Replied by Jen (Bozeman, Mt) on 08/12/2011
You might be suffering from copper deficient anemia. Doctors don't usually check for it. Most Doctors think anemia is caused by iron deficiency only and don't realize the problems they could be causing by perscribing large amounts of iron. I was diagnosed as anemic in my early 20's when I was pregnant. My dr put me on 2 iron pills a day (sorry I don't remember the dose). I never got better but he wasn't worried so neither was I. Then I was (mistakenly) diagnosed with thalasemia beta and had a few freak outs with that. It turns out that it was not that thankfully but it looks alot like copper dificient anemia in some cases. My dr's still did not know this though and through more and more supplements of iron I believe it was a contributing factor to my Graves Disease. Copper and Iron have to be supplemented together if you are copper deficient. I was copper deficient and now that I know it I supplement both and am not anemic any more. You can also have pernicious anemia which is B12 deficiency. Hope this helped.Replied by Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 08/13/2011
Nicole, for the low stomach acid, try vinegar, but START SLOW. And for the low iron, try blackstrap molasses. Again, START SLOW.
