03/04/2009

I almost fainted again, today.  I was walking up the stairs in my building, and got really dizzy.  I almost fell down them.  :S

Realizing that this was not, in fact, a good thing, I proceeded straight to WebMD for an idea of what the hell is going on.  Ah, yes, anemia, my old friend.  (Note: by friend, I mean "thing that I know quite well, which is not, in fact, a friend.")  I ran out of vitamin pills about a month ago, and basically just forgot to get new ones.

Anemia symptoms are:
(Warning: boring list ahead)

• Feel weak and tire out more easily.  (Big yes– I’ve been exhausted lately, and any time I try to run or move quickly or walk all of the way home without utilizing the bus I get completely out of breath and can’t go on.)
• Feel dizzy.  (Yes– I’ve been feeling really really light-headed lately.)
• Be grumpy or cranky.  (Yuppers– I’ve been trying to control it, but I have been pretty cranky lately.)
• Have headaches.  (Only a little bit, but I don’t tend to get headaches that much, so when I do get them, it’s unusual.)
• Look very pale.  (I don’t know on this one; I can’t really see my face and I always look pale in my mirror.  I’ll have to ask Bryan about this one.)
• Feel short of breath.  (YES.  I’ve been having moderate difficulty breathing.)
• Have trouble concentrating.  (YES.  It has taken all of my willpower to focus on anything.  I was worried that I was getting depressed again.)

So, given my history of getting anemia whenever I’m not taking iron supplements, I can pretty safely assume that this has been the cause of my problems.  I’m just glad I caught it at this point rather than letting it get as bad as it did over the summer.

Insert entry break here.

Bryan called me and I told him that I was pretty sure that I was being an anemic again, and he immediately figured out this plan to get us down to the store to get vitamins, without having to make me walk at all (I was feeling really really shitty and wasn’t sure of my ability to walk places).  So now I have vitamins, and they have both iron and vitamin C, which are both necessary for hemoglobin to form.  Hopefully I should be feeling better in a few days and completely better within the week.

I won’t not take vitamins in the future.  I guess I just keep forgetting how bad it is for me to forget to take them.

So, anyway, I feel that this is rather apt, as my biochemistry class just finished studying hemoglobin a few weeks ago.  It’s some pretty interesting stuff, but awfully technical, so I won’t get into it here.  Currently we’re going through the oxidation of glucose, and the many pathways that occur to do that.  There are so many molecules, enzymes, and reaction mechanisms.  :S  I should probably actually get to making some study sheets for that.  We have a test on Monday.

The good news about a test on Monday is that it’s my only test next week, and next week is the last week before Spring Break.  If I get past Monday, then I don’t have to worry about any exams for two whole weeks.  And one of those weeks will be full of relaxation, Saint Patrick’s Day, and (hopefully) camping.

I don’t have much else to say.  Tootles, everybody!