Can being anemic effect performance?

freehub

I've being diagnosed with borderline anemia, I know it's not that serious but could explain why I'm tired and feel lazy struggling to get out of bed at 8am in the morning.

Can it effect performance on the bike, slow me down? Would it be resonsible for the reason why sometimes I have good days but other days I just feel sluggish and really can't seem to breath enough air in?



Thanks
Will.

bompington

You just need EPO!

ColinJ

Yes!

freehub

So when I get rid of Anemia I wonder how much I'll improve? Unless I don't have it all the time? Sometimes I'm quite abit faster than most of my clubmates so maybe it's on and off and that's why it's borerline?

Alex_Simmons/RST

freehub wrote:

I've being diagnosed with borderline anemia, I know it's not that serious but could explain why I'm tired and feel lazy struggling to get out of bed at 8am in the morning.

Can it effect performance on the bike, slow me down? Would it be resonsible for the reason why sometimes I have good days but other days I just feel sluggish and really can't seem to breath enough air in?

Most definitely anemia will degrade performance.

It is very important you sort out why you have such a condition (there are a multitude of possible causes) and what appropriate treatment your doctor suggests. Follow their advice regarding exercise as well. It may be some simple supplements (e.g. iron, Vit C) is all you need but it can also be an indicator of something more serious, so make sure you stay on top of it.

I wouldn't recommend any hard exercise until you are sure what's going on.

Murr X

freehub wrote:

So when I get rid of Anemia I wonder how much I'll improve? Unless I don't have it all the time? Sometimes I'm quite abit faster than most of my clubmates so maybe it's on and off and that's why it's borerline?

Hi freehub,

I as usual agree with what Alex has said and it is important that you find what is causing it. I must ask if your doctor seems concerned about it or is refering you to a hematologist? Do you have the blood test results available? If so you could post them here though I respect your privacy if you do not wish to.

There is perhaps more than a slight possibility that it is overdoing the training/racing that has caused this condition and your doctor may never think that. How much training or racing have you been doing, and have you been taking care of yourself in general, getting enough sleep etc?

Taking a good, long and relaxing break from any hard training and then seeing if you still have anemia is one way to rule that out.

Murr X

Anonymous

Will, I cannot stress enough how important it is to take a break from training until you get to the bottom of it.

freehub

Well what I've being doing is taking plenty of rest, 2days after a long ride and a couple more days in the week, usually I get between 8 and 10 hours sleep, allthough I prefer 9, anything above I wake up with headaches, through the day I find like waves of weakness and tiredness appear and I go lay on the bed, constantly stretching as if you wake up, then go to sleep. I don't know if falling asleep in college is related to anemia aswell, but even after a good nights sleep I remember I was falling asleep struggling to keep my eyes open, only when it was brake time and I got up and was walking about did I actually wake up, the thing is, this was between 1 and 3 years ago, I've had it before I even started cycling.

I also find I frequently am taking deep breaths, just sitting here now, I've had this for ages though so long I thought it was normal now, and last year after a ride I fainted and fell to the floor, the doctor just said it was because I get up too quickly, when infact it could all be down to Anemia.

I could take a good long break from hard training, but relaxing? I've not being relaxed for years I've being constantly worried about things for years now, one thing comes up, another thing comes up, fact I don't have a job and am tight on cash is major stressing.


Today I've being for a 25miler as I needed to go to York to get a guy to look at me bike and diagnose and fix something, my heart rate struggled to go up and I felt power was not flowing, like a kink in a hosepipe. The return journey I was back to normal half way and everything seemed fine, I'm now sitting here after a nice cold shower and I feel awake and refreshed.

The doctors rang me up and told me I was borderline anemic and said I need to book an appointment for the doctor to talk about it, booked for monday but in the morning I'm going to try and see if I can get it moved forward into this week.

I know people say just take a long break but it's hard to do it, I'm improving, very fast over the past could of months, might have being faster if I did not have this anemia, but then I know if I stop I will start to loose fitness, I'm aware with the anemia could be more than just an iron problem and with my knee I could be in for a long stretch off the bike maybe months. But it's stressing thinking about being off the bike for months, so when people think I'm not listening to there advice, it's not that I'm not listening, I'm taking it in perfectly, it's just that I'm not putting the advice into action, which I know pissed people off but I really don't want to give up cycling, but then keeping up cycling could make the problems worse, I understand that.

brucey72

In all honesty the only person you should be taking advice from is your doctor

Alex_Simmons/RST

Your health is first and foremost and so attend to that.

Only when healthy can we really enjoy our cycling and so sometimes that does require a stretch of time off the bike, or at least toning it down somewhat.

Your performance won't improve if you are not healthy, and even doing what many of us would call "normal" training can be dangerous in conjuction with some conditions.

yes, it is frustrating, so seek appropriate counsel and support. The most important thing is to really understand why. Then you are in a much better place to know what to do.

colonel_mustard

A healthy dose of spinach is the answer to this problem.

simon_says

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Your health is first and foremost and so attend to that.

Only when healthy can we really enjoy our cycling and so sometimes that does require a stretch of time off the bike, or at least toning it down somewhat.

Your performance won't improve if you are not healthy, and even doing what many of us would call "normal" training can be dangerous in conjuction with some conditions.

yes, it is frustrating, so seek appropriate counsel and support. The most important thing is to really understand why. Then you are in a much better place to know what to do.

Spot on.

I believe one can check for anemia in the fingers by pinching their fingernails and checking how long it takes for normal colour to return. For me it's normally practically instantaneous unless it's cold. It's something to look out for in everyone.

You can do the same with toenails and even the thick surrounding skin.

3legs

I have ongoing problems with anemia caused by a chronic medical condition. I usually end up on iron tablets for a couple of months once a year. The first time it happened I had no idea what was going on. The tiredness/lethargy can creep up on you so slowly that you hardly recognise it. It's only when you start recovering that you realise how bad you had been feeling.

Treating it is easy, but as other posters have suggested - you and your doctor need to figure out what is causing it.

The good news is that you should start noticing big improvements within a week or two of starting on iron tablets - even if you are only borderline. By the end of your course of tablets you will feel like you are flying and you will be enjoying your cycling more than ever.

Good luck

little wiser

dam that sounds like me will, i have been told be family and friends for years i should go to doctors because i can be great and then really need to sleep or sit down (normally sleep) this usually happens around 11 to 1 oclock and go through spates off tiredness and its not cus im lazy!.
may try some iron tablets or visit doctors but got a fear they will find something wrong :oops:

freehub

Does anyone think it would be safe taking 1 iron tablet a day before seeing the doctor? My mum has some she said I could have, I know there is a slight possibility it might not be iron related but it's not untill monday so it'd be interesting to see if the iron tablets did anything.

Finbar Saunders

Nothing that a little EPO wouldn't solve. No seriously. Although of course there are other simpler methods for borderline cases that I'm sure your Dr will inform you of. Iron overload in males, however, is dangerous. So if taking iron supplements never exceed the guidelines.

freehub

Well it's one per day, but if it was not anemia related to lack of iron, then could one iron tablet cause problems?

TarmacExpert

freehub wrote:

Well it's one per day, but if it was not anemia related to lack of iron, then could one iron tablet cause problems?

Taken for a short period of time it's not going to cause problems. Even a small amount of iron consumed every day for long periods can cause problems in the subset of adult males whose bodies tend to retain iron. Normal total body iron stores are in the range of 2-6g, so if you add up 15mg per day over a year that comes to 5.5g and you can see this is a very large amount if your body isn't able to get rid of it.

Rather than a lack of iron, do you consume a lot of rice bran, or tea? Both of these can lower your iron levels. I know someone who used to be unable to donate blood because her blood didn't have enough iron in it, and the problem was she always drank a cup of tea with her meals, which blocked the absorption of iron from the food. She stopped doing this, and now always passes the iron test when she goes to donate blood.

freehub

I eat rice now and again and some days drink allot of tea, I have not really had tea much recently though. When I'm in Manchester I eat lots and lots of pasta though.

mask of sanity

I think I remember reading that that you need vitamin C for better iron absorption as well. This may well be in the iron tablet already as it has to be taken simultaneously for it to be of any benefit.

Do you find you get random periods of having no energy at all combined with faintness? Because I find that and I often get light headed (to the point of not being able to see) when I stand up wondered whether I might be anaemic. This normally goes away if I have something sweet.

freehub

I get random periods of feeling tired and the energy sucked out of my mucles, it regulary happens when I stand up I start hearing a loud noise then my vision starts going white, almost like white noise apart from the black bits in the tv is just what is around you then feeling I can't stand up or move and I faint almost, went to doctors about it they said it's normal when you stand up too fast.

love2ride

do you do a lot of running because anemia can be caused by a lot of heavy and regular long distance running

a_n_t

love2ride wrote:

do you do a lot of running because anemia can be caused by a lot of heavy and regular long distance running

what? with his knee?

love2ride

no. The constant pounding of your feet for extended periods of time and with little recovery between each session. when your foot hits the ground hard it can damage the red blood cells. if this happens a lot then they can't repair.

shockedsoshocked

love2ride wrote:

no. The constant pounding of your feet for extended periods of time and with little recovery between each session. when your foot hits the ground hard it can damage the red blood cells. if this happens a lot then they can't repair.

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

love2ride

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

love2ride wrote:

no. The constant pounding of your feet for extended periods of time and with little recovery between each session. when your foot hits the ground hard it can damage the red blood cells. if this happens a lot then they can't repair.

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

freehub

No I don't run, are you sure about that though Love2ride, if that is true it would be one amazingly crappy flaw of the human body.

cougie

Sounds a load of rubbish to me - I run a fair bit - never been anemic.
But yes anemia will lower the ability if your body to carry oxygen round. Go and give blood - they will test you beforehand. And try training the same day as donating - sometimes I can get away with it - other times it feels like my throat isn't wide enough to get the air in. Mad.

freehub

I don't want to give blood I'd pass out, when I had the blood test when she had the needle in me I went and looked down at it, it never bothered be looking down at it, but then I went all dizzy and awfull, she gave me abit of her packed lunch when she found I'd being fasting for 13ish hours.

If I'm doing good up climbs and being anemic will I be loads faster when I'm not anemic anymore or is it possible the anemia won't actually be effecting me sometime? As it's sort of hard to belive, I told some people that I had anemia who do the club runs and they find it hard to believe as I'm usually always the fastest and they're no slow bunch either tbh, and I keep on improving and hitting pb's all the time.