As some of my readers know, I’d been unwell last year, and was struggling to keep on top of things because of it.  I want to share this with all my women readers in case it might help anyone with the same problem, as I’d apparently been struggling with a health problem for two years and had no idea anything was wrong, other than I was just always tired.

I went to see my doctor complaining of aching pains in my arms and legs.  She ordered a blood test which revealed that my iron was very low.  It seems I had so little iron stored in my liver that it was being leached from my bone marrow, which was causing the funny little pains. 

The gastroenterologist I was referred to said that although my diet was good, and I had taken an iron supplement for a while after the twins were born, it had been insufficient to deal with the demands on my body of two pregnancies close together and breastfeeding three babies in that short time.

Prior to seeing my doctor, I had been experiencing tiredness and lethargy for a long time, so long that I was not aware of any difference between how I was feeling with my youngest children being 2 years old and how I had felt when I was still feeding them during the night and recovering from the birth.

My assumption, as usual, was that I was lazy.  If only someone had issued me with a medical certificate (to be presented by me to myself, being my own boss) stating that leniency should be shown if I fell behind with the housework and seemed to want to rest a lot.

The solution was either to stick it out taking an iron supplement, an option the specialist thought would be inadequate and very slow, or have an iron infusion.

Although I have private health insurance, the infusion was only a day procedure in hospital, therefore there was nothing to claim.  The options were to wait 3 or 4 months to go through the public system, or pay a few hundred dollars and have it done immediately in the local private hospital.  Being pretty broke at the time, I accepted Mum's offer to pay for it, and went in.

All I had to do was sit/lye there for the day with a drip in my arm full of rust coloured fluid.  It started to kick in within about a week, and I feel better than I have for a long time.  My immune system is working again now – I started to get a cold on Friday, and I can feel it disappearing already.

The woman next to me having the same thing had been diagnosed with celiac disease, something about wheat intolerance.  This had been ruled out for me, but I don't remember what the test was.

The effect is not dramatic or immediate, not a sudden burst of energy, however I soon felt noticeably better and able to get on with things less slowly.  My attention span improved too, and I felt less depressed.

So, if you’re tired, have mysterious aches and pains, and just really struggling to stay on top of things, see your doctor in case there is a medical reason for it.  It might not be related to motivation at all.

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