Toxin Tuesdays - A little off topic - Low Iron and B12

So if you just come here for recipes - see my mama's recipe page or come back tomorrow - we had an awesome Low-carb Shepherds Pie for supper I will be sharing. Or if you want to hear me rant/journal about my health then feel free to stay....

So I don't have the flu. If you haven't been following my blog, since going

clean,  my energy levels had been amazing for someone with a poorly

sleeping baby. But I started to get some symptoms of adrenal fatigue popping

back up - mainly anxiety and night sweats. And my energy levels started

dropping slowly over the past month. I've been taking herbal adrenal

support which helped significantly with the anxiety but even a B12 shot and

literally eating pounds of Chia seeds wasn't helping my energy. And this

past weekend I started feeling dizzy (all day) and really tired. Oh boy -

I've felt like this before. What a piss off - I am being such

a good girl - eating clean, exercising, detoxing - why oh why am I still

being punished. Well I got my blood work back today and I have seriously

low iron and B12 levels. So I've got some highly absorb able iron to add to

my supplement list (which is getting way longer than I like) and will be

going for weekly B12 shots until my levels get better. If you think you have absorption problems like me, pay attention to whether any supplements you are given will help (can you absorb them?) or whether you might need an injection. 

So pretty treatable problems but still no answers on what the cause is. I'm thinking either breastfeeding/sleep deprivation is sucking the life out of me or food sensitivities/poor absorption/low stomach acid isn't allowing me to absorb

all the clean goodness I'm eating. Or maybe some combination of all of them is

doing it. So I'm going to go ahead and spend the $300 to get my food panel

redone to figure out if I've still got major food sensitivities and where

my candida levels are at. And I'm also going to do a stomach acid test. 

Good news was that my liver, thyroid, blood sugar and kidneys were happy.

The high protein diet is agreeing with my kidneys which was a concern I

had (and something you should be mindful of if you go on a high protein diet). Doesn't hurt to have a doctor checking on these things when you change your diet - especially one that's pretty far from the recommended Canada Food Guide.

Why am I telling you all this. Because I've been through this before and

let myself suffer for over a year with these symptoms before I went to a

naturopath. And I don't want other people to suffer when they don't have to

or think they are going crazy. Last time this happened, I spent a good part

of a year thinking I was a bad mom, dying of some disease and/or going

crazy. You have to advocate for your own health - push your doctor for

tests/diagnosis if they aren't sure what is causing your symptoms or look to alternative forms of medicine. But either way you have to take an active role in managing your health - do your research, push for answers, look outside the box. Its not okay to feel tired all the time, you probably aren't crazy, and pills and anti-depressants are not always the cure.  Surprisingly, all sorts of problems start with poor digestion but lots of people and doctors don't consider looking there first. 

I have digestive problems that have wreaked havoc on my whole system and

give me some weird symptoms that seem totally unrelated to digestion - like

dizziness and anxiety.  And I truly believe that for

me, putting more toxins (prescription drugs) into my system is not the

answer. Not for this anyway.

So on Tuesdays I said I would do a post about non-food related toxins - my side project to clean eating. And this is a little off topic but what the hell - maybe it will help someone out there who is feeling lousy and doesn't know where to start looking for answers. Or maybe I am a little crazy some days.............