9 tips on how to manage your iron overload disease.

9 tips on how to manage your iron overload disease…

This post will be dedicated to all of my new friends and friends I have yet to meet.  I can’t wait to get to my quote, but that’s my closing signature as you know.  So here it goes.  Let’s collect all of things we have learned and put them on one page.  I’m going to start because it’s my blog.  Onto your assignment.  If you have been diagnosed with Hereditary Hemochromatosis, you already know what’s wrong with you.  Hopefully, somewhere along the way someone explained what you should be doing, but if not, click the link above.  I am moving onto the next step.  Healing.  All of the bloggers I have recently met share a wealth of knowledge, but we are not doctors.  We are here as a support group for each other, so ask your doctor about any tips we share.  I am going to share some things that have taken me over 14 years to learn.  I don’t want you to wait that long.  If anyone has anything to add, please comment below.

1. My joints ache.  What should I do?  Start taking a product with Glucosamine and Chondroitin like Relief.   I use the products I linked here, but you can use whatever works for you.  I personally know these have no fillers and no adverse side effects for my autoimmune disease as well.
2. I am exhausted all the time.  What’s next?  After your ferritin has reached a good level (10 is nice), have your doctor check your vitamin D.  Seriously.  Why did it take 12 years to realize this?  I can’t be out in the sun for long.  This would make sense to check.  My favorite is this one called It’s Vital Minerals.
3. I was taking a multi-vitamin.  What now?  Stay away from them!  Too much vitamin C is not needed as it promotes the absorption of iron and obviously we can’t take iron.  It was all Mr. Flintstones fault…if only we knew back then.  Find a vitamin with either low C or none added, and no added iron!
4. I like raw seafood.  I heard I have to stay away.  This is true…to some degree.  Do not eat raw oysters ever due to Vibrio Vulnificus.  Thanks to one of my new blogger friends, I learned this word.  Honestly, no one ever told me why, just the get sick and die part.  Seriously.
5. Drink more coffee.  Why?  Coffee is your life’s blood.  Ha.  Okay, so not really, but it does interfere with the absorption of iron.  Awesome.  We are Bi-winning now.
6. Can I still drink gallons of sweet tea?  Okay, so I live in the south, and drink lots of tea.  My momma will even tell you she put it in my bottle.  No lie.  Please drink all the tea you want!  In fact, it also has magical properties if you drink the green tea version.  Would I fib?  Well, maybe not exactly magical per say, but it depends on your symptoms.  We are basing this off me.  While it does have a trace amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), it has selenium, which helps the thyroid.  This is important as iron has played with parts of my body I was not aware of.  That statement sounds a bit off…moving on.
7. Prebiotics are good for your gut!!  If you are in maintenance phase and are de-ironed, add these chews to make your digestion better.  Prebiotics are fibers that support the growth of healthy probiotic bacteria in your digestive system.  Very important to heal your “gut” and to think about it as something that helps balance your whole system.
8. Yay!  I am “normal” again.  Can I stop getting treatments?  No, you can’t.  Not unless you have a vampire living with you or you are into bloodletting with leeches.  Go every 4-6 months for life and you’ll be fine.  That is why my doctor has a house on the water and just added a library addition.  I wish I was kidding.  She could at least offer me a tour.
9. Please get checked for diabetes, thyroid problems, heart disease, or pituitary issues should new symptoms occur.

This list will continue to grow and evolve as my readers share their knowledge.  If you found my blog through Facebook, welcome!  Please feel free to subscribe and share with your loved ones.  And now the part I like sharing best…one of my favorite quotes.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, “What? You too? I thought I was the only one.”

~C.S. Lewis

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