High school athlete taking a risk with liquid iron. Need advice.

Why tf does everyone on LRC suddenly think they are anemic?

You’ll never get into college without learning how to use a paragraph

Just wait and take advice from real doctors

If you have low iron, "it is what it is" for a while. You can't take a few quick doses and be back to the same level. Iron deficiency takes a while to recover from--at least a month. Whether you add iron now or 3 days from now is not going to change the course of your season.

I've had low iron / ferritin numerous times over the years. You just have to fight through it and give you best effort, and be content with that.

Could you please offer a different explanation? I'm all ears.

English teacher wrote:

You’ll never get into college without learning how to use a paragraph

This is letsrun, not English class. Just to let you know, I have a 4.4 GPA and a 1510 SAT (plus I'm hispanic). I know how to write, and I will get into college.

I've been taking liquid iron consistently for almost 20 years since my time at the USOC. I was not anemic, but I was iron-deficient. There is no real "risk" unless you have an aversion to iron and/or your body already produces too much iron, which can be deadly. I've never really been off it, but I've maintained my fitness from age 22 to 42 quite well.

I only take a single dose in the morning with orange juice.

Incorrect thinking wrote:

If you have low iron, "it is what it is" for a while. You can't take a few quick doses and be back to the same level. Iron deficiency takes a while to recover from--at least a month. Whether you add iron now or 3 days from now is not going to change the course of your season.

I've had low iron / ferritin numerous times over the years. You just have to fight through it and give you best effort, and be content with that.

Thank you for the advice. This was simultaneously the answer I was looking for and the answer I was hoping not to get. I've heard of people that have had instant improvements. Is it possible? Or is it only for extreme cases?

Is there a Five Guys in your area? They serve the best iron supplement for runners.

Are you a breastfeeding baby? wrote:

Why tf does everyone on LRC suddenly think they are anemic?

Because most runners probably are. It's incredibly common and Doctors are terrible at figuring it out.

Yes it's probably a little late for you to help yourself this season but it's not going to hurt anything eitherway and there is a chance if you are low enough a few days of extra will help.

Have you had your iron levels tested?

It's far more likely that you're just over-trained. Athletes look for diagnoses like iron-deficiency, because it has an easy solution (taking a supplement).

The reality is far more often that not, that this is a waste of time and they're ignoring the obvious answer (training too hard). It happens to just about every hard-working, type-A personality, high-school athlete at some point.

Just take a week off (or jog easy for 20-30 mins, a few times over the week) and see if you feel better.

If you do, then you'll almost certainly benefit from backing off your sessions and reducing the pace of your recovery runs.

It's unfortunate that almost any elite/sub-elite athlete over the age of 30 knows and understands these principals through experience. Yet, so many teenage and 20-something athletes refuse to believe it (myself included at the time).

Standard Setter wrote:

I've been taking liquid iron consistently for almost 20 years since my time at the USOC. I was not anemic, but I was iron-deficient. There is no real "risk" unless you have an aversion to iron and/or your body already produces too much iron, which can be deadly. I've never really been off it, but I've maintained my fitness from age 22 to 42 quite well.

I only take a single dose in the morning with orange juice.

He should wait for the test. Your body does not produce iron but some absorb it to toxic levels. That's why you should not recommend that anyone should supplement without being tested.

This can be Mono, Lyme Disease, etc...

Ninjafroggy wrote:

English teacher wrote:

You’ll never get into college without learning how to use a paragraph

This is letsrun, not ZEnglish class. Just to let you know, I have a 4.4 GPA and a 1510 SAT (plus I'm hispanic). I know how to write, and I will get into college.

The SAT isn’t a writing test. The SAT tests how well you do on the SAT. Wow. You’re in for a rude awakening when you have to take college prep courses your freshman year. Good luck with your hypochondria.

English teacher wrote:

You’ll never get into college without learning how to use a paragraph

He did use a paragraph. Using multiple paragraphs is probably what he needs to work on.

Ninjafroggy wrote:

Incorrect thinking wrote:

If you have low iron, "it is what it is" for a while. You can't take a few quick doses and be back to the same level. Iron deficiency takes a while to recover from--at least a month. Whether you add iron now or 3 days from now is not going to change the course of your season.

I've had low iron / ferritin numerous times over the years. You just have to fight through it and give you best effort, and be content with that.

Thank you for the advice. This was simultaneously the answer I was looking for and the answer I was hoping not to get. I've heard of people that have had instant improvements. Is it possible? Or is it only for extreme cases?

+1 it takes a long time for iron supplementation to work, like several weeks. I'd say get the test, but don't bother with the supplements until you get the results. In the meantime, do no hard running until the race. It's mentally hard to do this but it's your best hope to pull out a decent race. Good luck to you!

Thank you for all the advice guys. And for the guys saying I can't write, here's an essay I wrote last week for our weekly essays for philosophy class. It took me a few hours, but I think I summed up the purpose of life pretty well in one page.

"Looking at the natural world, Aristotle observed that everything seemed to have a purpose for which it was made. When observing humans, Aristotle concluded that the purpose for which a human being was made was to strive for happiness. In modern society, many people equate happiness with pleasure, believing that pleasure is humanity’s sole motivation. After all, who does not like pleasure? However, by merely looking at the world, one can clearly see that that view is flawed and shallow. First of all, we do not always do what we like. Why do we work? Why do we follow the law? Why are we not all three-hundred pounds and addicted to drugs? Human beings seek more than just pleasure; we seek a deeper sense of inner fulfillment. Moreover, who would truly want to live a life of sole pleasure, free from any burdens or responsibilities. Fyodor Dostoevsky sums up this view superbly in Notes from the Underground: “Shower upon him every earthly blessing, drown him in a sea of happiness, so that nothing but bubbles of bliss can be seen on the surface; give him economic prosperity, such that he should have nothing else to do but sleep, eat cakes and busy himself with the continuation of his species, and even then out of sheer ingratitude, sheer spite, man would play you some nasty trick”. Then what does Aristotle mean by happiness? Aristotle means that humanity strives for meaning, something that we might achieve only through trying to live up to our full potential. The virtuous path to meaning is a struggle. It requires accepting the suffering of life, adopting responsibility for one’s existence, and fighting relentlessly for the greatest good. But why even bother trying to live up to our full potential if we are inherently flawed? Meaning is not guaranteed, even if one struggles their hardest to live a noble life. However, one can be wholly sure that meaning will not miraculously come to him while he sits on the couch and plays video games all day."

Ninjafroggy wrote:

Incorrect thinking wrote:

If you have low iron, "it is what it is" for a while. You can't take a few quick doses and be back to the same level. Iron deficiency takes a while to recover from--at least a month. Whether you add iron now or 3 days from now is not going to change the course of your season.

I've had low iron / ferritin numerous times over the years. You just have to fight through it and give you best effort, and be content with that.

Thank you for the advice. This was simultaneously the answer I was looking for and the answer I was hoping not to get. I've heard of people that have had instant improvements. Is it possible? Or is it only for extreme cases?

I usually have 1-2 runners per year that we realize are low on ferritin. It typically takes 3-6 weeks of supplements + a reduction in training load to get back to normal.

If I have a kid that is anemic, but has normal ferritin levels, they bounce back much quicker (closer to a 1-2 weeks) and I don't need to modify training very much.

I have observed athletes from other programs tank their performance by having too much iron though, so I would definitely wait on test results.

Ninjafroggy wrote:

Incorrect thinking wrote:

If you have low iron, "it is what it is" for a while. You can't take a few quick doses and be back to the same level. Iron deficiency takes a while to recover from--at least a month. Whether you add iron now or 3 days from now is not going to change the course of your season.

I've had low iron / ferritin numerous times over the years. You just have to fight through it and give you best effort, and be content with that.

Thank you for the advice. This was simultaneously the answer I was looking for and the answer I was hoping not to get. I've heard of people that have had instant improvements. Is it possible? Or is it only for extreme cases?

you can have instant improvements if you get it from IV. not sure how well liquid iron works.

high school xc coach wrote:

Ninjafroggy wrote:

Thank you for the advice. This was simultaneously the answer I was looking for and the answer I was hoping not to get. I've heard of people that have had instant improvements. Is it possible? Or is it only for extreme cases?

you can have instant improvements if you get it from IV. not sure how well liquid iron works.

The "instant improvements" are quality of life improvements--Like not being in pain walking up the stairs or feeling so wiped out you have to lay on the couch all day. The turn around time for athletic improvement is almost certainly going to be a long term approach.

There really is only one answer if you truly have low iron--try your best in your upcoming races to finish the season as strong as you can. Then decrease training volume after the season while you wait for your condition to improve.