Most people who have any form of IBD will at some point in their life suffer from anaemia whether it's due to not absorbing iron well and/or from blood loss due to inflammation of the bowel which inevitably leads to bleeding.
Anaemia is now probably the most noticeable symptom which I suffer from now and it affects my life every day. No matter how much I sleep, I still feel tired and lethargic (FYI as I'm writing this I legit feel like I'm about to fall asleep and it's 2:00pm!) but I try not to let it stop me doing things too much but I have to make sure I get a good nights sleep every night, take things slowly and take a nap when I really need it (and to be honest I feel like I should have one now!).
I'm meant to take three of these tablets a day but they've been making me a bit sick recently so I'm actually just waiting for my IBD nurse to ring me back for my blood tests and if I'm still anaemic I'll hopefully get booked in for an iron infusion. Now, I know you might be thinking why I'm saying hopefully but I hate taking iron tablets, especially three a day, and I'd much rather go to hospital for half an hour, have a fifteen minute iron infusion and go home because last time it lasted me a good three months before they put me back on the tablets!
Something I try to do (and really need to try more lately) is adding more iron to my diet. Some really good iron rich foods I like to include are spinach (however not so much now as I get scared that it'll block my stoma), fish and chicken (both rich in iron) and broccoli. I have also cut out caffeine from my diet because it stops you from absorbing iron apparently!
If you want more information, head over to the Crohn's and Colitis charity website, go and have a search of the #7daysofIBD and read about other peoples lives with IBD and get involved yourself in the hashtag and finally, donate to the charity by texting DAYS22 £3 to 70070.
Drinking a glass of orange juice in the morning also helps iron absorbency, as well as chicken livers!
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