Category: Wellbeing

Blogging about mental health and wellbeing and sharing my journey through depression.

2020-07-01 Wellbeing

A ferritin test revealed that I had iron deficiency

 

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Last December I went to get my blood tests done. I bought a blood test set from *Puhti. It’s a new service, where you can choose what tests you want to get done, without doctor’s referral.  I didn’t even know about it until Risto told me. He’s very excited about everything health related and he wants all the information he can get. Once again, I was lucky to have him push me in the right direction.

 

I went just to check that everything’s fine. You don’t really get blood tests done in a normal appointment on the public side, unless you have some problems or symptoms. I felt fine, except that I was a bit tired. I though it was just the winter. Well – if I hadn’t gone I don’t know how bad my situation would have got. Because the ferritin test revealed that I was actually very low on iron.

Puhti blood tests – my experience

It’s easy to choose and buy the tests you need and then you can just schedule an appointment in a lab. It’s actually awesome – normally going in a lab you need to wait about an hour, or more. Now I could just go and have it done in less than 10 minutes.

I bought *the test set for active women, since I exercise a lot. It has basically all the information you can get, including your cholesterol, vitamin levels, creatine, blood sugar, CRP, thyroid and liver levels. I was interested to get an idea of my overall fitness.

I’m also a vegetarian so I was intrigued to see how my B12 and D levels were.

I got the tests done in December 2019. I got some of the results on the same day and the rest the next day. And guess what? I was almost as healthy as a horse! My vitamin D and B12 were great. I actually do take supplements for them.

 

Low on iron & magnesium

The bad news was my low ferritin level and also low magnesium level. They both may have something to do with the fact that I run a lot. Low iron is also explained by my diet. I don’t really get iron from my food easily, since I’m a vegetarian.

Getting that information was a shock and a relief. I realized I had been tired. And just trying to push through. I felt bad for feeling tired, which made me feel lazy. Now I know I had a good reason for sleeping late and napping!

Immediately I bough iron drink and Risto bought me iron tablets from amazon. He orders most of our vitamins there and judging on the data, I’d say they’re working pretty great.

The iron I take is *natural element’s EISEN, which has 40g of iron and vitamin C. I took it every morning on an empty stomach for about 3 months. The last month I have been less precise with it and just taking it a few times a week maybe.

I also started to take magnesium in the evening more religiously. Before I only took it every so often.

New tests in five months

On May 2020 I took my ferritin and magnesium levels again and was pleased to find out they were both fine! This time I only bought these two tests.

In just five months, my ferritin level rose from 16,6 to 50,9 μg/l. I had heard that getting your ferritin up is difficult, but I think it happened pretty fast. I also started to feel better – less tired and I did not get out of breath as easily as before.

One of the important questions: what does my stomach think of the iron supplement?

I’ve heard that iron can be rough on your stomach. And I was a bit worried, since my stomach is sensitive. At first it took some getting used to to taking iron every day. I had some mild stomach issues, but nothing serious. Very quickly I got used to it and it didn’t affect me at all. I think the fact that I take it on an empty stomach and that it has vitamin C helps it to absorb.

All in all I would definitely recommend the service, if you want to get an idea of your fitness. You can also choose specific tests, so if you doubt that you’re low on iron for example, you can just buy the ferritin test or get the ferritin + vitamin D set. See all the tests and sets on *Puhti.

Have you ever experienced iron deficiency? Do you think paying for blood tests is crazy?

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2019-05-23 Wellbeing

My body is written with scars

scars on my body stretch marks positivity

I don’t need to cover my stretch marks in glitter to celebrate them. They already tell me a story of a young girl growing up and becoming her own person. They remind me, that beautiful is imperfect. They remind me, that skin, is just skin.

This morning I woke up with a nice tan. Perfect, really. It’s almost as if I’ve been to a beach holiday for a week and managed to get the most even tan ever, without the dryness. And yes, obviously my color is from a self tanner. I’ve been trying out a new one that I really like.

But that’s not the point of this post – just a nice detail (I’ll tell you about the product at the end of this post).

I woke up with the tan and I realized that it made my stretch marks really stand out. A real tan does that as well, mind you. The skin on my scars is lighter, smoother and different and that makes them stand out especially when I tan.

I was reminded, that I’m actually full of those scars. And when I say full, I mean full. That might surprise you – even though I’m normal weight or skinny in some standards, and have never really been much bigger than this, I still have stretch marks.

And since it’s the bikini season and there are so many women and men being insecure about their bodies and imperfections, I wanted to talk a little about #scarpositivity.

body positivity

Stretch marks are just skin

I have stretch marks on my back, on my hips, on my butt, thighs, shins, arms and boobs. My body is full of them, especially the womenly parts. I got them when puberty hit me and I think one of the reasons I got so much of them was because puberty hit me hard. I grew up quick, literally. After anorexia and other eating disorders, suddenly my body went from very thin to normal. I’m pretty sure my eating disorder prevented me from growing up gradually (if that makes sense?) and when I finally started eating better, my body could change.

My post on eating disorders: Living with the monster

And then again, I think I’m just one of those people who get stretch marks easily. The scars on my back came when I was very young, before puberty. I remember my school doctor looking at my back and saying, that usually only boys get those linear scars. A comment that a young girl doesn’t necessarily want to hear, mind you.

But here I am. With my scars. And you know what? I don’t mind them. At all. (Okay okay, there are moments where the scars on my inner thighs slightly upset me.)

mental health

I’m not ashamed of them. I’m not appalled by them. I might actually feel a little empowered by them. I don’t need to cover my stretch marks in glitter to celebrate them. They already tell me a story of a young girl growing up and becoming her own person. They remind me, that beautiful is imperfect. They remind me, that skin, is just skin.

And yes – when they were bright red, in my teens, they were the most horrible thing in the world. They were red. They were visible, if I was wearing an open top. I was angry.  I was finally becoming a woman, but at what cost? I was a red-striped zebra – definitely not something I signed up for.

Stretch marks are just skin

But here I am and I’m okay. They turned out to be just skin (who would have guessed?). They got lighter. They became my skin. They are not visible, not really. Only if you know to look for them.

And I’m not sure why, but I feel calm and reassured now. The marks on my body, they didn’t matter. They didn’t prevent me from living my life.

So whatever is on my mind now, stressing me out or making me feel ugly – I’m pretty sure in ten years from now, it won’t matter. Or if it does, it’s only making me stronger.

I guess I just really wanted to say, that stretch marks and scars are normal. They are just skin. I have lots of them and I’m pretty sure if I ever got pregnant I would have a ton more. They could upset me for a while, after which I would accept them and move on.

Loving your own body and skin – now there’s a beautiful thing to remember and cherish.

minetan violet self tan 1 hour tan

minetan Super Dark Violet 1 Hour Express Tan review

I got gifted this product from lookfantastic. *adlink

The self-tanner I used was *minetan’s  1 hour express tan in the shade Super Dark Violet. I’m not sure if the color really matters (there are different options), because the active ingredient is your basic DHA. I really like this self tanner. It’s easy to apply with a mitt, it blends easily and dries quickly. That’s one of the benefits of a foam – they are the lightest option when it comes to skin feel. It gives a natural looking tan, that is not orange.  It lasts pretty well on my skin and wears off gradually, which is a good thing as well. I also used the *minetan mitt, which made the application process smooth. I really recommend using some mitt, that way you don’t have to worry about orange hands.

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