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  • How are everyone's Iron levels? Possible root cause. Possible cure.

I was diagnosed with mild anaemia when I was about 10 (I think - it was a long time ago as I'm 44 now and haven't actually checked on my medical record) so I have been, historically at least, iron deficient.
Funnily enough I have been supplementing with loads of stuff (including iron), as well as changing my diet and exercising for a few months now and have hardly even visited here as, remarkably, my eyestrain issues have improved. I don't know if this is just because of the supplementation and/or lifestyle changes or the fact that I have been choosing carefully what screens I use but things seem to be improving. I can now look at an OLED with relatively low PWM rate or a dithering IPS panel without too much bother. I still feel a slight twinge or weird sensation sometimes but nothing like the immediate sore eyes or headache or nausea or occasional migraines that I experienced previously. However I have sold or got rid of previously troublesome screens so cannot do a one for one comparison with the same panels to be sure about anything but just to reiterate previously I couldn't even look at an OLED phone without getting instantaneously sore eyes and sometimes nausea or a head pain or all of them and more. Maybe I'm just acclimating. Or, maybe, as I suspect, the root cause is not the screens but my physiology...

By the way I haven't checked my iron levels since childhood and am not really inclined to do so right now - as it would cost either time or money or both - but if my symptoms do worsen again I'll be sure to bear it in mind. Thanks for sharing @balthazar

16 days later

I have an appointment coming up, I will have my Dr check it for me. I'm curious about this because I gave up red meat about 5 years ago, but I know it's one of the highest food sources of iron… could be a coincidence but that's why we test!

    wlmsn That is interesting, as I also severely limited any red meat for very long time. But slowly getting back into bringing some beef, and pork into my diet. So far, red meat in mild use (not processed like is the case with sausages) gives a bit a of a stamina, and less reaction to many irritants that come my way.

        Donux that's interesting. Assuming we're all getting adequate protein levels it's possible that the problem could be iron, zinc or B12 related. Those seem to be the vitamins/minerals that are significantly higher in beef than other meats.

            wlmsn I do not actually fully agree on idea that this is a single factor to focus on (you might not have meant that), but it is important factor. This does not eliminate objective fact that some machines cause more harm than others to your eyes. The good example is - take a look at young teens, they can use absolute crap, eat absolute crap, and they will be fine without complaining. So as people age, they are not over stimulated, and are more in tune with their bodies and bodies are more likely to give more signals to nervous systems. Well at least this is my view at this point.

                Donux yea I didn't mean it is the only cause but definitely could be a factor… it's gotta be something right?

                I agree with your point though.

                  Donux Here's another voice to chime in, for what it's worth: I also have almost entirely avoided red meat for the past 30+ years, with the very occasional exception.

                  I would be interested to hear if there are more of us who both have this problem and who do not eat red meat.

                      16 days later
                      9 days later

                      Has this thread died down because no one knows what their iron levels are, and can't be bothered to check? Or they do, but can't be bothered to share this info?

                      I've been able to raise my ferritin level from 5 to 13 over the last 3 months. At this pace, unless I find a way to jack up my ferritin levels much faster, expect a report as to whether low iron was the eye-strain culprit in my case…….in a year or two.

                      Cheers

                        My ferritin when checked last year was 486, and iron 71. I still have screen issues severely.

                          Donux

                          Not sure if any of that works. For example, what happens when you are sweating and you skin is in contact with the conductive materials of the clothing?

                              balthazar I have an appointment on the 19th, I'll post back if I'm deficient.

                                11 days later

                                Ok, got my bloodwork results back and they're confusing (Of course they are!!)

                                My Ferritin is in range but in the lower part of the range but my serum iron is at the HIGH end of the range... odd. My Ferritin is around 50, but like @balthazar said in the original post it may need to be >100.

                                So that said I asked my GP if there's a way to safely increase my ferritin levels without pushing my serum iron too high... we'll see what he says. I'm not a fan of this doctor so I won't hold my breath on a solution.

                                I did think about something interesting though... I have a lot of autoimmune issues and I've was taking turmeric supplements for 4-5 years. I stopped a month ago because I read something about it being bad for the liver. The interesting thing is that apparently turmeric decreases iron absorption. Combine that with the fact that I don't eat red meat and I probably did a number on my Ferritin stores. Perhaps it was even lower before I quit and it's working it's way back up? Just a guess.

                                Also interestingly @Seagull commented here that turmeric/curcumin makes screens worse for them as well. Maybe that's connected? Maybe I'm just crazy? Maybe both! 🙂

                                  5 days later

                                  wlmsn Not only does turmeric block iron absorption, it actually CHELATES iron - google it, if you don't believe me.

                                  My brain fog/eye strain started when I was doing a whole bunch of things to manage an inflammatory condition - among them: a vegetarian diet (i.e. low iron intake), and COPIOUS (half a glass/day of raw powder) amounts of turmeric. I was also doing a whole bunch of other things at the time, so it took me a loooooong time to get to my current theory that low iron is the culprit.

                                      balthazar what does Chelates mean?

                                      A while back I had a bad reaction to Cipro and almost blew out my achilles. I started taking Vitamin Shoppe's "Triple Strength Turmeric" (900mg) and basically kept taking it for about 5 years. I get pretty achy without it but if it's messing up my iron/causing this eye thing I'll survive without it.

                                          wlmsn Removes iron from your body. Binds it in some way, where you end up pissing it out...I think. I'm not exactly a biology major.

                                          Boswellia could be something to look into as far as achilles inflammation goes. Disclaimer: NOT OFFICIAL MEDICAL ADVICE, consult your doctor, do your own research, doublecheck whether it messes with Iron, bla bla bla

                                            dev