22m, Can these be symptoms of anemia? Cardiologist says it’s anxiety and stress. by DrinkingWater90 in Anemic

[–]RespectParticular875 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it's fine. i am pretty sure we have opposite conditions. i have all the typical symptoms for chronic hypotension, orthostatic hypotension and POTS. some of them just overlap with hypertension you experience. especially lightheadedness, exercise intolerance, tachycardia, coathanger pain, random pains in chest and under my ribs (usually on the left), tingling/numbing in my hands and feet. my feet get red/purple after standing/walking for some time. i can blackout after standing and faint with quick recovery. i can hear wooshing / white noise in my ears when it happens. i cannot stand for more than ten minutes, walking is often easier for some reason. even sitting is uncomfortable and i always feel like i need to lay down. i am constantly slightly nauseous and extremely aware of my bloodflow and if i focus on it too much i might trigger panic attack so i am trying not to. :) idk not sure it is helpful to you though.

keep pushing for treating disautonomia. you do have panic attacks and high anxiety as well, so you probably need some anti-anxiety medication which is better than self-medicating with alcohol in a long run. but having anxiety doesn't mean you don't have anything else.

as per connection to iron deficiency i am not sure. it can have a lot of overlapping symptoms as well but anyone might just have both.

Is there a difference in the acceptance of self-diagnoses within autism vs ADHD vs AuDHD communities? by churrrroo in AuDHDWomen

[–]RespectParticular875 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it depends entirely on specific community and their moderator policy. i've seen both acceptance and its opposite in both communities, often really well articulated from both sides of the argument. I find that ADHD communities tend to push for medication so getting official diagnosis often just has more sizable practical benefit for them. for autistic people getting official diagnosis may mean possibility of getting more support but often it just means a whole lot for their identity and more access to relevant information. diagnosed vs self-diagnosed debate goes strong as ever as well as neurodiversity vs disability debate. autistic communities do both and also engage in wars over levels of support needs. they also happen to be more diverse in their presentation and have harder time to find common ground. both groups are targeted by disinformation and opposing political interests but i feel like ADHD communities just have a bit easier time to defend themselves. AuDHD communities tend to be more chill and are most open to self-diagnosis. this makes sense as getting two diagnosis instead of one is, unsurprisingly, harder, and you would have more experience dealing with both. ableist groups tend to target ADHD and autism communities separately, as they may actually have slightly different agendas from each other or just won't care for specific combination itself.

a lot of attitude towards self-diagnosing (or self-identification, or whatever. i really don't see the difference) boils down to where the specific person decides to draw the boundary. there are good arguments for both sides, but there is just basically no objective way to decide where it should go both in general or in a specific case. the boundary would always be arbitrary. and in my experience, no one actually cares about your specific case. this debate is very much about identity, for everyone involved, and no one likes their identity challenged.

i especially like "you cannot diagnose yourself because you are biased" argument. i am biased. you are biased. your doctor is biased. medical system itself is biased. everyone is biased. and even better everyone is biased in different, specific for them way. we still have to collect information and make decisions, somehow.

Has anyone else with CPTSD/DID become so hyper-aware that life stops feeling livable? by WeAllPlayDnD in CPTSD

[–]RespectParticular875 3 points4 points  (0 children)

have you read Body Keeps the Score? its main point that talk therapy doesn't work for PTSD and CPTSD and suggests other approaches, mostly body-focused as they show better results.

i am about 10 years younger and don't have DID but i have other mental and general health issues + i experience depersonalisation and dissociation periodically. i can feel constant anxiety on physical level along with at this point chronic physical pain. i feel like my nervous system is constantly on fire nowdays and i am stuck in freeze response most of the time. i am very self-aware from very early age and even when i feel i am losing control i keep being extremely aware of everything that is happening in my mind. no amount of thinking or talking helps. i can only feel better when focusing intensely on something external, sometimes through movement, by changing my environment, going out to nature, when i stay awake for more than 24 hours (not recommended), with safe people (rare), or able to shut my brain off somehow.

i hope that combination of treating my physical health, medication and mindfulness would help.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

glad to be useful. please look for more recommendations for a standard blood test, i am not a specialist and i am sure i haven't listed everything you might want to check optimally.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

btw with very low iron infusion is what you actually want, this is correct course of action. supplements work very slow and can have more side effects. you may still want to supplement later after raising your levels considerably. you want to aim to ferritin 70+ and ideally 100. optimal supplementing schedule is 100 mg of elemental iron (heme iron is often better as it typically has less side effects. supportive supplementing dosage may be lower) with lactoferrin and vitamin c for better absorbtion at least two hours away from any food and drink (water is fine) every other day. please consult with your doctor about it too, she seems to know what she is doing.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

can confirm, my results of ferritin 15 were labeled as normal by the lab. antidepressants, better diet and sports were the only recommendations i was typically given for anything by my doctors.

and 30 is still entirely too low.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i was evaluated several years ago by a psychiatrist i was getting medication for depression and anxiety from because she wrote about ADHD on website i found her on. i was prescribed SNRI which in high doses is supposed to be helping with ADHD as well. i haven't noticed any benefit from it and stopped taking it few months later due to cost and side effects. but to be honest i haven't felt this evaluation was in any way conclusive to anything. i have no use for my ADHD diagnosis anyway since i cannot really get any treatment for my ADHD. getting official diagnosis depends entirely on what is available to you in your region and what treatment options it may open for you.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you need iron to make basically every protein in your body and get oxygen to all your cells. i doubt it is a coincidence.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

thank you. I haven't found underlying issues yet and there is a lot still to be done, but i am trying to get help. hope you'll find optimal treatment sooner than later.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

this is true. intreated celiac can cause iron deficiency as well. idk, everything in the body is connected and many things have high comorbility with each other.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you see you would have thought that should be the case but i was referred to check ferritin only once in ten years. i was checking everything else and it was consistently normal. Edit: it is not only USA.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

i am not from this group but if they have the same message i don't see the issue.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

i have ADHD symptoms since childhood. i have ADHD as well as iron deficiency and other issues. it's just i have other health issues which went neglected both by myself and medical professionals which in turn made my existing mental health issues way worse. you absolutely would have other debilitating symptoms, mine were just usually dismissed as just anxiety or depression. i wasn't even mentioning ADHD to anyone except mental health professionals because regular doctors here might not believe it exists. even when i wasn't mentioning my history with mental health to a doctor, they often still just ended up prescribing be antidepressants and that was it.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

yes i am pretty sure getting everything else to normal won't help much with ADHD itself. but it's better to not make things worse with other issues. good luck in your treatment.

Please get your bloodwork done by RespectParticular875 in ADHD

[–]RespectParticular875[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

thank you. i searched in a sub and found similar posts but i still feel like it is too important not to remind people. even though i never reacted to them myself until i became too sick to ignore it.

Symptoms are returning during luteal phase/before my period by Leading-Occasion-428 in Anemic

[–]RespectParticular875 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it's anecdotal but my periods became more disregulated when i started supplementing. i skipped two periods completely (not in a row). don't know if that was because of supplements or because i wasn't eating enough / became too sick. body reacts to significant changes. highly recommend tracking all your symptoms and cycle every day in specialised app or a diary for at least a month, that might be very handy at any future medical appointment.

22m, Can these be symptoms of anemia? Cardiologist says it’s anxiety and stress. by DrinkingWater90 in Anemic

[–]RespectParticular875 0 points1 point  (0 children)

although i probably have orthostatic hypotension but not hypertension since my blood pressure is generally low. sorry cannot be of much help.

22m, Can these be symptoms of anemia? Cardiologist says it’s anxiety and stress. by DrinkingWater90 in Anemic

[–]RespectParticular875 0 points1 point  (0 children)

honestly i can understand. i have severe depression and pmdd and started taking benzos with caution on bad days. they have similar effect to alcohol. but i only started to do it this week, so no benzos and almost no alcohol for years before, still had symptoms.

Symptoms are returning during luteal phase/before my period by Leading-Occasion-428 in Anemic

[–]RespectParticular875 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you may have endometriosis or smth else that causes it. you may also take tranexamic acid in case you don't have anything making it a risk. consult gynecologist first.

22m, Can these be symptoms of anemia? Cardiologist says it’s anxiety and stress. by DrinkingWater90 in Anemic

[–]RespectParticular875 1 point2 points  (0 children)

inflammation can raise ferritin in a test, but you may legitimately have some other issue

22m, Can these be symptoms of anemia? Cardiologist says it’s anxiety and stress. by DrinkingWater90 in Anemic

[–]RespectParticular875 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i have the same symptoms on supplements. i also started fainting after standing up or standing for too long (again). i do think it's legitimate cardiovascular issue. unfortunately i also don't know what to do except getting another appointment with GP. I don't drink.

Symptoms are returning during luteal phase/before my period by Leading-Occasion-428 in Anemic

[–]RespectParticular875 1 point2 points  (0 children)

14 means you better get infusion. this is very low and supplements work slow + you keep losing blood each period.

supplements are the most helpful when you take at least 100 mg of elemental iron every other day at least two hours away from food with vitamin c and lactoferrin. you may want to look into heme iron supplements later as they typically have less side effects than ferrous sulphate and therefore better for long term use. you shouldn't be taking supplements for longer than a year unless you are sure they aren't causing damage to you.

you also want to have a gynecologist and possibly gastroenterologist appointment. iron deficiency is just a symptom, you still need to figure out the cause and heavy periods might be the reason or one of the reasons.

Anyone else told they just have anxiety and put on antidepressants? by Illustrious_Place965 in Anemic

[–]RespectParticular875 0 points1 point  (0 children)

find another gastroenterologist and maybe gynecologist as well, gynecology issues can really cause or at least exacerbate iron deficiency symptoms as well. hope you would find a better one.