Support is critical to Overcoming Anaemia: Vivian's story

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"While the anaemia journey is a hard one, the presence of a strong support system to help navigate these hard times is a critical part of full recovery"

Women with adequate nutrition are more productive and can create opportunities to gradually break the intergenerational cycles of malnutrition. Despite the vast investment in nutrition, adolescent girls and women whose lived experiences prove the socioeconomic limitations brought by malnutrition still exist. Today, we share Vivian's story. 


For a while now, I have been having various mild iron deficiency symptoms, which I hardly took note of. However this year in March everything escalated to unbearable levels. I was constantly bleeding, which caused a drastic decrease in my iron levels. This led to constant dizzy spells, always feeling tired amongst other symptoms. As a result, I took some days off work, which was not ideal but very necessary. However, with multiple visits to the doctor, which were kind of traumatising, and the medication, I was able to boost my iron levels. This involved taking iron tablets, and having an iron-rich diet as I incorporated iron-rich foods like spinach, beetroot, and liver. 

In as much as I was able to get medical attention and emotional support from my family. The whole experience had an impact on my mental health, as the severe symptoms depleted my energy levels something which I never expected to be experienced by a young person like me.  Also the myths and stigma around the condition where some people start thinking you are bewitched or under a spell, heavily contributed to my decision not to disclose my condition to a lot of people because of fear of stigmatisation. While the anaemia journey is a hard one, the presence of a strong support system to help navigate these hard times is a critical part of full recovery. And I am grateful to have had one as I wouldn't have managed to fight the voices in my head without them.


One of my concerns regarding this issue is that there isn't enough education and awareness on iron deficiency yet it's affecting most young women in our communities. Sometimes young women don't know where to go or who to talk to about their ID hence the need for more awareness. 


In closing, I want to say that as a society we need to do away with myths around ID for example “uloyiwe” (meaning you have been bewitched), rather let us offer emotional support to these girls and young women. 

If you want to also share your iron deficiency anaemia lived experience please do reach out to us on our social media platforms on the link below. 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WholeWomanMovement1/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/whole-woman-movement/?viewAsMember=true

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