Loss of Iron in Blood

Discussion in 'Injuries' started by neavalmi0421, May 13, 2009.

  1. neavalmi0421

    neavalmi0421 Regular Member

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    Hello BC members:

    I search google before i post this thread and i find some seaches that iron is loss through sweat. I played badminton a lot and i sweat a lot. Recently, we have this annual physical examination and my diagnosis is a lower level of iron. Our company doctor check already for my stool and urine but there where no signs of blood lose in the results. He already gave me some iron supplement medicines and i have taken these for about two weeks now. Doctor prescribed 30 pcs.

    Now we are going to have our company sports fest and it was a requriement that we secure medical clearance before we can play/join any sport event. Our doctor told me to just have a CBC (complete blood count) test again and if the levels are already normal then it is no problem for the clearance. i have taken the supplement for two weeks now but i was surprised that the results came same, still low level in iron.

    Haven't shown the doctor the recent results probably next week. however, my only analysis now is that i probably loose iron due to too much sweating and playing badminton.

    Does anybody experiencing low levels of iron due too much badminton play?
    Or is sweating a lot really the reason since i am not loosing any blood as seen from the result of my stool and urine test?

    Any similar experiences from other members?
     
    #1 neavalmi0421, May 13, 2009
    Last edited: May 13, 2009
  2. SuperBird

    SuperBird Regular Member

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    Your iron loss is not due to Sweating my friend.
    Do you eat lots of green vegetable? Spinach leafs, broccoli.......
    Don't overload yourself w/ IRON especially when your a male---THIS CAN BE DANGER: LACK OF IRON IN MALE IS RARE unless you just feed on bunger and water...

    Sweating: You lose lots of electrolytes--Need to drink gatorade:sport drink to replace the loss.

    How many hrs do you play badminton?
    Do you always feeling tired?This might be over-playing badminton: You just have to eat nutrients food/eggs white to get back some protein in your diet.

    Yes, I played for 4hrs: burn over 1500 calories, 4 shirts changes full of sweat: and I don't have Iron problem. I drink 3 bottle gatorades, 2 soda cokes, & 3 bottles of waters:Every time i played: sometimes more.....
     
  3. neavalmi0421

    neavalmi0421 Regular Member

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    Thanks for the reply Superbird.

    I only drink mineral water during games. I'll take your advise to drink gatorade/powerade.
    Yes, i eat a lot of vegetables and i have also read that some vegetables prohibit iron absorption.

    I play at least 4 times a week for around 4 hours also every night. Actually i have reduce my weight from 73kg to 62 kg since playing badminton.

    Probably i'll eat more meat and decrease vegetables and drink the gatorade every game.

    Will monitor this for a month then have another test.

    Thanks again.
     
  4. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    A CBC cannot show a level of iron in the blood. You need to do a different set of tests.

    CBC can show you the haemoglobin level, platelets, white cell, size of the red blood cell and a few other parameters which I cannot remember off the top of my head.

    I do not believe you can lose iron from sweat. However, I could be wrong.
    But you can definitely lose ions in sweat.
     
  5. SuperBird

    SuperBird Regular Member

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    Here is your best investment for YOU: I got #1 myself since i play so much and i need to replace my calories loss doing play and monitor my average heart rate to see how I am doing.

    It a NIKE IMARA HRM-HEART RATE MONITOR- that come with a Watch and a strap that goes across on your chest to mearsure heart rate and keep track of calorie burn.

    I have been losing weight like crazy- this can disturb your Hormone balance.
    I played for 2hr:12min-This is warm up and Game play: Sweat 2 full shirts.........
    Total calorie burn: 796 Heart rate average: 135 bpm
    (((Wow, now I know why my weight been dropping so much, I look sick, but even though I feel like SUPERMAN.........)))))))

    I usually played for 4hrs-6hrs straight.......3x-4x a week....I must have burned over 1400 calories a day & my eating is not enough to Cover the loss: That why I am burning my FAT & MUSCLE all together..........

    At least I have an idea how much I need to replace whenever I played badminton to maintain my weight balance & protein intake....THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT beside replacing electrolytes loss from sweat: DON'T DRINK ONLY WATER WHY YOU ARE DEHYDRATING-THIS CAN BE BAD FOR YOU CAUSE YOU ARE NOT DOING YOUR BODY ANY GOOD: YOU NEED BOTH WATER/SODIUM/K+: GATORADE IS A GREAT CHOICE & A SODA POP TO GIVE YOU THAT EXTRA ENERGY.

    Fatigue & pale skin & dizziness is a sign of lack of iron & blood or just over-train

    Yes playing 4hrs every night: That put lots of stress on your body: YOU WILL LOSS LOTS OF WEIGHT/MUSLE MASS/FAT---EVERYTHING GOING TO BE LOSS: YOU WILL BECOME A STICK BOY: IF YOU DONT REPLACE YOUR CALORIE & PROTEIN.........
     
  6. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    Oh boy, now we are tackling anemia on badminton central?:(:rolleyes:

    When you said you are low in iron, did you mean that your hemoglobin was low on a CBC? Iron and hemoglobin are not the same thing, and iron is not measured on a CBC. However the characteristics of the red blood cells on a CBC can make one suspect lack of iron as the cause for a low hemoglobin.

    Since you are able to play multiple hours of badminton per week, we may hope that it is not something too serious.

    Here's what we can say:
    1)You have not lost iron in your sweat.
    2)The iron supplements will take months to build up the stores in your body. Be patient.
    3) Get enough rest.
    4) Eat your bloody vegetables. They will not seriously impair your iron absorbtion. Dairy products have a small effect that way, but it doesn't make that much difference. If you must, avoid dairy at the time of your iron supplement. A fruit juice with vitamin C will help it absorb better.
    5) Talk to your doctor again. From your descirption he sounds sensible.
     
  7. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    bloody vegetables are high in iron:)
     
  8. bradmyster

    bradmyster Regular Member

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    yup pretty good advice.....you dont lose large amounts of iron through sweat lol It could be your diet isnt rich enough in iron or purely your body has trouble absorbing it compared to other people. The suppliments will take as stated, a couple of months before there will be any noticable difference.
     
  9. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    (good to know if you are a vegetarian vampire)

    You are too good, Cooler:rolleyes:
     
  10. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    lately, i have been eating alot of red beets. It is scary looking to see my pee are that reddish:D I thot digestion and kidney filtering would clean up the natural color, i was wrong.
     
    #10 cooler, May 14, 2009
    Last edited: May 14, 2009
  11. neavalmi0421

    neavalmi0421 Regular Member

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    Thanks for all your advices. I really appreciate them all. Here's the test results from CBC: i have this low levels in hemoglibin since we had our annual physical exam last jan-2009. Since then, i have tested 3 times already and the lastest once was last May 07-2009 in which i have taken the iron supplement for 2 weeks and i thought that it will somehow have an increase in levels after two weeks of consumption.

    Hemoglobin = 12.4 (M=14-17)
    Hematocrit = 0.38 (M=0.42 - 0.48)
    Red Cell count = 4,400 (M=4.6 -5.0 x 10/L)
    White Cell Count = 4,900 (5,000 - 10,000/cumm)

    I'll surely eat vegetables and meat that are high in iron, continue the iron supplement.

    Will meet my doctor by monday.

    Thanks.
     
  12. neavalmi0421

    neavalmi0421 Regular Member

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    It's Happening Again...

    Hello,

    This is happening again this time to me. And i think this is really due to playing too much badminton. For the past 1 month i've been playing like 3 to 4 hours 6 times a week and after a while my blood pressure is dropping from 120/80 to now 100/70. Before i am playing still like 3 to 4 hours but only 2x a week and no problem at all.

    Here are some sites that mention that vigorous exercise can cause iron deficiency through sweating.

    http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/iron_deficiency_adults

    http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/012604.htm




     
  13. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    doubt it...

    just check your hgb, mcv, and ferritin levels... it's possible that you're just a thalasemia carrier
     
  14. neavalmi0421

    neavalmi0421 Regular Member

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    i checked my annual physical exam result last DEc 2011 and my CBC result are normal for hgb and mcv, i didn't find any ferritin results though.

    thanks for your input.
     
  15. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    nah, you don't lose blood in sweat...

    what those websites mean is that excessive or vigorous exercise will temporarily reduce your gut's ability to absorb nutrients like iron, etc., due to a temporary diversion of bloodflow from your digestive organs to your muscles where you need them during strenous exercise

    just make sure you eat lots of iron containing foods like liver, red meats, spinach and perhaps iron supplements

    also make sure you eat well if you're going to exercise like that playing 20 hrs/wk
     
  16. neavalmi0421

    neavalmi0421 Regular Member

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    thanks. I am also planning to take the Iberet Active as a supplement which has been prescribed to me also in 2009. I need to loose 6 lbs more then i can go on the 2x play per week again.
     
  17. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    How interesting. I did google the topic and came up with a few scientific looking references.

    http://www.ajcn.org/content/43/3/438.full.pdf

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12500986

    So iron is lost.:) but

    So if you play 4 hours in a day, you can assume 6%. I think this is not a big number.

    Ferritin is an additional test you have to do apart from the CBC.

    Firstly, have you excluded thalassaemia trait?

    Secondly, it's very important to look at the whole picture in context of the person. Slightly low haemoglobin is absolutely OK. Plenty of women play badminton with haemoglobins of 12 so why can't a guy? :)

    A solitary number is useless unless you can prove it's a detrimental effect to your health. Do you feel ill? Are there any long term consequences of your 'low iron'?

    Are your values in the 'normal range' for people who exercise a lot?


    I've seen people obsessed with numbers over their tests - if they feel well, they should start enjoying themselves. This is definitely not a situation to worry about.
     
  18. fmqpt791004

    fmqpt791004 Regular Member

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    iron lost by sweat? I have never heard about that.
    You can take iron supplement-there are different kinds for men and for women.
    but have a blood test it should not be expensive.
     

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