IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I POSTED!

     When I see how long it has been since I posted it is amazing that it has been so long.  I actually have been through such a journey since then!  First I will talk about the migraine/iron connection since that was my last post.  Recently my iron did get low again and I was having more migraines so that just strengthens my theory (again, remember it is only a theory since I am not a doctor).  This time I did not go to the doctor to have my iron level checked because I was almost 100% sure it was low and first I wanted to try to raise it and see if the symptoms went away.  That's NOT an idea I advocate for anyone else but the fact is, that is what I did.  I am not a doctor and not even close to an expert.  I am just a person trying to feel better.
     Here is how the events unfolded.  At the end of April I was going through an incredibly stressful time, probably the worst of my life.  I thought I was completely exhausted from it and then my heart started to skip a lot of beats.  It was always worse at night and would sometimes skip every third beat.  I am NOT advocating avoiding going to a doctor for something so serious but I did not go at that time.  I think the stress I was under had a lot to do with that.  I was also having a lot of trouble with my fingernails breaking and I even had some night sweats like before when my iron got low but incredibly I still just thought it was stress.  I would say it took a good two or maybe even three months for it to occur to me that it could be that my iron was low.  I had not felt out of breath but I think that was because I was not doing anything physical.  I had absolutely no motivation to do anything.  My life had become an endless hamster wheel of going to work, coming home and maybe making dinner or maybe not and then plopping down on the couch in front of the television.  My brain function was affected and I eventually noticed but it took awhile since I was pretty distracted from dealing with the stress.
     Once it occurred to me that it might be my iron I increased my iron intake and after a couple of months my heart started to beat normally and my finger nails were not perfect but they weren't breaking as much.  I have not felt as exhausted but I'm also not under as much stress.  I still occasionally get night sweats and my brain function is definitely taking longer to get back to normal which is kind of a bummer.  I have been getting less migraines but I have some other things that I have been doing which makes me believe there are a lot of factors effecting the frequency.  I will have separate posts for those things as well as one about whether I have a stress/migraine connection.
     Out of this recent situation I have learned that palpitations CAN be your heart actually skipping beats.  I am not sure why I thought it did not mean that since I found the true definition everywhere I read.  Also, I'm sure others sometimes have doubts about whether their symptoms are really associated with something or not but this situation did confirm which of my symptoms are definitely associated with low iron.  It still amazes me that low iron can have such significant effects on a person's body!