Anemia/Ketones feeling down. Please respond. Anyone?

I had my surgery on August 2007 and I am now 2 lbs from my goal. I feel satisfied with my weight loss but I wonder if I were better off with the extra 90 lbs. When i was bigger I had my diabetes and hypertension under control. Last week I found out I have severe anemia and my bosy is still using its own fat for energy which means that I am practically wasting away. I feel tired and depressed ALL the time. When I wake up, I feel like I never slept and ran a marathon all night. It's also very painful to breathe. I feel out of control over my  own health. Anyone else having issues like these?

I'm sure sorry to hear of your struggles.  Have you been to your surgeon or nurse to have bloodwork done?  There are obviously things out of whack.  I hope things turn around for you and you get to feeling better.  I know when my energy level was low I was low in iron and am now on a supplement and feel MUCH better. 

Please keep us updated on your condition ok?  I will keep you in my prayers! 

God bless you!

Brenda

Let's put it this way: on a scale from 40-100, the iron level on my blod is 9. That's gotta be bad. I am taking iron supplements but it seems they're not helping.
Thank You for responding. It means so much...

Hello again :)
Keep up with the iron supplements.  It takes quit a bit of time before you really start to notice a difference.  Your body is playing catch-up and it takes a good while to reach the "normal" mark again.  I started taking iron supplements and it took a good month to six weeks before I started to notice a difference in my energy level.  But it does come.  Don't be too discouraged...things will even out but it may take some time.

Hang in there!  You're awesome!

Brenda

Sorry to hear you are not doing well.  I have to watch my vitamins and protein intake.  If I do not get enough, I get shaky, dizzy and feel yucky.  You know, especially this time of year, I get sad that I cannot eat what I want sometimes.  Sugar cookies make me sick, and they are my absolute favoritist food in the world.  I have to remind myself that nothing tastes as good as thin feels, but it is rough.  I have actually been working to gain a lil bit of weight...I am  sitting at 127 now and feel like this is a good weight for me.  Before, I did not feel strong.  I felt weak.  Now, I think I am at a good place.  I am still healing from the tummy tuck.  I figure if I can stay at 130 or below, I am good.  I need to tone up now.  Saw the Dr. today and he said I can exercise (finally) but no ab area workouts.  Still I am going to work on my flabocious arms lol.  I understand what u mean about this surgery and missing the NORMAL days.  I have alot of bowel issues now that I did not have before, and I am struggling now to get that under control.  I guess we trade some good and some bad eh?  Have a wonderful weekend and we are all here to support you.  I am going to be better on checking in here with my dear friends.  Love to u all. 

Thank You for the note. It's kinda late to wonder what I would be feeling if I didn't have the RNY but when times are hard it's only human nature to wonder "what if". I'll get over it. I am religiously taking the iron and trying to keep up some kind of hope and good attitude. The internal conflict is the one that bothers me but I KNOW I'll get through this one too.
It feels so good to have people who know how I feel respond to my concerns. My husband doesn't really get it when I say "I'm tired" so at least some people out there know how real this really is and how yucky it feels.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT!!!

Hi,  Sorry to hear that you are not feeling well.  I hope you don't mind if I put in my 2 cents too.  You mention that you are depressed all the time.  Have you spoken to your doctor about that?  Untreated depression can play havoc with your energy level and if you compound that with anemia you will feel even worse.  Also....when you take your iron supplements try to take them with orange juice or vitamin C they will absorb better and don't take the iron within 2 hours of taking your calcium.  Let us know how you are making out and good luck.
Fran

Kathleen,
Hello,My dear,
I am loving all cookies!!!!  I am loosing the battle. I am up to 168 today. So scared!!!!

Hello,
I am so sorry to hear you are having trouble. You'd think this far out we'd all be getting to some form of normal huh? I cannot offer you anything but my insights as lame as they are, but know I care about you...........

I do feel tired a lot too, but my blood work is OK, so what's my excuse? I am not even close to goal, being at 167 today, my highest weight since surgery. I should be at 140, 120 in my dreams. I can eat anything but I cannot have milk. So, I do eat anything, and that's horrible. So, there are many difficulties we all deal with - the people at goal that can't eat wishing they could, the people not at goal who can eat anything wishing they couldn't. It isn't a cure for all our ills that's for sure. I wish sometimes I never would have had this operation, that I was far better off fat. Having all my hair back( it never did grow back) and no sagging skin that I now cant afford to remove. But.......... I am healthier, so its a toss up. I have to say, I look older now, lots more wrinkled, and do not feel as sexy as I used to feel even being fat. I guess most of the time I just know I made a choice, and continue to choose each day. I am not a victim of this surgery, I chose it and I must deal with that choice. Some days its sucks, some days it doesn't.
Please keep up hope, keep taking your meds and know people do care.
Tara
 

Thank You for your reply!
I am pretty much at goal and believe it or not I can eat a lot and sometimes I find myself hungry. When I eat more than what I am used to I also get tired. When I eat too much sugar, I get tired too. I check my weight every morning and if I am more than 1 lb heavier than the morning before I go on a protein spree, eating even smaller protein amounts and no carbs. That's probably why I am expelling ketones. I know my routine sounds obsessive and I know it is, but I am terrified that I am going to gain weight again.
I'm sorry to hear about your hair. I cut it so short that I'm having a hard time growing it back but the bald spots are gone. About the sexy issue, at 23 years of age I find it very hard to feel as sexy as I did when I was big. I can't fit in some medium tops because my boobs are too big, when I put the large on, it's too big on the stomach. The boobs are too big because there's nothing but skin. I am embarrased to go to the beach with my friends because they're all "in place" but I have these folds under my arms from picking up my boobs to fit my bikni top...and oh the skin on my stomach.  Yeah, I guess it is a toss up but I wish someone had told me some of these facts so I would at least be prepared.