06/25/2026
****This is not your typical Ironman story.***
I have completed a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run within the required time limits to earn the title of Ironman. I can officially say Iron is in my blood. Too much to be exact.
For the past couple of months, I've had more restless legs than usual. Trying to fix it, I started taking magnesium and, after doing some research with ChatGPT, added an iron supplement each night. It didn't seem to help, and I eventually noticed my heart felt different—almost heavy or thick, which is the best way I can describe it. The beats were off in a way I would check it for Afib, and even rhythm, since I've been diagnosed with less than 2% Afib, I kept checking to see if that was the issue, but it wasn't. We found the Afib, last year checking to find out why I have a low heart rate. At that time my cardiologist reviewed everything and said I was doing fine, recommending a follow-up in a year. I have a score of 1 just for being over 65 on a scale of 1-5 5 being the score before they do anything.
Meanwhile, I was becoming increasingly tired. Over the last week, I would wake up, take a nap an hour later, and repeat that cycle 4–5 times a day.
We already had a doctor's appointment scheduled to discuss the restless legs and do bloodwork. Thursday, they drew blood, and Friday afternoon the doctor's office called and told me to go to the emergency room. My iron levels were apparently at a “critically high” level. My iron was 222. Normal range is 38-169. My iron Saturation marked as “Alert” - 93% percent of iron bound to transport iron around the body, and Ferritin of 733 with normal being 30-400. This stores iron in your cells. The ER confirmed the levels were very high, but not high enough to admit me, which is what it would have taken to get an iron level blood test at the hospital, so they sent me home.
I returned to my doctor Monday for more bloodwork, and thankfully my iron levels had dropped a little. Iron was 222 now 196, Iron Saturation was 93% is now 71%, Ferritin was 733 now 757 it’s higher. I stopped all supplements and I'm only taking Ropinirole for restless legs. I've also stopped drinking orange juice, which I love, because vitamin C can increase iron absorption.
One thing I learned through all of this is that the body has a limited ability to get rid of excess iron. We're now waiting for my doctor to return from vacation to decide whether blood donations (therapeutic phlebotomy) might be needed to bring my iron levels down further, or where do we go from here.
I was thinking if I just lay around, how is the heart going to pump all this through my system or if this is slowing my heart down, I need to keep it moving. Tuesday afternoon I ran a slow 4 miles and felt fine.
With the Ropinirole, my restless legs have been almost nonexistent for past few days.
I’m not out of the woods yet. The good news is that I'm feeling much better today and the numbers are moving in the right direction.
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