I had to spend this afternoon in a recliner

I had to spend the afternoon in a recliner at an infusion center this afternoon to receive a dose of InFed, in iron infusion.

As some may know, I have a hereditary condition called Hemochromatosis that causes my body to load iron excessively. Untreated, it can and does cause significant damage to all major organs. One of the reasons that I chose a malabsorbtive procedure was to leverage the malabsorbtion of iron. Before my RNY, I had regular phlebotomies to drain off the excess iron from my body. After my RNY my iron levels dropped to and remained at a safe level. For many years, I have been a Red Cross blood donor, but I hadn't donated for a couple of years. When the Red Cross contacted me last year to ask for a donation, I said I'd be glad to donate and did twice. My serum ferritin dropped. This year I did the same thing, and my serum ferritin tanked down to 5, but I didn't think about the correlation of the donations to the drop in my serum ferritin level. Now I feel like an idiot. I should have realized that donating was risky for me. At any rate, I have been suffering from severe bouts of insomnia, extreme exhaustion, feeling achy all over, especially in my hands and feet, along with restless leg syndrome. I've also been experiencing more significant depression, confusion, fragmented thoughts, short term memory loss, etc... Today I saw my Hematologist and she said that all of the symptoms I'm experiencing are related to Iron Avidity. She ordered an InFed iron infusion for me this afternoon and cautioned me to no longer donate to the Red Cross; while it is a worthy cause if you have the bandwidth, I no longer am able to make donations and maintain a healthy serum ferritin level. She believes that once my serum ferritin is brought up through the infusion, I'm likely to be able to maintain it as long as I don't make any more donations. I am hoping to see improvement soon. 

Wow, what a day. Glad you are getting a handle on this. Keep us posted on how you are doing

Thanks LilyAnn,

Because of the antihistamines they gave me I was able doze off some during the infusion. That said, I'm still really tired and they said I probably will be tired and achy for a few days and then should start to feel better, day by day. 

Thanks agian,

EGADS, kid!  Glad you were diagnosed before further damage.  Hope you are feeling better, soon!

Thanks! Actually, my TIBC and Hemoglobin are good, but we need my serum ferritin back up and this should do it. I'll be seeing my Hematologist in 8 weeks for a followup. 

I actually shared this so that people might think twice about making a donation to the red cross unless they know they have the reserves that can support the drain it put on our bodies. 

Thanks again,

I find this very interesting, because United Blood Services has been pestering me every couple of days to come in and  donate blood. I wonder if a person could continue to donate plasma and platelets. I just got home today from my revision, so kinda early to think about that, but maybe in about 6 months I could resume donating plasma and platelets. They put me on the 6 month deferral list for now, so  the calls will restart in 6 months.
Steph

Hi Steph,

First of all, congratulations on your revision. Next, I would talk with your Dr. about it. My husband donates plasma and platelets and he's about 2 and half years post op. He has his labs run and they are in the low normal range. He does take an oral iron supplement as well. 

Wishing you all the best in your journey, 

Bless You.  Hope you are soon feeling better.  Take care.

Thanks. I am so very blessed and I'm sure I'll be feeling better soon.