It dawned on me tonight as I shoveled prune after
prune into my mouth, that I actually don’t know what fruit prunes come
from. Until now, all I have known about prunes is that they are found
in cardboard boxes in old people’s fridges somewhere near the bottle of
Italian dressing that expired last February (but, it’s still good! That
stuff doesn’t really expire!) AND that they are the source of some
not-so pleasant tasting juice.
What
am I doing eating prunes? Plums, by the way. They come from plums.
It turns out they are high in iron. Furthermore, it turns out that I am
low in iron. Very low. Alarming low. Upon seeing my ferritin level,
the doctor asked if I was having my period.
I
hadn’t been feeling energized in weeks. Every run felt like work.
Every workout felt like death. I was pushing as hard as I could, but
the results showed otherwise. I wanted to get to the bottom of it, so I
went to the doctor and asked to have some blood work done. I thought
perhaps I was hypothyroid and maybe I could get some of those drugs that
all of Alberto Salazar’s athletes get to take. But while the tests
found out-of-whack levels of almost everything else (including, but
certainly not limited to my iron levels), my thyroid is just fine.
What’s
next? I did another round of blood tests to make sure the numbers from
the initial test are accurate. If they are, the first step will be
finding the root of the problem. It could be caused by a number of
things, but the most likely culprit is a nervous system imbalance due a
constant state of anxiety. There are a couple of much more serious
causes that are not outside the realm of possibility, but at this point
they are not likely. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Of
course, all of this is somehow related to a struggle with insomnia that
has now lasted four months. It has evolved from the inability to sleep
most nights to the inability to sleep every night. It's not that I am
not tired. It is that my brain seems to have forgotten how to shut
down. I am relying on Ambien every night (something I once swore I
would never do) which does not actually induce sleep. It induces
amnesia. Once it wears off, I am awake and no matter how tired I am, I
cannot fall back to sleep. Words don't properly illustrate how
torturous this is. The question is: Is the insomnia causing the abnormal
blood tests or are the blood abnormalities causing the insomnia.
Following
yesterday's five mile race in the park that felt like I was dragging a
pickup truck behind me, I am hanging up my running shoes for a bit and
focusing on letting my body restore itself. While there is no proof
running is causing any of this, a break would certainly allow my body to
produce the hormones and nutrients it needs to function properly
without having to restore muscle tears and other stores depleted by
running. I believe it's important for athletes on any level to know and
listen to their bodies. In this case, I knew something was wrong and
now I know I need to be vigilant about fixing it. Taking a step back
from the daily grind of training could be the key to consistent training
in the future. Continuing to push through workouts could prolong what has been one of the most trying periods of my life.
no credit given for solving the prune mystery? you're better than that.
ReplyDeleteAm I a bad friend for immediately assuming he was going to talk about his bowel movements, and how prunes have helped to keep them regular?
DeleteI can't speak to insomnia, but I can speak to the low iron: I fainted a couple of years ago after several weeks of feeling like I was high (that is the only way I know to describe it). It turns out my iron levels were so low, I was thisclose to needing a transfusion. It's surprising how terrible it can make you feel, and in a way that isn't obviously "Oh, my iron must be low". In an ideal world, you'll get on some iron supplements (in which case you're going to need those prunes for another reason, zzing!) and in a few months you'll be totally normal, sleeping habits and all. I'll keep my fingers crossed, buddy!
ReplyDelete