How bad did anemia affect you?

three years back i had mono, then began suffering from anemia. hemo was 36. i tried iron pills but they really seemed to mess up my stomach. i now eat lots of cereal, honey bunches of oats, which has 45 percent of your daily needed iron intake. i go through three or four servings a day. been doing this for three months and i have noticed a dramatic increase in my energy levels.

Hi John and Sarah (this also applies to the 1500m runner),

It is interesting to not that her hemoglobin has not gone up any more, so I hope that her B vitamin status is adequate-maybe just be sure the RDA is being taken as well.

This can also relate to total caloric intake-I have seen hemoglobin go up just by increasing calories. I always suggest 100 kcals/mile on top of whatever the basal metabolic rate is. Usually this is 8g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight and 1.2g of protein per kg of body weight. Timing of ingestion is important, as this helps one to recover.

I am sure performance improvements are possible, but this is often dependent on training quality for the mile rather than volume. I've taken 20 secs off an 800 and 17 off of someone's 1500 just by switching them to good quality rather than quantity.

I would still stay on the iron, b/c total iron counts can be easily skewed.

For the 1500 runner, yes, I have seen so many anemic 1500 runners, go get your iron status checked and stay on top of it-especially if you are a higher volume runner.

I hope this answers the questions

I went from a 26 8k cross and 8:45 3k last year to 28 in cross at the beginning of this season... after a great summer at altitude everything just crashed. Got a blood test w/ RBC-3.8, 12.9-Hemoglobin, 37-hematocrit, and 8-serrum ferritin. Started taking iron 3 times a day. Anybody have ideas how long it would take to feel better and whether or not to keep running?

i was running about 90 mpw this summer and bottomed out. i got blood work and my ferretin was at 6! iron was way low too and everything else was low like hemoglobin. i could hardly run and took a couple days off. however, after just two weeks of livers, meat, etc. and liquid iron, i improved by about a minute in my races. in the following weeks i went from a low 16's 5k runner to now a 15:16 5k x-c runner. Yet, it's been two months and my ferretin is just now 17...is that good becausei should keep improving or bad because i'm not higher? how much more can i improve by raising my ferretin? also, my iron is 25 points away from being too high so i don't want to overdo the supplements...any advice? thanks! good luck to all of you!

todds wrote:

i was running about 90 mpw this summer and bottomed out. i got blood work and my ferretin was at 6! iron was way low too and everything else was low like hemoglobin. i could hardly run and took a couple days off. however, after just two weeks of livers, meat, etc. and liquid iron, i improved by about a minute in my races. in the following weeks i went from a low 16's 5k runner to now a 15:16 5k x-c runner. Yet, it's been two months and my ferretin is just now 17...is that good becausei should keep improving or bad because i'm not higher? how much more can i improve by raising my ferretin? also, my iron is 25 points away from being too high so i don't want to overdo the supplements...any advice? thanks! good luck to all of you!

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I too had a ferretin count of 8, Homo count of 12. That was last month but did not feel bad doing regular daily activity. my only problem was heavy legs midway thru speed workouts but still could do my workouts. new something was wrong and had blood workup. RBC was borderline. Doc put me on iron pill with B12, ate more red meat and cut out the caffeine (a lot more OJ). In one week was feeling much better and after two weeks no heavy legs. After 3 weeks symptoms about gone. my times in 3 races have improved from mid 17's to high 16's. Will be getting rechecked next week to make sure all is going good.

(middle 30's male) I had to lay low for about 6 months (2002), and then I slowly was able to come back to training. I had some pretty low numbers, like SF of 19. There was a value which you want to be in the upper 40's which was in the 20's. I had that same thorough lack of endurance, shortness of breath, sitting up breathless, all the same.

For that 6 months, I would try to run for 30 mins about 2 or 3 x week.

I just got a 3m 40 sec PR @ Chgo: 2:59:00. Very pleased.

I'm sorry - I forgot to add that I went to the lab monthly for blood checkups, while taking iron supps. I took iron supps in the AM & PM & I also had a bowl of Total cereal.

Now I take a b-complex pill which also has C & iron too, once daily, after running, when the body is in "Full Absorption Mode." (once daily)

I hope that's helpful. I agree - I would just take the iron supps indefinitely. My Dr said there is no risk that the body may absorb too much iron, but we never discussed a reduced capability of EPO production. That sounds bad. I'll check that one out at my next appt.

I've been considering getting tested for anemia because a lot of other runners say that they think I have it. Should I get tested now during the season or wait until the off season? Do I need to get blood taken, or will it effect my performance at all?

slow high schooler wrote:

I've been considering getting tested for anemia because a lot of other runners say that they think I have it. Should I get tested now during the season or wait until the off season? Do I need to get blood taken, or will it effect my performance at all?

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Get tested now! It will not effect your running. If you are low you can get help and start running even better.

I was just wondering if anybody has any suggestions for my situation. I'm a male college runner, and last april, I had my blood tested and I found out that I had mono, and my hemoglobin count was 13.0. At the time, neither a ferratin test or iron serum count were not taken, instead, I was just told to begin taking iron supplements (2 a day) and the usual of eating more red meat and iron-rich foods with vitamin C and without inhibitors of absorbtion, such as coffee and tea.

Since this time, I have taken the iron supplements at least twice a day, and I even switched to the liquid form in the summer mixed with orange juice.

I felt really strong for the most part of my summer training (which was approximately 825 miles in 12 weeks), but towards the end, I started to feel a bit fatigued, and at the time I had my blood tested again- finding my hemoglobin levels had actually dropped to 12.3. I was very suprised after consuming the supplements and having a diet rich in foods high in iron. However, I decided to continue what I was doing, and with the less in-season mileage, I thought I could make it through the season.

Now, after adding 2 minutes to my 8k time, my hemoglobin levels are 10.5 and my ferratin is at a count of 13. However, my iron serum level is 159- above the normal range. I've been referred to a hematologist, and have been told my the health center at my school not to run.

My coach wants me to try to finish out the season, however, it is really hard to run- especially up hills. I would like to know if anybody would think it is worth it to finish up the final two weeks of the season (could I possibly still have a good race in me?, does that ever happen with anemia?), and if anybody has any suggestions or ideas about my situation. Any help would be great. Thanks.

Having coached athletes at the HS level for several years and being a competitive runner myself with a couple of nasty bouts with severely depleted Serum Ferritin ( below 10), I would say to you, why bother putting yourself through the anxiety of trying to finish out a season. Unless you are a Senior, what do you have to lose? Its much more important to have your health and a long career in running if you want it. I have had low hemo and red blood cell counts ( low end of normal) and low SF, with iron supplementation the SF came up but then the stores or iron saturation went way over normal, so its hard to say why these things happen.Seeing a Hemotologist may be the best route as they are specialists in the blood realm. Its emotionally and physically draining to try and perform sub par, I would say get completley checked out and then see how you are feeling. You are young with the rest of your athletic career ahead of you, you owe it to yourself to play it sensibly right now...All the best...

This is hard to say. I really recommend you just see a hematologist.

There is a large issue with inflammation inhibiting iron absorption but you could also have something that is residual from the mono-including a Bvitamin issue.

I must advise you to stop any training for at least a month while still consuming a diet high in iron. Save your body, because this will pay off in the long run. Coaches pushin you in these kind of conditions just tells me that they don't care enough about you and your health.

Well, after 2 months on iron my numbers were climbing a bit but I still didn't feel that great. Some good days, more bad days. One day I ran 6 miles and had to take a nap it took so much out of me; two days later I ran a marathon about 7 minutes off my PR, still sub-6 pace. It felt like crap throughout but on 30 mpw for over a month that was to be expected. I don't know where that race came from, I haven't been able to run 11 miles in weeks. Go figure.

It appears the numbers at which runners encounter problems are much higher than what doctors typically diagnose the average couch potato as anemic at...big surprise.

Ex Phys Doc wrote:

This is hard to say. I really recommend you just see a hematologist.

There is a large issue with inflammation inhibiting iron absorption but you could also have something that is residual from the mono-including a Bvitamin issue.

I must advise you to stop any training for at least a month while still consuming a diet high in iron. Save your body, because this will pay off in the long run. Coaches pushin you in these kind of conditions just tells me that they don't care enough about you and your health.

inflammation from "over-training" - would this inhibit iron absorption. I would imagine that high levels of cortisol might inhibit the absorption of B's...just asking.

People who continue to train while their iron levels are low cannot be helping themselves if this is true. I would imagine levels would return to normal faster if they do nothing at all.

Just a warning, I was taking liquid iron for a while, every day at dinner. then i got poisoned by it. watch out because that made me feel like complete s***, it felt like a had a bad hangover all the time. I had a headache, stomach ache, and felt weak. The stomach was the worst part, I felt queasy all the time. It also killed my appetite. Just be careful with the liquid iron.

anemic wrote:

It appears the numbers at which runners encounter problems are much higher than what doctors typically diagnose the average couch potato as anemic at...big surprise.

interesting-i've been struggling with fatigue while running for a good part of this year. i did have bloodwork done a few months ago to see if there were any problems (e.g.; anemia) and shocker, i was told "there's nothing wrong with you." wasn't even told the exact stats or anything. so then i assumed it was overtraining, and took a month off (partially forced time off due to PF in one of my feet) but still feel slow and sluggish. even before the time off, everything-races and training runs were probably 1 mpm slower than a year ago. looks like a second opinion may be in order...

Get tested, and look at the actual numbers. I believed the docs at first, but then my wife (a nurse practitioner) told me I really shouldn't be so low. The second test I was below the range in every iron-related measurement, yet 2 docs (including the team doc for a top D-I team) told me I was not anemic. After I pointed out this trend (low in every iron cataegory) they finally told me I was anemic...why did I have to point this trend out to them??

I then went to 2 hematologists, including one of the best in the nation. Both said I was anemic enough to impact my running significantly. Doctors are not the gods many people treat them as, especially to those of us whose characterisics lie outside the normal sedentary, overweight people they are used to seeing.

Last week I was diagnosed with low iron and anemic even though I had no side effects until well into my race. I am now on a iron supp 3 times a day and trying to do all the right things. Have cut back on the distance still doing speed workouts with no problem. I am about 40 to 60 sec off my best times. I realize it can take between 4 to 6 weeks to bring levels up to normal ranges. The question I have is: Can my energy levels sufficiently come up enough to see any improvement on my times say within the next 2 to 3 weeks? Has anyone had any experience with how fast they saw improvements after being put on iron supplements? Thanks

i ended up in hospital for 2 wks, not a fun experience