Hi wonderful friends!
Hope you are all doing well!
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been very sick.
I've been feeling really weak and run down for the last few months. To me it felt like I was low on B12 (cause I've had that happen before). I figured once covid calmed down I'd get an appointment with my awesome family Dr and she'd send me for some blood work.
About mid January, I started feeling even weaker and more exhausted. My hands and feet were constantly cold, tingly and numb. I started getting a lot of brain fog. Had a hard time getting anything done. My heart rate was 10-15 beats faster per second than normal.
All signs of low B12
I upped my B12 in response.
Near the end of Jan, I had a panic attack and fainted. My son called an ambulance, but they took so darn long to get here (welcome to NS) that I was perfectly fine and ended up canceling it before they got here. That was a Saturday.
Sunday, I was ok, just weak, tired and sort of fuzzy feeling.
Monday morning I tried calling my family Dr and unfortunately they were closed for the day due to "covid protocols" I have no idea what that even means!
Monday afternoon, I was sitting on the couch, making art and watching TV and I had another panic attack. I've never had panic attacks before so had no idea what was happening. I thought I was having a heart attack. It was terrifying. I thought I was going to die! :( My son called the ambulance again. this time they arrived near the end of the attack. I hyperventilated and my hands were stuck like frozen claws.
The ambulance people were sort of rude and dismissive. They made me feel stupid. I went to the hospital with them cause I knew something wasn't right. Got to the hospital and waited 8 hours to be seen. When I finally got to see a Dr I told her that I thought it was a B12 problem. I also mentioned that I had had iron problems in the past.
She did some blood work and checked my blood levels and B12 levels. Never bothered to check my iron. She sent me for an xray to ensure my heart and chest were ok (my Xray was great; heart looks perfect and I'm happy to report the sarcoidosis in my lungs is exactly the same! It has not gotten worse! She did an EKG on my heart. She found nothing wrong. My B12 levels were fine. Told me I was obviously just very stressed (I wasn't) and said it was a panic attack and sent me home. Made me feel stupid.
I got out of the hospital shortly after midnight and no taxi cabs! Dear Gods! Welcome to New Glasgow where there are 4 taxi companies and not a single one runs past midnight! WTFF?!
I started walking cause there was no other way to get home. It was really dark, I was really tired and I took a wrong turn and got lost :( I got lucky and a police officer drove by. I flagged him down and in the end, he kindly drove me home. He said I wasn't the first person he had found trying to walk home from the hospital in the middle of the night. That's not right!
Spent Tuesday feeling horrible. Not understanding what was happening. I was really scared. Tried to call my family Dr again, just to find out she was off all week :(
I went to bed Tuesday around 7pm cause I was so tired, about an hour after laying down I went into another panic attack. I texted my friend Melanie and she came and got me and took me back to the hospital. The triage nurse sort of rolled their eyes at me :( They just kept telling me I had anxiety, I had a panic attack. I kept telling them something else was wrong. Six hours waiting before anyone saw me. I was so weak feeling, it felt like I was going to faint any moment.
They did a bit more blood work (still didn't check my iron!), did an EKG again and the Dr decided I had high blood pressure. I said I normally have normal-low blood pressure. She prescribed high blood pressure meds, baby aspirin and some nausea pills for my sick stomach and sent me home. I think she just wanted to get rid of me. It was about 4:30am, so guess what ... no taxis. I hate to sit in the waiting room another hour till my friend Melanie woke up and came and drove me home :(
Thank the Gods for good friends!
I got the high blood pressure meds and other pills later on Wednesday and started them immediately. I disagreed with her, but figured she was smarter than me. I also started keeping track of my blood pressure daily. Day one, it would have been considered normal for a woman my age. From Wednesday - Monday, I took the pills and recorded by blood pressure. By the weekend it was what would be considered too low.
On Monday, I called my Dr and got a phone appointment for Wednesday. I continued taking the high blood pressure meds and recording my blood pressure. It dropped lower and lower. I was also recording me heart rate three times a day (it was late 90s/100s; it's normally 70s/80s)
On Wednesday, I spoke to my family Dr on the phone. We discussed things and she said I needed to come in and see her. She made me an in-person appointment for the next Wednesday. I continued taking the high blood pressure meds as directed. I also continued recording blood pressure and heart rate.
The following Wednesday I got a cab to Westville to see my family Dr in-person. She looked over my stats, checked my blood pressure and immediately said she didn't think I had high blood pressure. As she wasn't 100% sure, she said to only take half a blood pressure pill daily till further notice. She sent me for blood work. as i have had iron problems before and she actually listens, she wanted to check my iron levels. She said the blood work from the hospital showed that I had less blood volume than I did four years ago when it was last tested.
The symptoms of B12 anemia and the symptoms of iron anemia are almost identical.
I went and got my blood tested two days later, on the Friday. They do all the work at the blood testing site so my family Dr got the results same day. She called immediately and said my iron was rock bottom low! She sent a prescription to the pharmacy and told me to get taking it asap. I got it Saturday morning.
My iron levels are so low that I'm not making blood, hence why my blood volume had decreased.
It was very serious :(
The first three days taking the iron was brutal rough. It caused dehydration, sick stomach, vomiting and stomach cramps.
Yesterday, Tuesday, things started to improve. It's Wednesday right now and I'm feeling a bit better. A little less tired, a little clearer thinking, a little less weak. My heart rate has dropped into the low 90s. Still high, but a bit better, Day five of taking iron. Tomorrow, I have a phone call appt. with my family Dr again.
Panic attacks can be caused by low iron! Once your iron hits a certain level it can throw your body into the flight or fight response, causing it to go into a panic attack. Those fuckers at the hospital had me feeling like it was all in my head!
Every single symptom I have is associated with severe iron deficiency! EVERY ONE!
rapid heart beat -severe iron deficiency
Extreme fatigue- severe iron deficiency
Feeling dizzy and lightheaded - severe iron deficiency
Sick stomach - severe iron deficiency
weakness - severe iron deficiency
poor sleep - severe iron deficiency
cold, numb, tingily hands and feet- severe iron deficiency
restless legs - severe iron deficiency
sore tongue and cracks on side of mouth - severe iron deficiency
Brain fog and memory issues - severe iron deficiency
Panic attack - severe iron deficiency
Fainting - severe iron deficiency
How the heck did the dingbats at the hospital miss that?! I told them I'd had iron problems in the past!
And I have LOW blood pressure! Not high! The increase at the hospital is what is called white coat syndrome. It's simply a raised blood pressure due to the stress of being in the hospital. I took high blood pressure pills for like two weeks when I had low blood pressure!!!!
I'm on the mend now and I'm sure I'll be better in a week or two! Excited to get my life back! So thankful for my family Dr.
Low iron can also cause anxiety and anxiety attacks, so if anyone suddenly starts having anxiety, get your iron tested!
That was a long story! LOL Thanks for listening and caring!
I'll update when I can.
Huge love!
.
