An adage goes this way, "If you've never been sick or had any health conditions, you will never know what God has done for you." You see good health is underestimated, I guess we are used to seeing and noting the big miracles or breakthroughs to even realize that there are things that are been given to us at a platter of gold and seriously if we were to pay for it or go down for days, we would understand how we've underestimated good health because we constantly have it every day, and we think being conscious of what we eat and environment, which is an added advantage is the reason why we are healthy but we are far from the truth.
Now, let me share my story, even though I am not meant to share it on this platform, year 2024, a few weeks before my birthday which was the month of May, precisely, I started noticing some funny symptoms and I think I made a post about being scared of having menopause signs when I was not even up to the age but I got a comment that said it couldn't be menopause because I am still in my twenties even though the late twenties.
The symptoms were weird and embarrassing, so I found it very difficult to tell someone else what was happening to me and my health issues, not even my close friends because how do you tell someone you all of a sudden have cravings for sand? It was a disastrous truth that I couldn't admit to or even tell someone, so I continued to manage the issue.
Worst of all, the compound I lived in, was filled with this particular sand, I found myself craving, but after trying to tame it, and I couldn't because of how it made me feel, I found myself indulging in my cravings and it became an addiction. For months, I searched for what could be the cause, but I guess I was searching in the wrong place, as I couldn't find any health condition that suited all the symptoms I was having.
One day, I knew it was becoming a lot and was draining me mentally and emotionally because I couldn't tell anyone what I was going through, so I decided that I needed a break, so I put a call across to my nurse who was our family doctor about what I was going through and when I was done, she shouted at me for keeping such health conditions as a secret while I indulge in the act, although she didn't disclose anything to me.
She asked that I come to see her at home when she was back from work, and that night, I finally decided to tell my friends about it, not like I have a lot of them, and when I did, they were all angry but worried about me, but they kinda laughed at the scenarios, when I was explaining to them how it feels to be on that side. While I was going through my social media handle, I saw a post made by someone who had the same symptoms asking for a way out, so I read through comments and said the word "Pica" and decided to check my phone for it and found out that it was exactly what I was going through.
The next day, I left for her place, and she told me the same thing and went as far as to explain in detail what it would entail. "PICA" which is a result of iron deficiency in the body, cravings for inanimate objects, like sand, ice, bricks, pencil, eraser, and the rest of the things one can not imagine and what I need to do. I kinda realized it was something that only a few knew existed, but mostly the health practitioners. All my friends said they never heard of or knew such a health condition existed. My nurse drew my sample of blood stating, that she needed to be sure to what extent my intake of sand has gone in my system and be sure how low iron deficiency is, so she knows what kind of medication I needed to stay on and from there, she advised that for the meantime, I needed to move out of my place, so I can stop indulging in the act until I am fine.
So, I paid for the blood test and moved to my colleague's place who stayed not far away from me and not far away from school, although most days, especially when she travels, I move to my girlfriend's place who lives with her parents, until my colleague is back because I can not stay in her place alone. The test result came out and I was asked to buy a particular blood medication that contains a high level of iron and also make sure my food contains more iron daily or weekly if I can not keep up as the medication would help me balance everything rightly. The blood sample result also showed that I had a very low blood level and a few others that needed to be worked on which it was added to my list of medication
I have learned never to be silent even though one of the major reasons why I did not seek help earlier was because I was thinking more of my stand financially, as I have a lot on my plate, but I would advise that we must visit the hospital as much as we can to carry out some important test, especially ladies. Seek help, once you notice something unusual about yourself, don't wait or try to hide it because you may not be lucky.
The very few things I can say I did were avoid places that trigger the hormones and teach myself the true meaning of discipline even though it was hard when I finally got the medications prescribed by my nurse, I was diligent in taking them to help me get better and was conscious about what I ate, thanks to my colleagues and girlfriend I stayed with, they knew how to put me in check to make sure I was conscious about what I took in and wasn't eating the sand behind their backs. My nurse wasn't left out, always checking up on me daily or weekly to be sure I ate or didn't eat sand and the quantity if I didn't, and also encouraged me to continue with the medication while I controlled myself around those areas that triggered me.
Thank you for reading!!!