I’m so freakin’ anemic that I’ve had two series of IV iron infusions within the last six months…the first one they insisted on starting within an hour of testing me. I’ve gone from yearly infusions to every six months. But I had no overt symptoms…no exteme tiredness and definitely no cravings to chew ice, which is supposed to be an indicator. Granted, I’m tired all the time…but I also manage to work a ten-hour or more day and do catering and all the other things I need to do in life…which really surprised my doctor. And I was tired even before the anemia became an issue. So what other symptoms that I could notice should I have been noticing?
Do you eye people’s necks longingly? Licking your teeth while doing so?
Do you have an odd craving for red liquids and then feel disappointed when drinking them?
Are you gaining an aversion to mirrors, garlic and sunlight?
Sight of crosses starting to piss you off?
Feeling more comfortable sleeping in some kind of enclosure?
Because craving ice is a possible indicator, not a required symptom.
Aenemics who associate iron with fluid will crave ice. You probably just haven’t enjoyed enough bloodcicles.
Huh, I’ve given a lot of blood transfusions, don’t recall anyone talking about craving ice.
I thought craving ice was an indicator that one is an American (or, possibly, Canadian) and prefers sodas watered-down-and-icy to full-strength-and-not-so-cold. Never heard of it in relationship with anemia.
My mother and I have had ferropenic anemia more times we care to count and it’s usually been asymptomatic. I was fatigued those six months I had it continuously as a child, but since the anemia was due to bloodloss caused by almost-constant tonsillitis, what would have been surprising was if I’d had any energy left.
Moved MPSIMS --> IMHO.
I was very anemic for awhile, and didn’t know it. Worked, had two small kids, elderly parents, blah blah blah…but I DID crave ice. I would literally go out in the yard with a dish and get clean snow to eat while watching tv. At restaurants I would decline a glass of water, but ask for a glass of ice instead. (and sit and chew it) At that time I didn’t know there was a connection. When I was at the dr’s office for something else, he checked my palms and gums and suspected…and asked if I craved or ate anything odd. I told him no, I honestly didn’t see anything wierd with what I did. (and I can honestly say a field of fresh snow made my mouth water!!) Afterwards…after realizing what was going on…when I told my husband about the question from the dr he really couldn’t believe tht I answered that question with a no…lol
Actually, a symptom of anemia is PICA–a craving for a lot of something odd. Back in the old days, people starched their clothes like boards. They used a product called “boiling starch,” because you had to dissolve the powder in boiling water, and sometimes even strain it to get the lumps out. Some folks ate the starch powder. Pregnant women especially would crave dirt, typically clay, and sometimes even a particular clay. Women who moved away from their home towns would have packages mailed to them of the clay so they could satisfy their cravings. You don’t hear of starch eaters or clay eaters much any more, but one thing that is available in most home is ice, and anemic people have been known to eat prodigious amounts. Another item that can qualify as PICA is iceberg lettuce. If you are consuming several heads of lettuce a day, you might be anemic.
I’ll bet any amount of money that the folks you see on “Strange Addictions” and “Freaky Eaters” who eat dirt, cigarette ashes, and corn starch are first tested for anemia when they finally do see a doctor.
~VOW
Seconded.
Another possible symptom of anemia is Restless Legs Syndrome (anemia being one of the more treatable causes of it). When you’re sitting and relaxing, or trying to go to sleep at night, do you get odd sensations in your legs / feet (or sometimes arms/hands), that are only relieved by moving them? Do you have a bed partner? If so, does s/he tell you that your feet or legs often twitch while you’re sleeping?
RLS is also strongly associated with tiredness (as in, it causes tiredness in and of itself).
As an aside: do they know why you’re so anemic? Being anemic to the point of needing IV infusions would suggest you’re either not absorbing iron, or are losing it somehow.
Interesting … I’ve heard of ice cravings as a symptom of diabetes, not anemia.
Thanks for the RLS tip, Mama Zappa. Might ‘splain why my legs get to kickin’ in bed some nights, drives me nuts!
Sure sounds like RLS to me!!! Lots of good info out there, online, as well as a lot of quack info as well. Yahoo groups has a good email list (rlssupport), there’s also rlshelp.org.
Right now, with it being 9 PM and me being tired, my feet are squirming like crazy. Time to take some nasty medicine that makes me feel like I have the flu.