Not that I knew it, but a big feature of recent months has been fatigue brought on by a lack of iron. Iron is used body to help generate red blood cells. A good supply of these gives you energy whereas an insufficient supply leads to fatigue - and additional draining pain! Apparently around 60% of people with arthritis are anemic.
My particular type of anemia is called Normocytic anemia. Not that that means much (to me), it is more a label indicating anemia with an associated low red blood cell count. Apparently this can be common with people with diseases like arthritis.
My symptoms that feel can be attributed at least in part to anemia include:
- Pain in my lower legs: My right leg in particular has been painful below the knee. Lifting it say to get in and out of bed was not nice.
- Weakness in my hands: I have not been able to open jars, use a can opener or turn taps on and off easily.
People with arthritis need a steady supply of good foods. Because of arthritis, your body uses up nutrients much more quickly than for healthy people. So you need to alter your diet to give it the nutrition it needs and deserves. By this I definitely do not mean you must eat more! Nor do I necessarily mean buying organic food. What I do mean is choosing the foods you eat and the foods you avoid.
As you can see from the chart my C-reactive protein is heading towards normal. This I knew anyway since my inflammation (and thus much of the pain) is dropping everywhere.