Anemia, kidney stones, and unable to take vitamins. Help?

[farmersdaughter83]

Please be kind and gentle, this is my first post on this site, and I am humbly seeking help in the form of natural fixes for some issues I have.

To start off I'm a very busy, on the go person, my average night of sleep (if I'm lucky is 7 hours). My doc advised me to take a multi-vitamin, such as prenatal vitamins to help with my anemia and constantly feeling run down. The problem is I can't take them. When I do, I have such severe stomach cramps/pains that I've actually been hospitalized for. Should I mention now I also have stomach ulcers? When I stop taking the vitamins, after about a week the pain stops. My blood count actually runs so low that my last visit they considered giving me a transfusion, which I'm not too keen on, and finally assured my doctor that I wasn't that sick yet. I can't tolerate eating livers of any kind (supposed to be full of iron) and iron pills have the same effect on my stomach as taking the vitamins. We've even switched to cooking with cast iron pans to help increase my iron intake. Though I don't see a difference.
In the last month or so, I've also had a lot of trouble with fluid build up in my legs, (pitting edema stage 3 for the medical people out there), I also have trouble with my legs/feet "going to sleep" or getting that numb, tingly, pin prickly feeling with almost any position I sit or lay in. This occasionally even happens in my fingers and my hands.
I drink lots of water, though my BF insists that I don't drink enough, I accuse him of being over judgmental. I eat relatively healthy, though it is not above me to occasionally stop at McD's but that is about once a week or maybe even every 2 weeks.
In addition I've had problems with kidney stones, and fluid build up in my kidney's since I was 18. I'm a day or two older than that now (28) So I regularly drink cranberry juice, as a means of keeping my kidney's happy. I rarely ever drink, if I do it is one glass of wine, and that only happens about once every 2 months.
Today I noticed that I've got to the point with my stomach that it now sticks out past my....ummm....hmmm how to put this... my ta-ta's? lol I look like I'm 9 months prego, bc my legs, hips, bottom, and arms are normal sized (? If there is such a thing as normal sized). Now I have this gut that just sticks out. It's beyond a spare tire, if it was a spare tire, it'd be a set of spares, bc where my pants hit it almost splits my stomach in half and I look like I have a set of tires instead of just a spare tire.
Despite my best efforts to monitor my diet, practice controlled portions, and avoid too many carbs, I seem to be drastically gaining weight instead of loosing.
So now that I'm done babbling on with my issues, here are my questions:
*Any chance all this is connected?
*Any advice on how to naturally correct any of these issues (or all)?
*Has anyone else had these problems, and how did you manage them?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

First of all, you are in the right place. Many of us have gone through similar and the same, and most of us have seen improvement, all the way to full healing, by making some simple diet changes.

Your first order of business is to go 100% gluten free, as soon as you read this post. Gluten prevents absorption of iron, and it sounds like you have a gluten allergy.

This will likely solve the digestion issues, calm the ulcers, and most of all, allow your body to start absorbing iron.
Have you tried freezing teeny tiny pieces of liver, and swallowing them?
The other option is to put small amounts into ground meat. The taste never comes through this way.
I despise liver, and these are ways I can get it in my diet.

 

[Farmfresh]

First of all ...

I tend to agree with Brooks. I am Celiac - allergic to wheat and gluten. My symptoms before being diagnosed were BAD acid reflux and chronic anemia.

You can find out if you are Celiac with a simple blood test, but you have to be eating wheat and gluten when tested.

The Celiac disease causes the cilla in the small intestines to become matted down and sometimes even be destroyed. This is what causes mal absorption issues and the anemia. Probably iron is only one of the minerals that you are not absorbing and processing. I personally have problems with all of my minerals ... even salt!

Finally "Please be kind and gentle, this is my first post on this site, and I am humbly seeking help in the form of natural fixes for some issues I have." this makes me feel sad. I am sorry you have been abused elsewhere. We don't usually play mean on this forum. I think you will like it here.

 

[sunsaver]

I havent been here long,but i can tell you, these are some of the smartest and nicest, and wisest people you will find on the internet. I find that people seldom take my dietary advice but ill try to help. Extreme bloating can be a sign of malnutrition. Ever see an African child that looks pregnant? It could also be a sign of advanced stomach cancer, so i would definitely get a scan or x-ray, and a new doctor. I can speak with authority on kidney stones. cranberry don't work. Add coffee or tea back into your diet. Stones are a symptom of caffine withdrawal, and will only get worse unless you take diuretic of some type every day. My kidneys put me in wrenching pain until i started drinking green tea every morning. I've been stone free for 14 years now, so please try this. Try eating total cereal, or a vitamin fortified gluten free cereal from your health food store. Spinach or swiss cchard, and collards or kale are all very high in iron and vitamin c. If greens make you cramp or have stomach pain, it means that you you have chronic constipation from a low fiber diet. You should do a colon cleanse therapy. A gluten allergy could be causing your lethargy. Yeah it could all be celliacs. Good luck. I hope this helps. You definitely need to see a new doctor.

 

[Farmfresh]

Extreme bloating can be a sign of malnutrition. Ever see an African child that looks pregnant?

My MIL decided to starve herself to death (elderly anorexia) a few years back and she had the bloating and the edema until her legs literally wept. When your minerals and proteins get severely out of whack the cells begin to collapse. Again malnutrition ... what ever the cause.

Get the testing done pronto and I would probably go to a GI expert and not a family physician.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Celiacs causes malnutrition

 

[sunsaver]

I've been eating a nearly gluten free diet for years, mostly veggies, with some chicken or pork liver patte' from time to time, and i have no health problems what so ever. But i'm not allergic to gluten. Definitely get that test that farmfresh recommends.

 

[Wifezilla]

Gluten is a BIG culprit for health issues. Eliminating gluten is usually a good thing to start with. The next thing to examine is that cranberry juice. Since 100 percent cranberry juice is bitter, commercial juice is almost always sweetened. Many times with high fructose corn syrup. Even if it is sweetened with apple juice, that can be a cause of bloat and malabsorbtion issues. I would ditch the juice and just take a dried cranberry tablet.

Another thing to look at is your over all carbohydrate intake. For a couple of days, enter everything you eat at www.fitday.com . Its free to sign up. Many times people think they are eating healthy and they aren't.

You may also want post a few days typical menu here for analysis. While we do have different approaches, many of us agree on key basic causes of health problems.

One more thing... KEFIR! If you are having digestive issues, kefir can really help! I started with store bought, and now I am making my own. I drink it every morning. When I started drinking kefir I actually lost my cravings for coffee.

 

[abifae]

Another vote for dump the gluten and lower the carbs as much as you can.

I was UNDERWEIGHT and I dropped 15 pounds water weight when I lowered my carbs. (It also sorted out my messed up metabolism enough that I gained the weight back healthily, as muscle).

So, carbs make you hold water.

 

[savingdogs]

I don't have any great advice to ad, but suffer from kidney stones and I can FEEL for you. Those are terrible! I'm taking a dieuretic for a different health issue and they said that should HELP, so this discussion about retaining too much water are very much in line with the thinking of the kidney specialist we confered with. Have you seen a specialist about the kidneys? My primary care guy called the kidney specialist but it was still very helpful in my case. But I'd get tested for Celiac right away if I were you.