this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2024

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Can your meds feel stronger / more effective when treating anemia? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 16 hours ago by [email protected] to c/adhd

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Just as the title says.

I'm very anemic, and I've been struggling to address this. In the last week, I started taking iron supplements to address my fatigue, and things feel a bit.. strange.

I'm still tired, but I sometimes feel/am acutely aware of my heart beating?

Idk. Shouldn't take only a week to see/feel results, right?

Any insight?

(No easy access a doctor / medical professional at this time: American. Thank you.)

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 hours ago

My personal experience is that there's a direct correlation between my physical health and effectiveness of my ADHD medication.

My hypothesis is that since it's about my brain capability to register and prioritise stimuli, the busier said brain is (with other body issues) the less likely it is too perform executive functions. This might be the general case, but since we start from the unfavorable position, it might be more debilitating for us.

(I've no idea why I'm using such a fancy language rn. Apologies)

[–] hank_the_tank66 7 points 12 hours ago

I've noticed a drop in efficacy when I have a period of time where I'm anemic. I'm basically having to take iron supplements non-stop for that reason...

Nice to hear from someone else with a similar experience, and I hope that improving the anemia leads to an improvement in ADHD symptoms too!

[–] 474D 5 points 12 hours ago

This is just personal experience but an iron supplement on its own didn't help me much. The "blood builder" combination supplements were much better for my anemia

[–] [email protected] -1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I think the big picture is huge and not entirely known. One angle: A cause of ADHD is a bad gut biome. This may also affect the bioavailability of micronutrients, thus leading the deficiencies. Compensating for that by taking more, with supplements, could help with additional symptoms.

Long before I had a diagnosis or meds, I had some good runs, few years even, and even back then, I saw the link to certain foods. When fixing multiple problems at the same time, the effect was enormous.

Some caffeine, but well distributed, as a poor man's stimulant, combined with drinking a lot, very specific foods ... I think it was a mix of "medication", hydration, gut biome (low sugar, probiotic foods) and fixing multiple deficiencies at the same time. When that extra energy results in more physical activity, additional amplification happens.

So yes, I believe that multi-vector attacks on your health problems work in synergy, better than the sum of their parts.

As for iron specifically, a lot can be done wrong. What I recall: Best in the morning before first coffee / tee and some time in-between, with Vitamin C. Personally, I can't stomach it, so I got to ignore that rule and just take it with the biggest meal.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 hours ago

A cause of ADHD is a bad gut biome.

Yeah yeah, and autism is caused by sugar and vaccines fuck off.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Iron usually makes medication less effective.

Relevant article

[–] [email protected] 3 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

That does not include ADHD meds.

From article:

Iron tablets may cause other medicines you are taking to not work as well. Some of these include tetracycline, penicillin, ciprofloxacin, and medicines used for Parkinson's disease and seizures.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

It doesn't seem to say it doesn't affect ADHD meds, just gave a list of known interactions.

My takeaway: since it's known to interact with some meds, it could have an effect on others.

You're increasing available O2, which usually means an improvement in metabolism (reduction, at least, and perhaps increased cellular function), so it's hard to say how it would impact a given med without understanding how it's metabolized.

I would think any condition would improve if you increase O2 availability for someone who has anemia. Hell, increasing O2 seems to help anyone generally, part of why exercise is recommended for almost any condition.