The heart plays one of the most important functions in the human body. It pumps blood to other organs throughout the body carrying important nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and other components the body needs. In the midst of all these functions, the blood plays a critical role in helping the body maintain its regular function and keep it balanced through homeostasis.

Blood plays many roles in the human body. It is responsible for many functions that are essential for the body’s survival. 

• Carries nutrient supply to other cells and tissues. Blood acts as a transport medium for amino acids, fatty acids, glucose, and other essential nutrients to maintain cell health and function.
• Transports waste materials away from the cells. By-products of respiration and other waste materials such as carbon dioxide, urea, and lactic acid are removed from the cells and delivered to organs responsible for their expulsion from the body.
• Protects the body. The white blood cells in the blood protect the body from infections and foreign bodies that can disrupt homeostasis.
• Delivery of hormones. Hormones produced by the body are transported from one part of the body to another for the completion of body functions.
• Regulate body pH levels. Through the transport and removal of certain waste materials from the body, the blood is able to maintain and regulate pH levels to make sure it isn’t too acidic or too basic.

Lastly, blood’s most important function is to supply oxygen to the different cells and tissues in the body. This is carried out by a protein found in red blood cells called hemoglobin.

The Body Under Low Hemoglobin

Hemoglobin is one of the main components of red blood cells. Its main function is to facilitate respiration by acting as a site to which oxygen and carbon dioxide can attach themselves. 

During respiration, the lungs inhale oxygen, which is then delivered to cells around the body. These cells form carbon dioxide as a by-product of the processes they perform. The carbon dioxide attaches itself to the hemoglobin, which is delivered back to the lungs for exhalation. 

Hemoglobin is a crucial component of the blood because of the critical role it plays during respiration. Hence, hemoglobin production in the body is absolutely paramount to its survival.

Iron is a major ingredient in the production of hemoglobin. When the body’s iron supply is low, hemoglobin production slows down. This decline in the body’s hemoglobin supply can manifest in many ways.

Symptoms of Low Iron Levels

• A feeling of exhaustion and irritability. Oxygen is used by the cells to carry out their functions. A decline in the oxygen supply can impede their processes, which causes the cells to produce less energy, which results in a feeling of tiredness.
• Paleness of the skin. The presence of iron-rich hemoglobin in the blood gives it its natural red color. Naturally, a decline in the supply of the protein in the blood means it could lose its pigmentation, which in turn causes the skin to pale.
• Difficulty breathing. When the oxygen supply that reaches the cells is insufficient, the body compensates by enabling the lungs to take up more oxygen. We process this stimulus as shortness of breath.
• Faster heartbeat and palpitations. The body now takes in more oxygen as a result of faster breathing. But with no hemoglobin to which the oxygen can attach, the heart compensates by pumping blood faster to deliver oxygen to the cells.
• Headaches and lightheadedness. Pressure develops in the veins as they start to swell. This increase in pressure can lead to headaches and lightheadedness.
• Brittle hair and nails. Oxygen deprivation damages the cells. As a result of the damage, the skin tends to become dry. The hair as well as the nails also become brittle and are susceptible to cracking.

What Causes Low Iron Levels?

There are numerous causes of low hemoglobin in the blood. Most of the reasons can be related to other conditions while others simply have to do with an iron-poor diet. These causes include:

The rapid destruction of red blood cells. The body normally replenishes blood supply in the body by destroying red blood cells and producing new cells, which occur every few months. This is quite common in athletes due to exercise-induced hemolysis (destruction of blood cells) and hematuria (blood in urine). Studies have shown that mechanical trauma and oxidative stress contribute to the rapid destruction of red blood cells. 

The inability of the body to produce enough hemoglobin. Impaired hemoglobin product of the body is not a normal thing. When the body cannot produce enough hemoglobin, it can be due to a number of diseases that are either hereditary (bone marrow disease, blood diseases) or as a result of poor lifestyle choices (kidney failure). 

Bleeding. Low hemoglobin counts can stem from the lack of red blood cells in the body caused by bleeding. It can be external as a result of surgery, injury, or drawing of blood, or internal due to internal bleeding. 

An iron-poor diet. Diet is singularly the most common cause for low hemoglobin levels in the blood. When the supply of iron in the body is low, the body will not have enough raw materials to use to be able to produce hemoglobin, which creates a deficiency in the supply.

How to Increase Iron Levels in the Blood

There are a number of ways to increase iron levels to stimulate hemoglobin production, which will depend on the underlying condition that caused the low supply. But here are some of the most common ways:

Receive blood transfusions. Especially in emergency cases, the fastest way to increase hemoglobin count is by increasing the number of red blood cells in the body through an external blood supply.

Use hormones that stimulate production. A hormone called erythropoietin is injected into the bloodstream to improve the rate in which hemoglobin is produced. This is helpful in cases where production is slow or red blood cell destruction is too fast.

Increase intake of food that stimulates hemoglobin production. Foods rich in iron (eggs, artichokes, liver, lean meats, beans, and seafood) and cofactors (vitamins B6, B12, and C, and folic acid) help the body maintain normal hemoglobin levels.

Take iron supplements. Iron supplementation takes a more direct approach to the stimulation of red blood cell production. Supplements like SNAC’s HypOxygen promote recovery and boost energy levels by stimulating hemoglobin production and promoting oxygen delivery to the different cells in the body. If you are wondering how to increase iron levels quickly, this supplement may become a solution. It contains iron bisglycinate that is a readily-absorbed form of iron and is up to four times more effective than iron sulfate and has less potential for toxicity. 

“That’s nice talk, Ben – keep drinking. Between the 101-proof breath and the occasional bits of drool, some interesting words come out.”

“Leaving Las Vegas,” a 1995 Mike Figgis film, starring Nicolas Cage & Elisabeth Shue

For a while, like the poor character of Ben in the film “Leaving Las Vegas,” I toyed with the idea of a supposedly romantic death from drinking. However, in the same liquor-soaked breath, I’d have laughed at myself, knowing I would never have the guts to do something so final. I loved the film when I was a full-on alcoholic, and, now clean and sober, quite a few years later, I still love it – the wonderfully-crafted characters (who still seem so very real to me) and the writing – so skillfully done, so accurate.

However, when I watch it now, I’m prepared. Call it practice. I need to be wary – it could turn out to be the trigger that leads to a relapse, even after all this time.

Any addiction recovery is filled with potential relapse triggers and unexpected challenges. Of course, there are the obvious triggers to be wary of – such as familiar places, people, and social events – that could present a problem, and the majority of those in recovery (certainly in the early days) will simply avoid those things or circumstances.

The rehab center in Arizona that invested so much time and effort into me also taught me a lot about the usual and the very unusual relapse triggers I might encounter, as part of my education in addiction. They are easily one of the reasons I’m here now, sharing this article, still clean and sober.

However, life is life, and it happily throws the unexpected, and sometimes even the bizarrely coincidental, in our direction, and usually when we least expect it. If those in recovery were given “Spidey-sense” (aka Spider Man’s uncanny sense of danger) when they left rehab, I’m pretty positive there would be many more recoveries with successful outcomes.

Here are “3 Unlikely Relapse Triggers in Your Addiction Recovery” that may catch you completely off-guard, and lead to a potential relapse. Be wary of:

1. Films & TV

Just like the “Leaving Las Vegas” film mentioned above, unexpected triggers can hit you from a cinema screen or from the wide-screen TV sitting in your living room. Straight off, you can never plan your viewing to suit your recovery (it’d drive you close to madness too), but you can be selective about the type of content you watch. For some recovering addicts, simply watching a film about drug use can be a trigger; for other recovering addicts, films with a storyline that features a suicide attempt can be a trigger. Even certain film stars can be a potential trigger to some.

All of this is unique to you. There is no list of CDC-banned film and television titles that those in recovery from substance abuse and addiction are forbidden to watch. Something that may present a trigger to you could pass me by without even a nod in its direction.

It’s therefore imperative that, as a recovering addict, you recognize, know and understand your own personal triggers. Additionally, if you have friends or fellowship sponsors with an addiction history, ask them for their advice as to how to limit the potential for triggers coming out of your TV screen.

2. Complacency & Overconfidence

Although it may seem unlikely when you’re in early addiction recovery, as surely as the days turn into weeks and so on, you will become more adept at living your new clean and sober life. Your new way of living will become habitual, the things you do to remain clean and sober become routine – it turns from being utterly new to “utterly just like yesterday.”

Because of this, and due to feeling so much better than when you were using or drinking, some people in addiction recovery become a little complacent, a little overconfident. Not much, but as time passes, these feelings become more common, the new way of thinking, until they, too, become normal. And that is dangerous.

Many recoveries have fallen at the wire, and didn’t last, for just this reason – people got complacent, then got lazy, and then got careless, until another trigger caught them point-blank, right between the eyes.

Never think you have this recovery thing sussed or licked. You don’t. You may never, and that’s a cold, hard truth that every recovering drug addict and alcoholic needs to learn.

3. Social Media

The guy that invented the internet once said he’d unleashed the devil. He wasn’t joking, especially when you consider how the darker side of people’s natures can feature so prominently just a click away. All it takes is an unexpected comment on a personal post that hits too close to home, or something to provoke you sent via an instant message, and – Boom! – an instant and unexpected relapse trigger that can catch you out.

If you find that this is happening way too regularly, then remember – your recovery comes first, so use those “Unfollow,” “Block” and “Unfriend” buttons as often as you want, and certainly as often as you need to. At no point, should your FB status be more important than your addiction recovery – ever.

If you enjoyed and learned from this article, check out our other addiction-related articles here in our blog.

“The night is the hardest time to be alive,

and 4 am knows all my secrets.”- Poppy Z. Brite, American writer

Your head hits the pillow, you slowly close your eyes, but your brain has so much zipping around in its prefrontal cortex, there’s no place in there for sleep. If your brain doesn’t start to chill out soon, there’s no chance the rest of you will chill out enough to relax, and finally (thankfully) fall asleep.

Insomnia – the curse of many an addiction recovery, especially during the early days.

If you haven’t been there yet, and encountered insomnia in all its glory – chances are, you will… at some point. Recovering drug addicts and recovering alcoholics are serious experts at inducing a good dose of seemingly incurable insomnia for themselves. You can thank all that unresolved anger, guilt, anxiety, and shame for a start because that’s where insomnia usually does start, as well as your body continuing to withdraw from the toxic substances you’ve been abusing.

I once had a psychiatrist assure me (during my addicted days) that there was nothing wrong with me – not addiction, not alcoholism, not insomnia, and certainly not plain, old madness. “A simple case of “racing thoughts” is all,” he said. I was still laughing away to myself when I opened the next bottle of whiskey to shut those same racing thoughts up.

Fortunately, I later encountered decent clinicians, specializing in addiction, who informed me that the racing thoughts were a symptom of something else, and I was able to undergo treatment in a drug rehab center in Pennsylvania for both that disorder and, of course, my chronic alcoholism. Over 6 years ago now, and I’ve been clean, sober, and healthy ever since.

I became a student of addiction, the disease, in rehab; education – learning the cold, hard facts about this disorder – was a primary tool for enabling a lasting recovery. I learned all about my insomnia and a host of other useful things too (like the art of mindfulness – but more of that later).

Here is the advice that was passed onto me about “Coping with Insomnia During Your Addiction Recovery”:

Sleep is an Absolute Necessity for the Recovering Addict

Addiction is medically described as a “chronic, relapsing brain disorder.” Like all chronic diseases, it takes time to heal and recover, and addiction is no different. It is for that very reason that sleep is an absolute necessity for those undergoing such a recovery.

When you sleep, your brain doesn’t, not really. It’s busy processing all the information it needs to help you achieve recovery, far more efficiently and effectively than when you’re awake. The brain is also responsible for regulating enzymes and hormones in the body when we sleep, which improves recovery.

Lose out on your sleep, and you will be prone to anxiety, poor control of your emotions, impulsivity, and depression. Not good, as these can result in relapse.

Insomnia: The Facts

Insomnia is a sleep disorder, resulting in:

• Poor-quality sleep
• Waking sporadically during the night
• Difficulty in returning to sleep, and
• Waking too early

There are 2 types of insomnia:

• Acute Insomnia (or short-term insomnia): More common and milder than the chronic version of the disorder (often going away on its own), acute insomnia can simply result from:

• Environmental factors like noise or extreme temperatures
• Work-related anxiety or
• Emotional stress and discomfort
• Chronic Insomnia (or ongoing insomnia): A prolonged and lasting disorder that requires actual treatment, chronic insomnia can be caused by:

• Certain medication
• Mental health issues
• Trauma
• Alcoholic insomnia caused by consuming too much alcohol, or
• Poor sleeping environment

Why is Insomnia Common During Addiction Recovery?

According to the Journal of Addiction Medicine, if you are in recovery from substance addiction, you are 5 times more likely to experience insomnia. Sleeping disorders are simply a longer-term withdrawal symptom for those recovering from substance abuse, such as alcohol, opioids and cannabis.

Insomnia: What Can I Do?

Insomnia caused by the long-term withdrawal from an abused substance, or substances, is a temporary issue and does not require the use of medication, eg. sleeping tablets or other meds, to be treated successfully.

Here are the best lifestyle tips to beat your temporary case of insomnia:

• Avoid Caffeine: Caffeine, a natural stimulant, is a killer when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, so avoid it if you can. If you need a cup of coffee, no problem – just confine your caffeine intake strictly to the mornings.

• Nutrition: Eat a healthy and nutritious diet, and avoid sugar and fats, as this promotes good sleep. You can also use a melatonin-based supplement as this can help you go to sleep faster.

• Exercise Regularly: Somewhat obvious (because it helps to feel physically tired before sleep), try and exercise daily.

• Relaxation: Learning activities like yoga, massage therapy, and mindfulness meditation is an excellent way of learning to relax your body and mindfully. Personally, mindfulness was a revelation to me, and I still practice it daily.

• Good Sleeping Environment: A dark, quiet room with the right temperature.

• Wind Down Before: Take a warm bath, practice a relaxation exercise, or reading before bed aid your sleep when you get there.

Remember, insomnia is temporary during addiction recovery. If it persists, and you feel like you have exhausted the above, speak to your family physician – do not try to self-medicate, as you could make yourself prone to relapse. Sleep well, dear reader!