Adolescent girls overwhelmed by IDA symptoms: Patience's story.

“One thing I remember is being teased, bullied, and laughed at for my weird cravings … and that did hurt my self-esteem.”

A distressed Adolescent girl

Adolescence is a confusing stage for many young people. Imagine one day you are this 10-year-old young girl playing all over the streets, then the next thing you have these heavy painful periods that often take you away from school. As if that is not enough, two years later you have all these weird cravings and unexplainable energy loss which causes you to want to hide away. In as much as this sounds too much for a 12-year-old, such was Patience’s story of living with Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) in her early adolescent years.

Patience’s Iron Deficiency anaemia (IDA) journey started at the young age of 12 years. Just like many other women who have had IDA, she and her family did not have any knowledge of anaemia. To this young girl, some of her symptoms which included extreme fatigue with constant yawning no matter how much she rested/slept, and constant headaches never made sense as she did not understand what was happening to her body. But her ignorance did not spare her as the symptoms worsened and she started having weird cravings for ice. This one persisted for a while as she would religiously place ice trays in the freezer and happily munch on them. This was so serious that if the ice blocks finished fast or were not frozen enough, she would scrap the ice in the fridge instead. Not only that, but she also progressed to eating red clay. An act that exacerbated her health condition as she developed bowel movement-related issues including constipation, and anal fissures which became the order of the day. However, the game changer came when she started craving paper from her exercise books, which, coupled with all the other symptoms, alarmed her parents to act. Hence, when they took her to the doctor and did a Full Blood Count (FBC), lo and behold she had her answer! Patience was diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia. When the doctor suggested that she take contraceptives to help with her painful heavy periods, that was not welcomed by her parents who were Christians with strong African culture. Therefore, her only resort became iron supplements, eating iron-rich foods, and moving on with life. For some time, her iron levels increased. But because her heavy bleeding did not stop and as someone coming from a middle-income household, food therapy was not a sustainable solution hence she relapsed again and eventually learnt to live with her condition. While she was battling with accepting her situation her peers did not make it easy on her. Most of the time she would be bullied or teased for her weird cravings especially eating paper, which often led her to hide her habits from them therefore affecting her self-esteem and the outlook on her mental health. As if that was not enough, the heavy periods and fatigue often made her miss school making her feel like an outcast as she was not at par with other children her age. In all these mentally disturbing episodes, Patience did not find it her to open up about her feelings and experiences. However, these episodes reinforced her insecurities, and she ended up taking the self-blame route. Looking back, she believes the silence was reinforced by her experiences as a survivor of child abuse.  

Patience’s Q&A.  

How can young girls and Women increase their iron status amid these economic conditions and climate realities?

I encourage young girls to get involved in community gardens that grow iron-rich foods, especially our indigenous plants as they most often do not require much water. If we can advocate and promote the growth and value addition to our indigenous plants that are rich in iron, I believe it will go a long in our journey. Above all breaking the silence and educating people on iron deficiency, what it entails, and getting those with menstrual issues medical help so they don’t have to endure lengthy heavy painful periods. This is because as a woman facing all those challenges, you are still expected to function on optimum levels yet all you want to do is heal and rest. Let's educate, advocate, and engage everyone to have these conversations.

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