Truly, it's been an exciting few months. I doggedly worked my way through my Board Exams, filling out paperwork (a task that I hate like poison!), and creating a home for my new practice on the web, and Monday was the first day that I made myself available to accept patients! The amount of time and effort that has led to this bears reflection - but right now, I'm just excited and focused on looking forward.
As the stress of Board exams dissipated, I was expecting to feel a burden lifted off of me. Once again I could focus on my life beyond my ability to memorize and hold on to a seemingly infinite amount of information. However, I found that some troubling symptoms I had developed (which I assumed were just the result of stress and, as we'd say in TCM, "over-thinking"), were not going away even with rest, good food, and (attempted) exercise. Fatigue - or maybe more accurately, exhaustion - was the number one problem, but what was worrying me most was the fact that I would often wake to the sound of my heart pounding like I'd just run a marathon. My blood pressure seemed to skyrocket when I'd walk up a flight of stairs, or lifted my dog from the floor - I tried making the bed and nearly blacked out! That was my wakeup call. I had to see a doctor.
I think it's tough for us healer/care-taker types (yes, I'm looking at you moms and dads out there) to admit that we have a problem we can't "doctor" ourselves. Bottom line: I know enough about medicine to suspect what the doctor confirmed: I have iron-deficiency anemia, and probably have for a long time. But going to the doctor meant admitting to myself that I was not well, which made me feel like I was a bad practitioner. I had tried eating better, taking supplements. I had convinced myself that I was just out of shape and stressed, maybe drinking too much coffee. But when I couldn't make a darn bed without nearly falling over, I was convinced there was more going on and I needed a second opinion.
There are those among us healers who stand by the proclamation, "Healers don't get sick!" But I disagree. Once, in the middle of a horrendous migraine (also, I'm told, due to my anemia), I heard the words come as clear as if they'd been spoken to me aloud: "One has to hurt in order to heal." You have to go through your own journey of healing in order to become a healer, to know first-hand a little bit about suffering to empathize with your patients, your children, your loved ones. Because I have walked that path, I am an expert on migraines, on knee pain, allergies, anxiety/depression, and now, on anemia. Everyone's different, but I know how much it sucks to have these problems and I know how much it matters to my patients to take care of them. It makes me that much more serious about going that extra mile to help them find relief. Take it a step further and I know that, having been in pain, I can start to empathize with all kinds of pain. Whenever I hurt, it pulls me off my high horse and reminds me that I too am a human, and even though I now have the skills to help another person find healing, I need to take the same advice I give to others.
So I'll end this post with a little info about anemia. First of all, iron-deficiency anemia is the number one form of nutrient deficiency worldwide, and is estimated to affect 10-20% of all women during their childbearing years. The main symptoms (and I experienced nearly all of them) are: pallor, palpitations, feeling cold, hair loss, brittle nails, breathlessness, exhaustion, mood swings/irritability, blurry vision or "seeing spots," weakness, and "cognitive impairment" - or as I call it, "feeling like an idiot all the time." I also had chest pains. In Chinese medicine, this cluster of symptoms would be attributed to the pathological pattern of "blood deficiency," and in a lot of ways, that's exactly what it is: without iron, your body can't make hemoglobin, which is basically the part of a red blood cell that carries oxygen throughout the body. That means the symptoms associated with this form of anemia come about because the body is basically deprived of oxygen. In TCM terms, this is interesting because we often say that "blood holds Qi" - Qi being translated both as energy and as oxygen. The best way to describe the feeling of anemia is "having no energy" - that's certainly how I'm feeling!
Many women don't know they have anemia because they assume they're being tested as part of their yearly physical, but that's often not the case. And then when all blood tests come back "normal," they assume that their "no energy" feeling is normal as well. Be advised - it's not ever "normal" to feel crappy. If you're experiencing the above symptoms, call the doctor and say specifically "I want to be tested for anemia (and probably hypothyroidism, too - many of the symptoms are the same)."
Chinese Medicine can do a a lot for anemia, through the use of dietary therapy and raw herbs. Acupuncture can help with the symptoms, and it did help me immensely when I was able to get treated regularly. Iron supplements (available over the counter) are arguably the most effective way to treat it, but it's best to see a doc for dosage, and so you can get into the routine of having your blood checked to make sure the supplements are being absorbed.
As the stress of Board exams dissipated, I was expecting to feel a burden lifted off of me. Once again I could focus on my life beyond my ability to memorize and hold on to a seemingly infinite amount of information. However, I found that some troubling symptoms I had developed (which I assumed were just the result of stress and, as we'd say in TCM, "over-thinking"), were not going away even with rest, good food, and (attempted) exercise. Fatigue - or maybe more accurately, exhaustion - was the number one problem, but what was worrying me most was the fact that I would often wake to the sound of my heart pounding like I'd just run a marathon. My blood pressure seemed to skyrocket when I'd walk up a flight of stairs, or lifted my dog from the floor - I tried making the bed and nearly blacked out! That was my wakeup call. I had to see a doctor.
Coffee, you are no help
I think it's tough for us healer/care-taker types (yes, I'm looking at you moms and dads out there) to admit that we have a problem we can't "doctor" ourselves. Bottom line: I know enough about medicine to suspect what the doctor confirmed: I have iron-deficiency anemia, and probably have for a long time. But going to the doctor meant admitting to myself that I was not well, which made me feel like I was a bad practitioner. I had tried eating better, taking supplements. I had convinced myself that I was just out of shape and stressed, maybe drinking too much coffee. But when I couldn't make a darn bed without nearly falling over, I was convinced there was more going on and I needed a second opinion.
There are those among us healers who stand by the proclamation, "Healers don't get sick!" But I disagree. Once, in the middle of a horrendous migraine (also, I'm told, due to my anemia), I heard the words come as clear as if they'd been spoken to me aloud: "One has to hurt in order to heal." You have to go through your own journey of healing in order to become a healer, to know first-hand a little bit about suffering to empathize with your patients, your children, your loved ones. Because I have walked that path, I am an expert on migraines, on knee pain, allergies, anxiety/depression, and now, on anemia. Everyone's different, but I know how much it sucks to have these problems and I know how much it matters to my patients to take care of them. It makes me that much more serious about going that extra mile to help them find relief. Take it a step further and I know that, having been in pain, I can start to empathize with all kinds of pain. Whenever I hurt, it pulls me off my high horse and reminds me that I too am a human, and even though I now have the skills to help another person find healing, I need to take the same advice I give to others.
Anemic hand on the right. Visiting Arizona recently, my Mom kept saying"you look pale." I thought it was just the fact that I was a Minnesotan visiting Arizona in the middle of winter, but a tell-tale sign is paleness of the palms of the nails and fingers.
So I'll end this post with a little info about anemia. First of all, iron-deficiency anemia is the number one form of nutrient deficiency worldwide, and is estimated to affect 10-20% of all women during their childbearing years. The main symptoms (and I experienced nearly all of them) are: pallor, palpitations, feeling cold, hair loss, brittle nails, breathlessness, exhaustion, mood swings/irritability, blurry vision or "seeing spots," weakness, and "cognitive impairment" - or as I call it, "feeling like an idiot all the time." I also had chest pains. In Chinese medicine, this cluster of symptoms would be attributed to the pathological pattern of "blood deficiency," and in a lot of ways, that's exactly what it is: without iron, your body can't make hemoglobin, which is basically the part of a red blood cell that carries oxygen throughout the body. That means the symptoms associated with this form of anemia come about because the body is basically deprived of oxygen. In TCM terms, this is interesting because we often say that "blood holds Qi" - Qi being translated both as energy and as oxygen. The best way to describe the feeling of anemia is "having no energy" - that's certainly how I'm feeling!
Think that weakness and exhaustion you're feeling is normal? It's never "normal" to feel crappy.
Many women don't know they have anemia because they assume they're being tested as part of their yearly physical, but that's often not the case. And then when all blood tests come back "normal," they assume that their "no energy" feeling is normal as well. Be advised - it's not ever "normal" to feel crappy. If you're experiencing the above symptoms, call the doctor and say specifically "I want to be tested for anemia (and probably hypothyroidism, too - many of the symptoms are the same)."
Chinese Medicine can do a a lot for anemia, through the use of dietary therapy and raw herbs. Acupuncture can help with the symptoms, and it did help me immensely when I was able to get treated regularly. Iron supplements (available over the counter) are arguably the most effective way to treat it, but it's best to see a doc for dosage, and so you can get into the routine of having your blood checked to make sure the supplements are being absorbed.
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