(read details please!) Should I take an iron supplement?
Okay first...I'm a 15 year old girl.
The past few months it's been increasingly difficult for me to stay awake during the day when I'm not moving around. No matter how much sleep I get, whether I get 6 hours, which is the least I ever get, or 10 hours, I can't seem to stay awake. It's extremely inconvenient. For nearly two months I slept through my entire Algebra class, which starts around 2pm. I've also gotten caught on occasion sleeping during morning classes. Even on the weekends, whether I'm at a friend's house, or my grandparent's house, or just hanging out at home, I suffer from fatigue and sometimes fall asleep. On random occasions I have minor to severe (severe imo, anyway) chest pains, and every once and awhile I'll black out momentarily after getting up from doing something (I think that happens when blood doesn't flow to your head fast enough? but w/e) Finally after 3 months or so of falling asleep in class and not getting much of a response from my mom after confronting her about my problem, I took it upon myself to go to the school nurse and tell her about it. She said there wasn't much she could do for me right there, but she mentioned "low iron levels" and called my mom about it. My mom can't take me to a doctor, not only because I don't have one but because she's going away for a month due to her own medical problems. After looking into it, I think there may be a possibility that I'm suffering from anemia (or I'm at least at risk for it), but without a doctor's diagnosis there's not much I can do.
So I was thinking about taking some sort of iron supplement. Today I picked up something from the store, "Easy Iron: a highly absorbable iron supplement that is easy on your stomach." For one thing, am I old enough to take this? I know some of the stuff that can happen when taking an iron supplement...stomach upset, constipation, heartburn...anything else? Are there any foods I shouldn't eat if I take one?
I guess I should include this as well...the % of daily value included in each capsule:
Folic Acid - 100%
Vitamin B-12 - 417%
Iron - 139%
Should I try taking one? Or should I wait until I can get to a doctor first? (this could be months...many months, I haven't been to a doctor in over 3 years) I'd really rather not have to suffer with the fatigue in the beginning of the school year if I can help it...
Thanks!