what am i doing about this?
well, i went to the store looking for heme iron and the only option was an expensive supplement with a measly 11 mg/tab. if i do the math on my diet, i'm already getting more than that. so, that struck me as a waste of money - if i can't absorb it in my diet, what's the use of taking a pill?
i'm checking the formulary and, while heme is not covered, they have these, like, 200 mg tablets of elemental iron that are. well, that's at least worth a shot, i guess - it's at least a substantial increase from what i'm getting, even if i can only absorb 10% of it. that seems like a crapshoot, and i wonder what the side effects might be, but if i can't absorb it...
i sent an email to my mom and she's feigning ignorance. i sent one to my uncle, who may be more useful. i'm trying to avoid contacting my stepmother, if i even can. i'm going to send something to my sister.
what else can i do?
well, i need to figure out if i'm bleeding, but the more i've processed this, the more obvious it is that this is a genetic concern. my dad never said to me "i'm anemic", but it's pretty obvious that he was.
so, if i'm not bleeding, and i can't absorb it, it seems logical to look at injections. unfortunately, that seems like a really bad idea - we need iron to create blood, but introducing it into the blood directly seems to have a large amount of dangerous side effects. the preferred approach seems to be iv, but that doesn't seem to be less dangerous.
so, these high potency supplements might be a crapshoot, but it's probably the best choice i've got.
i just wish i could take 50 mg of heme instead of 200 mg of elemental.