thal minor, too much iron

Hello everyone

I'm Joana from Lisbon, in Portugal, 25, thal minor freshly diagnosed. I had no symptoms i was aware of until after i had a surgery at 19. Since then, i've been anaemic most of the time, ranging from aprox. 9.0 to 12.0. These numbers i got from simple haemoglobin readings at the public blood bank (i was a blood donor from the age of 18, but since my surgery, only managed to make three donations because the minumum here is 12.0). Doctors or nurses at the blood bank used to tell me to correct this with better nutrition, more iron rich foods - lettuce, broccoli, spinach, etc. For the last 5 years my diet has been extremely high in iron, but my anaemia never seemed to depend on how high the iron intake was! Also, i experienced periods of intense fatigue and bad headaches, which sometimes made it really hard for me to keep up with my studies at university.

Last month i changed my GP and he made me do lots of tests for my first checkup and found out i was thal minor, and iron was too high (195ug/dL the test said). He wants me to make sure i start a new diet to reduce the iron intake. In a way i was happy to finally find a reason for this, as it was frustrating to keep getting low haemoglobin readings when i was so strict with my iron diet! My doctor said thal minor had little consequence on my life, but that i should stop being a blood donor, as my blood was not much help to hospitals. I found it hard to believe that being anaemic most of the time had little impact on anyone's life, i do feel extremely tired sometimes, even keeping a strict schedule with enough time to rest! And i do have periods of extremely low moods, and frustration. And finding this forum made me realize it's not silly to relate this to thal, that more people live with this kind of symptoms and i am happy to be able to share my experience here too Thank you all !

I'm a bit clueless about how my new diet should be - i'm afraid to loose all the foods that seemed to help keep my energy when i went through high fatigue periods. I've stopped my breakfast cereal which was high in iron, but haven't found one yet that isn't. I am reluctant to cut back on vegetables and vegetable soup and fruit but i know vitamin C helps iron absorbtion so i guess orange juice with meals is something to be stopped too. Does anyone know a good plan to reduce iron intake? Thanks in advance

One more question I read about a system to donate only platelets at the national blood bank. Does anyone know if that's ok for a thal minor? I don't want to stop being a donor because we have serious problems with blood shortage in portuguese hospitals, i would like to find a safe way to help out. Thanks again Best wishes to all!

Hi Joanna,

I hope you would find this forum helpfull,i am a thal minor myself,and am just thinking about getting my ferritin levels checked,coz my hb last checked was 9.7,so before starting a high iron diet i wanted to confirm my ferritin,as for you, you'll have to avoid high iron diet,iron is mostly present in red meat and green leafy vegetables,so try avoiding them ,and try to make a habit of taking tea with meals,it will help your body not to absorb much iron from the food taken,and to maintain hb level,take folic acid daily,as for your high ferritin level,i don't think you can start any iron chelator,as your iron is not that high,but i'll suggest IP6,which is a mild chelator plus anti-oxidant,but i am no doctor,so check it with your doctor,i hope he knows about IP6.and you can search about it online,or check this thread on our forum.

 http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php?topic=1177.0

This is a brief list of iron rich foods,

Foods that are a good source of iron include:
liver
lean red meats, including beef, pork, lamb
seafood, such as oysters, clams, tuna, salmon, and shrimp, etc.
beans, including kidney, lima, navy, black, pinto, soy beans, and lentils
iron fortified whole grains, including cereals, breads, rice, and pasta
greens, including collard greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach, and turnip greens
tofu
vegetables, including broccoli, swiss chard, asparagus, parsley, watercress, brussel sprouts
chicken and turkey
blackstrap molasses
nuts
egg yolks
dried fruits, such as raisins, prunes, dates and apricots

I hope it helps,

ZAINI.

Hi joana,

to the forum. with Zaini. Furthermore, I don't think you will have trouble with donating blood for platelets. As a matter of fact donating blood will reduce your Serum Ferritin much faster. The only thing is that you should wait a bit longer between donations. Hb of 12 should be ok for donation but you shouldn't donate below that.

I hope tea and IP6 will do good in reducing iron that you take with diet.

Welcome!

Also, food that are high in calcium inhibit the iron absorbtion.  So, if you drink milk instead of juice, you will absorb less iron from the food you eat.

Keep in mind your body will not absorb all of the iron in the food you eat.  Only a percentage will be absorbed and you do need some iron.  Mainly stay away from foods fortified with iron and of course red meats. 

You may want to research the difference between Heme iron and non-heme iron.  Heme iron is absorbed more easily.  That is the iron found in foods such as red meat.

Good luck!

Hi Joana,

You can still have your orange juice and other citrus. Just take them between meals so they don't aid iron absorption. I don't know about Portugal, but in the US you can find many cereals without added iron. Often these are sold in health food stores. Please do continue to eat your veggies as they are a good source of many other nutrients and the non heme iron in non animal foods is not as easily absorbed as the heme iron in meats.

Even though most doctors will tell you that thal minor has no symptoms, many minors do experience quality of life issues brought on by thal minor. Reading through the forum you will see many suggestions on how to deal with tiredness etc. A good diet with proper nutritional supplements is a good first step.