A
female
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:My mother has terrified me... She told me I could be anaemic! Reason being that I often start my period every 3 weeks and according to her, it's not normal and is caused by lack of iron! Could she be right? If so, are there any consequences from it? I also saw a picture on the internet of a mouth with loads of blotches on it belonging to a person who has anaemia. I'm very worried, I don't know much about it and would really appreciate if anyone could explain it to me and whether it can be cured!
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Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
reader, anonymous, writes (30 October 2007): Firstly, your mother is wrong when she says it's not normal to get your period every three weeks. The average cycle last 28 days (4 weeks) and 4-5 of those days consist of bleeding so getting your period (roughly) every three weeks is exactly how it is supposed to be.
Secondly, she is also wrong when she says it is caused by a lack of iron. It's heavy bleeding or periods that last longer than about 5 days that causes the lack of iron (because iron is found in the blood and too much blood loss can lead to a deffinciancy), not lack of iron that causes heavy or frequent periods.
Your mum is clearly a bit uneducated on this stuff so to be honest, I wouldn't take to heart much of what she says. If your still worried, pop to see your Gp, the worst that could happen is they would give you a short course of iron tablets, nothing major.
:-)
A
female
reader, Fairy_Lu +, writes (30 October 2007):
 You just need to eat food with more iron or take supplements i get anemic sometimes but its nothing to worry about
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A
female
reader, alyssa  +, writes (30 October 2007):
I've been anaemic most of my life. Its totally controllable. Get a blood test from your physician to determine. If you are, they'll give you prescription iron supplements or they may tell you you can take over the counter supplements. If over the counter is possible, go for Slo-FE, it's slow release and you have less chance of becoming constipated. Eat iron-rich foods such as red meat and dark green, leafy green vegetables, eggs too! Good luck and calm down.
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A
female
reader, LethalInjection-x +, writes (30 October 2007):
 Don't worry about it.
I'm not much older than you, &I've been anaemic.
As the other aunt said, you just need to eat more foods that contain iron, it doesn't take much.
Also, your period arriving every 3 weeks isn't abnormal.
Sometimes girls and women miss them entirely.
&As you're young, it's more often that girls have irregular periods.
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A
female
reader, DrPsych +, writes (30 October 2007):
 Some women are prone to iron-deficient anaemia but it is usually a very simple condition to correct - you get lots of iron from certain foods (the green veggie stuff) and if a blood test revealed a clinical problem then you could get a course of iron tablets from your doctor. You are quite young and it is not that unusual for periods to be erratic at this age but as it worries you go and see your GP to exclude medical reasons for your problems.
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