13 replies to this topic

[Michaelangelo]

So I was doing some searching around tonight as well all tend to do and came across a surprising revelation. I've always believed my body acne was a cause of Folliculitis because my trusted family doctor told me so, but he just always gave me antibiotics which never helped or just made things worse in the long term. I came across something on the internet earlier, I believe it was through earth clinics website? About a lady stating she cured her Folliculitis by taking an iron supplement.

IRON?

I went on to google Folliculitis and stumbled upon the wikipedia definition. Shortly after reading the page, I saw a comment stating:

"Iron deficiency anemia is sometimes associated with chronic cases."

WHAT?

First thing I did was rush into the bathroom to check out my multi-vitamin. And.... 0 iron. After further research I found out that most vitamins do not contain iron because of well balanced diets and TOO much iron can cause many problems. I checked out the food sources of Iron and I barely eat or don't at all eat some of the foods.

ARE YOU SURE?

Not positive but as I kept looking into this, it became more convincing. I looked into the symptoms of Iron deficiency anemia and related to about 7 of them. Yes, SEVEN. They included:

-Trouble breathing/shortness of breath
-Tinnitus (perception of sound in ear sometimes when not present) <-- ringing noise for me
-Mouth sores, or ulcers
-Palpation's (of heart)
-Depression (or mood swings)
-Twitching muscles
-Poor appetite

SO YOU'RE A DOCTOR NOW?


Haha by no means but I find this all very interesting. Apparently Iron deficiency anemia accounts for about half of all anemia cases! As someone who thinks they have tried nearly everything. This is one thing I have never considered.

HOW MUCH IRON SHOULD I BE GETTING A DAY?

This is what I'm currently looking into. There are a vast amount of articles on the web warning of Iron overdose and the amount needed, and not to be exceeded. Although, I find it weird that when I visited the pharmacy, the smallest dose I saw was about 28mg and the largest went up to about 60+. I realized women need more iron, especially pregnant women but whats with the variations in "mg" when most articles claim not to exceed 18mg in a day!

MORE RESEARCH NEEDED?

YES! I posted this topic to bring the idea into the air and get feedback from people who may know more about this than I do. I would like to experiment with this by taking an iron supplement but at the moment I am confused in terms of how much to take/is safe to take. Also how long to supplement with iron. Can't be safe forever because excess is stored in the body. So any help or information is appreciated.


THINK YOU HAVE FOLLICULITIS?

If you think you do, post in the topic and let us know if you get a good source of Iron. Whether it's from a multi-vitamin or iron enriched foods. Also, if you have ever had ringworm, hookworm, etc. because I read this can also be a case. Thanks!

[dykim90]

i really doubt that you have a deficiency. if you eat meat then you get iron. plus iron is in a lot foods already. your foods are fortified too. from school, ive learned you only need about 6 mg a day. your body can also store iron too.

some signs and symptoms of iron deficiency are: (the ones you mentioned are not as broad as these), fatigue, weakness, dizziness, headache, shortness of breath, exercise intolerance, chest pain, and cold intolerance. also fast heart beat (above 100bpm when resting), loss of libida, pale skin

anemia itself can be broken down into 4 different categories.

the only true way to determine if you have anemia is to get a blood test to test the size of your red blood cells, hemoglobin levels, hematocrit levels, etc.

some risk factors are: bleeding in your intestines (pooping blood), peptic ulcers, celiacs sprue (malabsorption of foods), trauma with blood loss, menstruation, decrease dietary intake, greater than 65 years old, diet high in substances that bind with iron (Ca+), chronic inflammation, endurance sports, frequent blood donations, strict vegan diet.
-this is only the risk factors for iron deficiency anemia.

i doubt you have it.

[jokerj]

i really doubt that you have a deficiency. if you eat meat then you get iron. plus iron is in a lot foods already. your foods are fortified too. from school, ive learned you only need about 6 mg a day. your body can also store iron too.

some people do not have very iron-rich diets.
try checking the creases in your palm. are they very pale? if so, you may in fact be iron deficient

[wasson]

I thought I might have this too at one point, to rule it out I just went to my Dr and asked for a test. (They take a blood sample).


I didn't have it.

[Michaelangelo]

I went out and got an iron supplement and after the first day of taking not even the whole dose/pill I noticed green stool. Common side effect of too much iron in your diet. Stopped the supplement and back to normal.

Guess that rules it out.

Was still an interesting concept when I was looking into it and apparently for SOME people, iron is the cure or highly needed in their diet.

[jokerj]

wow, this is amazing
i have chronic folliculitis and was just diagnosed with iron-deficient anemia
i started taking iron supps a week ago
i will post again with results

[melissabeck10]

i really doubt that you have a deficiency. if you eat meat then you get iron. plus iron is in a lot foods already. your foods are fortified too. from school, ive learned you only need about 6 mg a day. your body can also store iron too.

some signs and symptoms of iron deficiency are: (the ones you mentioned are not as broad as these), fatigue, weakness, dizziness, headache, shortness of breath, exercise intolerance, chest pain, and cold intolerance. also fast heart beat (above 100bpm when resting), loss of libida, pale skin

anemia itself can be broken down into 4 different categories.

the only true way to determine if you have anemia is to get a blood test to test the size of your red blood cells, hemoglobin levels, hematocrit levels, etc.

some risk factors are: bleeding in your intestines (pooping blood), peptic ulcers, celiacs sprue (malabsorption of foods), trauma with blood loss, menstruation, decrease dietary intake, greater than 65 years old, diet high in substances that bind with iron (Ca+), chronic inflammation, endurance sports, frequent blood donations, strict vegan diet.
-this is only the risk factors for iron deficiency anemia.

i doubt you have it.

well i wouldn't make assumptions like that, i eat a well balanced diet including all types of meat, i don't exclude anything from my diet and despite all that I'm anemic so you never know unless, like you said, you get tested by your doctor

[kimanjo]

In an attempt to improve my health I went through a period of eating extremely healthy meals: a huge bowl of steel cuts oats and bananas and yogurt for breakfast; cooked fish or chicken and steamed broccoli and blue corn tortilla chips for lunch; baked potato and chicken or fish and vegetables for lunch, and snacks of peanut butter and fruit and rice cakes. I did have some variation in my diet, but primarily stuck with organic foods and white meat and fish.

When I went to donate blood I was turned down due to low iron. No, I was not anemic, but my iron level was low. And I had thought I was so healthy, as I went to the Y every day practically and I do not drink or smoke.

I immediately began multivitamins with iron, and it took me 9 months to restore my iron to a healthy level. My cold hands and feet went away.

At the time all this was happening I was 26 to 27 years old, a young woman going to college. I attribute this low iron due to the fact that I was eating organic (non-enriched) foods. Ironically, had I been eating white flour products (pasta, white bread, etc.) my health would have been better!

I did notice that the acne on my back shoulders and upper arms decreased substantially.

Edited by kimanjo, 01 September 2011 - 08:03 PM.

[akko]

I also had been tested as having low iron, and started taking supplements a few years ago. I can't say I noticed a change in my folliculitis.

[rberka]

I wouldn't discount anemia so quickly. You can eat all the meat in the world and still be anemic if your gut is full of parasites and bad bugs that take your iron and give you nothing in return.

A green stool sounds like the liver & gall bladder are working well. I haven't heard of that as an indication of high iron levels.

If you really want to see what iron will do for your hair and skin, go get a bottle of Lactoferrin. Lactoferrin increases the actual iron absorption by your body and avoids feeding things like Candida in your gut. My 2 cents.

[LiveLaughFart]

I think I am anemic because I have all the symptones, and I had trouble eating meat all my life.

[mm97]

I have had severe iron deficiency anemia but I've never had body acne or folliculitis. I'm not saying it's impossible that it could be related to skin, but as someone who has had a really severe case, I can honestly say that it didn't seem to make a difference in my skin pre- and post-treatment (for anemia).

I don't think iron deficiency anemia is that common, though. For me, it runs in my family, I've been a vegetarian since I was a child, and I'm a female, so it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that I'd have it. But for males who do eat meat, I doubt it. The symptoms of anemia are also very common in many other disorders, so it would really be impossible to diagnose or even suspect anemia based on symptoms. You need to get a blood test.

Edited by mm97, 04 November 2011 - 06:19 PM.

[gems2889]

my iron levels were low to because I had an iud paragard n I had a heavy 2 week menstrul cycle. I removed my iud and my.pr is back to normal. my body acne has improved dnt kno if its bc of the prescribations or panoxyl but my face acne got worse I say its bc I am on retina a micro n I am going through the ib. I was always tired due to the heavy bleeding n emotional I hate it that iud but it kept me baby free. I was also extermly oily n I started sweating from my arm pits. I cant wait to go back to normal I am not sure if what I had was clogged pores or follicuities. all of my acne through the ib have been clear pumps that turned into white infected pimples. sorry that im writing likes this im on my phone.

[CalypsoStorm]

Michaelangelo, on 18 April 2011 - 11:16 PM, said:

So I was doing some searching around tonight as well all tend to do and came across a surprising revelation. I've always believed my body acne was a cause of Folliculitis because my trusted family doctor told me so, but he just always gave me antibiotics which never helped or just made things worse in the long term. I came across something on the internet earlier, I believe it was through earth clinics website? About a lady stating she cured her Folliculitis by taking an iron supplement.

IRON?

I went on to google Folliculitis and stumbled upon the wikipedia definition. Shortly after reading the page, I saw a comment stating:

"Iron deficiency anemia is sometimes associated with chronic cases."

WHAT?

First thing I did was rush into the bathroom to check out my multi-vitamin. And.... 0 iron. After further research I found out that most vitamins do not contain iron because of well balanced diets and TOO much iron can cause many problems. I checked out the food sources of Iron and I barely eat or don't at all eat some of the foods.

ARE YOU SURE?

Not positive but as I kept looking into this, it became more convincing. I looked into the symptoms of Iron deficiency anemia and related to about 7 of them. Yes, SEVEN. They included:

-Trouble breathing/shortness of breath
-Tinnitus (perception of sound in ear sometimes when not present) <-- ringing noise for me
-Mouth sores, or ulcers
-Palpation's (of heart)
-Depression (or mood swings)
-Twitching muscles
-Poor appetite

SO YOU'RE A DOCTOR NOW?


Haha by no means but I find this all very interesting. Apparently Iron deficiency anemia accounts for about half of all anemia cases! As someone who thinks they have tried nearly everything. This is one thing I have never considered.

HOW MUCH IRON SHOULD I BE GETTING A DAY?

This is what I'm currently looking into. There are a vast amount of articles on the web warning of Iron overdose and the amount needed, and not to be exceeded. Although, I find it weird that when I visited the pharmacy, the smallest dose I saw was about 28mg and the largest went up to about 60+. I realized women need more iron, especially pregnant women but whats with the variations in "mg" when most articles claim not to exceed 18mg in a day!

MORE RESEARCH NEEDED?

YES! I posted this topic to bring the idea into the air and get feedback from people who may know more about this than I do. I would like to experiment with this by taking an iron supplement but at the moment I am confused in terms of how much to take/is safe to take. Also how long to supplement with iron. Can't be safe forever because excess is stored in the body. So any help or information is appreciated.


THINK YOU HAVE FOLLICULITIS?

If you think you do, post in the topic and let us know if you get a good source of Iron. Whether it's from a multi-vitamin or iron enriched foods. Also, if you have ever had ringworm, hookworm, etc. because I read this can also be a case. Thanks!

I don't have Follicultis but I do have an iron deficiency. I had blood tests to find out how low I am.

Personally, if you are planning on taking iron because you think you may have a deficiency then I'd strongly recommend that you get blood work done first. If everything is fine and you start taking iron supplements then you could easily overdose. Even if you are taking it in the hopes of it clearing up your Follicultis then still, I'd strongly recommend getting blood tests done. Just look up symptoms of iron overdose. It's not pretty.