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CFS, Gut pain, B1 deficiency and hemochromatosis
Quote from Ian McCoondog on September 20, 2019, 1:08 pmI've noticed since starting zero VA last year that the only thing not improving (and is intact worsening) is arthritis-like pain in my thumbs. My latest theory is that it is related to iron deposits: worst flare-up was when handling strong magnets, still acts up when I handle strong magnets, and my food-borne iron intake went way up when I started zero-VA.
I've started donating blood after a 30 year hiatus (due to a beef with Canada's blood agency) for purely selfish reasons - to get a partial phlebotomy. I've also been having tannin-containing beverages with meals & taking calcium with meals. I'd like to imagine all this is helping, but it's way too early to tell.
I'm having the same inflammation in the thumbs after a month. Interesting theory on the Iron. Did you get your Iron levels tested out of interest?
Quote from Rachel on March 7, 2019, 8:12 amQuote from tim on March 7, 2019, 5:59 amHopefully the VA depletion helps a lot with the iron overload. The answer though to hemochromatosis is not to eat dairy instead of meat, it is to get phlebotomies.
I thought I had mentioned it in my original post but on re-reading it I can see that I didn't. I have regular venesections (phlebotomies) to control my iron levels however it has been anything but smooth sailing. Although my consultant tried to go carefully with my venesections it went badly and my health declined putting me in a wheelchair for 6 weeks and forcing me to take an extended break from them in order to regain enough strength to try again with an even more careful schedule. It has been a real nightmare getting enough blood out of me to first stabilise and then slowly reduce my iron levels. I have pretty severe CFS and the venesections really knock me back.
It was in an effort to reduce my need for venesections that lead me to explore dietary measures of which using dairy was one. It was successful as well in the sense that I needed fewer venesections and that helped my CFS to improve. However I didn't know then what I know now about VA.
Hopefully the low VA diet will gradually have a positive impact on my overall health so that even if I still need frequent venesections my body is better able to withstand them.
Hi Rachel,
I never saw this message so sorry for not replying. Is the low VA diet having any impact on the iron?
I never saw this message so sorry for not replying. Is the low VA diet having any impact on the iron?
Hi Tim
It's difficult to say at the moment. It doesn't seem to be negatively impacting my iron levels but it's too soon to be sure whether or not it's helping slow down the rate at which I load. I had a couple of venesections early on in the year but that was just before starting low VA. Since then I've had one lot of blood tests in July and didn't need any treatment. I am due to test again in a couple of weeks. That will give me a better idea.