You can watch it here, if you like (although it's not necessary for you to understand this blog post):
- I am pescatarian (the only meat I eat is fish) and have been for eight months
- Unfortunately, I have started feeling weak and floppy, and have started sleeping a very unusual amount.
- I think this is due to anaemia (an iron deficiency), due to the fact that there is not enough iron in my blood now that I eat minimal meat.
- Although this is unfortunate, I do not regret becoming a pescatarian.
- I am now taking iron supplements and watching my iron-intake.
After uploading this video, I had a pretty average day. I had already swam earlier on in the day, so I had used up a lot of energy, and throughout the day I made sure to eat a few things that were rich in iron (including apricots, apparently). I stayed up until 11:45 watching a TV show on Netflix with my parents, and then got ready for bed.
It was when I was taking off my makeup in the bathroom mirror that I began to feel sick (and not the fever kind). It came on with no warning whatsoever, which was very startling, because only a few seconds before, I had been feeling fine (if a little weak and floppy - but this seemed only normal due to the fact that I already suspected I had anaemia and was quite tired anyway).
My mum was in the bathroom with me at the time, so I told her immediately. I can't remember her response because, as quickly as I started feeling sick, I started feeling dizzy. I started to panic (I don't like losing control), but my head was spinning too fast for me to really do anything. My mum told me to sit down on the side of the bath...
...and that's the last thing I really remember.
The next thing I knew, my mum was saying something about not falling into the bin. I opened my eyes and I was on the floor, my mum trying her best to hold me up and prevent my head from falling into the bathroom bin. I had tried to sit down on the edge of the bath and failed - falling on the floor heavily instead.
I must have looked like an absolute mess. I was halfway through wiping the black eye makeup from one eyelid, the remainder of it smudged around my face like a panda (not that pandas aren't cool). I had also started to cry - upset and very, very confused. I had never fainted before in my life - apart from that one time in the subway station in New York a year ago. My mum said that I had only been out for a matter of seconds, but I had no way of knowing.
I don't know how long I was crouched on the bathroom floor with my head between my knees whilst crying for, but I remember feeling incredibly foggy, asking a lot of questions and saying some pretty stupid stuff. I was hitting my arm with my bracelet because it was tingling (and I was pretty out-of-it).
My favourite comment I made was probably when my mum was talking about how she was anaemic when she was pregnant with me, and she fainted a lot, and I said "I'm not pregnant". Like, of course you're not, you idiot!! I think I meant to say it in an angry way, like "I don't even have an excuse for it, though", but I ended up sounding really stupid instead.
My mum scheduled a doctor's appointment for the morning and said that she would sleep in my room in case anything else happened (nothing did, thankfully).
Before I knew it, I was sitting in the doctor's waiting room with my mum and my brother (who was playing on his DS because there was no one to look after him at home and he needs to be using technology at all times!). My appointment ended up being 20 minutes later than scheduled, as I think it was quite a busy time of day for them. I was feeling noticeably better, and didn't feel like I was going to do anything out of the ordinary, though I still wasn't great.
When my name was called, my brother was trying to show me a Mii he had created on his DS that looked like a fish (which was funny, but not entirely helpful). Once we were in the doctor's office, my mum explained what was wrong ("she's very weak and fainted last night etc."), and then we were asked a few questions concerning things like my diet and sleeping patterns ("she's a vegetarian-" NO I AM NOT, MOTHER "and she keeps falling asleep"). I was too shy to mention that I am a pescatarian, but never mind...
My blood pressure was measured on one of those squeezy-arm things that are incredibly odd, but not massively uncomfortable. We used to have a toy-version in the toy-box when we were children, but I once saw a real one in a biology class when my friend volunteered to test it out. He screamed a lot, but I think he was surprised and wanted to make a big show of it to freak people out. I had to push my hair behind my shoulders so that the doctor could hear my heart with the stethoscope, stick my tongue out to be examined (before looking really silly when the doctor told me to put it back in and I didn't understand what she was saying) and then have her look into my eyes really intensely.
Afterwards, she suggested a blood test, which, to be honest, I had been expecting in the first place. We decided on a day later this week and she offered a prescription for a numbing gel that I could put on at home before going in, and I accepted. She didn't really mention anything else apart from that "snacking between meals is very important" (which I can definitely deal with!). Before collecting the numbing gel from the pharmacy, my mum bought loads of stuff from the shop next-door that were high in iron (mostly things that consisted of nuts and chocolate, because I don't like nuts on their own).
Since then, I have been fine. I have been for a walk with my dog without anything weird happening apart from me feeling generally tired out, but I'm not longer sick or dizzy. I have been eating nuts all day *inappropriate snigger* as well as other snack-ish type stuff (I don't know why I am so hungry!). Don't feel like you have to worry about me or anything - I'm sure I will feel a bit better soon :)
Speak to you soon,
Lucy x
What I'm listening to right now:
(I SERIOUSLY HAVE LOST THE ABILITY TO EVEN)
(also Michael is bae)
(Lucy out!)
(since when did I say that?)
(shh)
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