Posted by Amy (USA and Canada) on 10/23/2019
★★★★★
Has your doctor mentioned copper? I ask because western medicine is so ill-informed when it comes to copper-an essential trace mineral that's crucial for iron levels and anemia. It's been very demonized in the media and a lot of people are under the impression that copper causes cancer, dementia, inflammation, etc when this isn't the case. If you get the wrong copper test, it can show you're high when in fact you aren't. An intracellular test, like a RBC (or WBC, some SOD) copper level and NOT a serum or plasma level, is what's needed. People who don't respond to iron supplements are especially low in copper quite often. Also, a lot of natural remedies, natural health, truth in general, are being suppressed and censored by Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. If you search with Duckduckgo.com (there are others too, like Qwant, SearX and Good Gopher are others I've seen, but not used yet) you will find some good information and there's a lot copper does for the body. I started copper and my energy has increased, arthritis pain is a lot better, sleep is better and cognitive abilities have improved. Anemia is gone and iron levels normal-without taking iron! Taking zinc supplements can easily lower your copper levels and a lot of people are low-level copper deficient, as it's very under diagnosed. It's usually only caught when someone is so low that they have ataxia and peripheral neuropathy. This is something I wrestled with for years and once I found the copper, it improved so many areas of my health. These days, iron is in everything and is even built into GMO foods and excess iron isn't a good thing. We're more susceptible to viruses, pathogens and more iron isn't the answer. Low copper issues; Poor immunity, grey or unusually light hair, insulin resistance, osteoporosis, HBP, high plasma cholesterol, fatigue, lower melanin, dry skin, high risk of clot formation, dizziness, weakness, shortness of breath, malabsorption issues, low white blood cells, joint and muscle pain and more. Of course you can get too much copper, like you can get too much of just about anything and it could be dangerous. Also important to get the right kind of copper. In the US and Canada, the soil is quite depleted. When I lived in New Zealand, I was impressed by the way people took care of the land. it's been a while and I hope that's still the case, but if you have GMO food there now, be especially diligent about what you eat. I really hope this helps, but please do some research on it. It really sounds like that's what's going on but hopefully you can get to the bottom of it. Good luck!
Posted by Elsaeasterly (Elsewhere, Ca, Usa) on 05/19/2011
★★★★★
In January I was diagnosed as being severely anemic. My ferritin level was 2. My blood volume was down by 10%. The doctor said I had virtually no iron in my body. I had been taking blackstrap molasses (1 or 2 tablespoons a day) for about a year and unfortunately it did not help me. I knew I needed iron because I was anemic 5 years ago, but it wasn't nearly as bad then as this time.
I did not want to take the prescription after reading all the negative experiences about it. I checked here on Earth Clinic and Dr. Weil's web site and decided to try the remedies that I listed in the title. I hope these brand names are printed because I am not endorsing one in particular, and I did read about at least 2 of them here.
After 2 months, huge success! All my numbers had come up so much that my doctor looked at me with big eyes and asked, "What did you do?" She actually wrote down the names of these products so that she could recommend them to other patients.
Interestingly, in Dr. Weil's article, he recommended Floradix, but said that it probably wouldn't be enough for those with severe anemia. Well, I took it anyway and proved him wrong!
By the way, prior to my first round of bloodwork, I had been taking rather large doses of zinc. I didn't find out until I was reading up on anemia that it blocks iron absorption. I also read that you should avoid milk, eggs, tea, and chocolate. I couldn't give up these items completely, but I reduced the milk and eggs, and I didn't take my iron within a couple of hours of consuming tea or chocolate. I had great results anyway