Help !! Menopause and Thal Minor

Hi

I am new here and need some help.

I am peri monpausal and having problems with my thalassemia minor.

For the last 10 months or so I have been constantly tired, much more than usual. My periods are very heavy and the hospitals answer is a hysterectomy which I have refused.

A couple of months ago I went to my GP complaining of excesive sleepiness, sometimes as much as 20 hours in a day. I also had a sore throat that had lasted for 2 months and mouth ulcers

The doctor took afull blood sample and discovered that I was deficant in Vit b's and that my iron count was very low.

I have had vit b12 shots and the doc says I will probably have to have them for the rest of my life, I am by the way, vegetarian on both ethical and health grounds. The injections have made me feel a bit better and I am only needing to sleep 10 hours a day.

The GP has given me 2 months to improve my iron levels naturaly before he starts me on artifical iron e.g. tablets on injections, which I know will cause me either diaoreah (cant spell) or constipation.

I have tried taking Spatone, a naturl iron supplement that is suppose to be very gentle but three weeks into the course I am heavily constipated and experiencing very painful stomach aches. I have stopped taking them but have to admit I did feel better whilst I was on them.

I have now got a very heavy period and of course this will not be helping my iron levels.

I insticlively feel that my inability to  fight common ailments (eg the everlasting sore throat), the recurent mouth ulcers and the period problems are all related in someway to my thalassemia. Also no one seems to be able to tell me why I am not absorbing vit B's through my food.

It seems that the medical profession can only see bits of me, not  the whole person, and that their answers are just to remove bits of me.

Has anyone any ideas or opinions? Your time and experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading

Sue

Hi Sue.

Welcome to our forum and I hope  this site provides you with the help and knowledge you need to deal with your doctor.
I am in the same situation as your are and after seven years the doctors are still telling me thal minor does not cause any problem and at the time  ive dealt with so many health problems
I  now lives on pain killers and sleeping pills.
I am  post menopause but my health deterioates when i started menopause .I also had a hyterectomy due to excessive bleeding and fybroids.
I hope I make sense ,
this website has restored my sanity and help me to make sence health wise.I wise you good luck.
kathy.

Hi Sue,

I'm not thal but I have suffered from iron deficiency anemia and had much abdominal discomfort from using iron pills. I finally gave up and worked on getting iron through my diet, which is a challenge, as I am also a vegetarian. If you concentrate on including high iron foods in your diet you can raise your iron levels to normal. We have a thread on this subject at

http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php?topic=230.0

As far as the vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, there can be an assortment of causes.

From http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000574.htm

Causes of vitamin B12 deficiency include:

    * A diet low in vitamin B12 (for example, a strict vegetarian diet that excludes all meat, fish, dairy products, and eggs)
    * Chronic alcoholism
    * Abdominal or intestinal surgery that affects intrinsic factor production or absorption
    * Crohn's disease
    * Intestinal malabsorption disorders
    * Fish tape worm
    * Pernicious anemia, which is caused by a lack of intrinsic factor
...Pernicious anemia is caused by a lack of intrinsic factor, a substance needed to absorb vitamin B12 from the gastrointestinal tract. Vitamin B12 is necessary for the formation of red blood cells.

Have the doctors mentioned the possibility of pernicious anemia? It is a common cause of B12 deficiency.

Kathy

Thanks f or yolur reply.

I must admit that until I found this site I had never had any contact with anyone else with thalassemia. GP's have always looked at me like I have two heads when I say I have thal minor, so being here is a big relief!!

I do need some support to 'deal' with my GP, who also says that, 'thalassemia minor does not caus any problems'.

Are any doctors understanding?

Andy

Thanks for the link and the info you posted, it is interesting.
Ireally dont think the vegetarianism has anything to do with the bit b deficancies as I do have dairy product and have also been using Complan for the last 4 months and this contains 90% of the DRA of Vit b12.
The big question is why is my body not absorbing it? I am afraid I dont see any obvious anwers from the list.

Anyway thanks both of you and if anyone else has any suggestion please reply

Hi Sue,

I'm not sure if you saw the last part of my post. Has pernicious anemia been ruled out? It is a common cause of B12 deficiency. My reason for posting the links about vegetarian diet was for the purpose of adding iron to the diet. Although vegetarians can also have B12 deficiency, if you are supplementing that shouldn't be a problem unless B12 isn't being absorbed, which could be caused by pernicious anemia.

Hi Andy

Yes I did see the part of your post that refered to pernicous anemia, but forgot to comment on it, I dont.
 know if it is part of my condition or not but my memory is definately getting worse recently.

My GP has told me that  it is important that pernicious anemia is not allowed to develop but that is all he has said.He has taken a number of blood tests so I assume he has tested for it.

Talking about food I do have problems with food that contains a lot of iron,e.g. spinach, some breakfast cereals, grapefruit, etc etc, they all act as natural laxatives !!! I have recently developed a problkem with orange,kiwi fruit and apple jusice. All of which contain vit c and would help me absorb iron.

Hi Sue,
I can identify with everything you typed in you post to andy,
yes it is true I was told I had pernicious anaemia and I myself have been forgetting simple things that is  one of the reason   why I gave up work.
I am alergic to kiwi fruits and I get same result with most leafy vegetables it just goes through me.funny I never associate it with thal.I was told to avoid food with prurine in it.
My Gp once told me she could n't change my genetic biology and she was out of her deapth where my health is concerned. she referred me to a heamatologist and he didn't appears to be much help either .he insisted that minors is not a problem and sent me back to my gp .I am now under her care .
recently I was given a second high blood pressure medication which gave me a very bad reaction ,I had Laryngeal oedema, my throat was swollen and I had to tell her what was happening .she then gave me prednisolone for few days and that helped.
I suggest you learn as mush as you can fron this site about your condition write it down and tell your gp about it.
I came to a conclussion that I need to ask for what I need from my gp or else I'll die while they still tell me that nothing is wrong with me.I feel lucky that I have some knowledge in medicine but it doesn't help when the mind is not functioning adequately, to remember some.
Changing my diet has help some what.now I eat only what seems to agree with my digestion.
Keep trying Sue you will get the help you need to have a better quality of life.
we are here and this group is fantastic.someone always has an answer for you.
Good luck girl.
Love Kathy.

For the last few months I have been on Floradix Iron and Herbs which is what I took as a kid (I am heterozygous beta thal minor with iron deficiency). This syrup is the only thing that doesn't cause me any intestinal problems and now my brother (same as me) is also on it. The nice thing about it is that it has iron, some b vitamins and C along with some herbs that supplement and help digestion.

I am done with iron pills...

Hi Marentina! 

Welcome to the I site! It's great to have you posting here too.

I'm sure that all everyone will benefit from the valuable knowledge that you share with everyone.

I am really impressed by your comprehensive posts and always look forward to read them!

Keep up the good work!

Take care, Peace!

Thanks Sajid.

I try to be around at both forums, but it is a lot of work and Andy tends to take care of things pretty well around here. I see people cross posting to get more info, which is good. People need as much information as possible.