What's in my blood? Iron.

Do you ever feel like a human pin-cushion?

If you're anything like me, you will. Blood tests are a regular thing for me, which is a pity because my veins are very rude and don't like to cooperate. Ouch!

I've had some trouble with my blood ferritin levels in the past, which are so fickle that they fluctuate like Marilyn Monroe's supposed dress-size.

This shouldn't be a surprise to you, if you're familiar with coeliacs and other autoimmune disorders. Gluten-freesias tend to have trouble absorbing nutrients, particularly before diagnosis and during the healing process. But we can also struggle with iron levels even if we're living a happy, healthy gluten-free lifestyle.

But how do you know if you've got good iron levels? After a few bad experiences with Doctors and blood test results, I decided to keep copies of my own. This way I can see my progress and pick up things that the Dr might miss.

I strongly suggest that you do the same. There is nothing like holding your own blood test results in your own little hands, perusing them and then dancing down the hallway when you realise that you've set a new iron record.

I'm not going to write about iron and how to ensure your diet is iron rich, I'll do that later. I want to show you how much my iron levels have changed over the years as a kind of example - I want you to have the same joy that I do when finding out for yourself (with the facts on paper, in your hands) that you must be doing something right because guess what: YOU'RE HEALTHY!


Haha, some people like to show their readers what's in their handbag or fridge. But me? I show you what's in my blood.

(Note: When reading iron blood tests the most important thing is to look at the ferritin levels. Ferritin is a protein that binds to iron in your blood, so measuring that tells you how much stored (and readily available) iron there is floating around in your body. The numbers in brackets (20-200) are the normal range of levels. If the number is within those two your levels are technically fine.)

Starting back in February 2007, way before I was diagnosed with coeliacs.

October 2007. I knew there was something wrong, I could see it. But it wasn't officially low so the Dr didn't think there was an issue. I felt faint and was often short of breath.

April 2008. So I started taking iron pills. They're nasty and (GROSS ALERT!) have a tendency to constipate. Eeesh!

August 2008. I didn't understand, but I knew this was better than 23ug/L. I kept taking iron pills.

November 2008. Woo! New record! But I didn't care about the iron results at the time because my coeliac ones were on the other page. They were positive. I said goodbye to bread and cried.

May 2009. No surprise, my iron went down because I stopped taking pills.

May 2010. One year later my iron had dropped significantly. I freaked out, why had it gone down when I was eating so healthy?!

December 2010. Although I had researched iron and tried to eat more of it (without taking the dreaded pills) my levels went down again. I felt terrible!

March 2011.  I had caved and taken some iron pills, but I had also eaten lots of vegetables during the summer, concentrating on leafy greens.

June 2011. This is the test I got this morning. MAGIC! I couldn't believe it! And I hadn't taken any iron pills between the March test and now... strange. I can only attribute it to the medication I'm currently on and the stuff that it does to my body.

There you go. Now you know what's in my blood!

I have come to love reading blood test results and I really hope that you will too. Why? It's your blood, your body and your health. Take control and find out what's going on inside your body so that you can take preventative measures if you see things going down-hill.

So... how are your iron levels doing?