 100% orange juice with my meals to help absorption. Green leafy veg is high in iron too and some breakfast cereals are fortified with iron, not as good but every bit helps hey. Good luck.

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if you are badly anaemic then you won't get around taking iron tablets I'm afraid. Did they test your B12 and folic acid too? I suffer really badly with anaemia too and i know what a pain iron tablets can be. Luckily there are lots of different kinds now and you will just have to try a few until you find one that wont upset your guts quite as much. My doctor prescribed me pregaday which are really for pregnant women but i tolerated them very well, whereas other tables would send my stomach etc.mental.

If you get tablets then please do take them. Untreated anaemia can cause very dangerous symptoms, from central nervous system damage to heart problems. If you get it treated you will be fine in about three weeks :-)

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I'm not sure what I've been tested for, she did take 3 seperate bottles full this morning though.

I'm glad to here tablets have improved, they didn't bode well with me before!

Thanks for the info, I'll take it more seriously now. I didn't realise it could be as serious as you say!

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Hear*

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I had exactly the same problem and have been taking iron supplements for 3 weeks now.

couchto5k.healthunlocked.co...

The supplements I take already contain ascorbic acid (vit c). It might be worth checking yours...?

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I read your blog, that's exactly how I feel! I can't physically pull enough oxygen in and get dizzy :( the breathlessnes stops me dead in my tracks, there's no pushing through it! And to think I cried with frustration a few weeks ago when I couldn't manage a run up a hill I'd run throughout the c25k programme :/ I was convinced I was failing miserably. Never mind, I can laugh at my stupidity now ;D

I wonder if its why I'm the only bright red faced runner out of 50+ people at running club? I live in hope ;)

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I know how you feel!

All this time, I'd been discouraged and convinced I was a hopeless case of unfitness. o)

I just couldn't see any improvement despite trying to jog (shuffle is a better description!) over several weeks...

Reading about "exercising at a pace where you can talk", I couldn't understand why any effort would render me unable to do something as simple as that. :(

I feel more positive about it now, even though I haven't been able to restart the program since my ankle injury. That's for next week! ;)

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lol when i didn't know i had anaemia i thought something was wrong with my lungs and stopped smoking lol so in a way me getting ill w as a good thing. been almost 3 years now since i had my last fag lol and yes please make sure they check your b12 to make sure its not pernicious anaemia which is what i have as well as iron deficiency anaemia

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Its lucky we had other aiments or we could have quit running, thinking we were no good at it!

Well done for sticking at the quit smoking for so long!

I gave up the fags a week after starting this programme.

I eat healthy, exercise often, don't smoke or drink and I'm forever injured or blooming ill nowadays!

One day I'll be skinny Minnie that's fit as a butchers dog :D

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Spatone is very well spoken of by people who really need to up their iron levels. It is rather expensive sachets of Welsh water (and you take them in juice to mask the taste so that's the Vitamin C taken care of) I've only heard of one person with gastro effects from Spatone whereas the numbers who can't tolerate prescription iron tablets are legion (and they don't seem to be any more effective at boosting levels) I'm glad you are having more tests to find out more though.

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Sounds good to me! :)

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thanks for this post, I seem to be unable to run faster/further and not making any progress, think I will get my iron levels checked as I'm getting tired and not running as well as I could

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It's worth checking

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