So last winter Michael and I both did WVU’s health screening, and in addition to cholesterol (we both have excellent cholesterol levels) I paid extra and got the extra blood work done. When I got the results back, my blood counts were irregular, so I made an appointment with my doctor. After a lot of blood draws, the conclusion was that I was slightly anemic, which we should be able to correct with an iron supplement. So I started taking two iron pills a day, one in the morning, and one in the evening, which seemed to correct the problem.

Now the interesting thing about all this is that I have had no symptoms of anemia, other than a regular inability to donate blood, due to low iron. No fatigue or weakness or any other symptoms, just the off blood counts. (In fact, you could say that an excess of energy is more likely to be my problem.)

So the spring semester ended up being rough for both of us, and I was pretty tired by the end, which I figure accounted for the fact that my weight had slowly been creeping higher than normal. Nothing much, except for the fact that despite the fact that I started being more careful about my diet, my weight seemed to remain about 7 to 10 pounds higher than it normally is. Which was frustrating, but I’ve been blessed with a fantastic metabolism for my whole life, so I guessed that maybe at 35 things started to slow down a little, and left it at that.

Until we went to Cincinnati, and I forgot to take my second dose of iron every day we were there. And I came home to find that I’d lost two pounds, despite the fact that I’d eaten like a pig. And as soon as I started taking the second dose of iron, my weight crept right back up, even though I was back to eating salads and skipping desserts.

So, two weeks ago I decided that I’d drop back to a single dose of iron a day, and see what happened.

After a week I’d dropped a pound and a half, and, more surprisingly, woke up one morning with more energy than I’d had in ages. All summer I’ve been putting off projects, because I just didn’t feel up to them. Suddenly I had the energy to clean and organize the basement. Suddenly I felt like I had the energy to paint the bedroom and stain the entertainment center. And then I realized that when I was lifting weights at the Rec, I was actually regressing in the amount of weight I was able to lift. My brain and chalked it up to laziness combined with the fact that I have wuss genes, but in retrospect?

So I talked to Michael about it, and asked him if he’d noticed a difference in me. “I just thought you weren’t feeling well,” he said. “For six months?” I replied. But, to give him credit, if I didn’t notice it, then I can hardly fault him for not doing so either.

So, I’m going to continue this experiment for another week or two, see how things go. Then I’m going to call my doctor and see what he has to say. As I was asymptomatic in the first place, I’m hoping that he won’t be annoyed by my experimentation (he’s a great doctor, so I think I’m okay.)

But I find it highly ironic that the treatment for an illness that causes fatigue and weakness, was actually causing fatigue and illness.