How to Write a Character With Anemia

betterprompts:

Pull up a chair. I got on some new medication a while ago and got really sick and now my blood sucks. Maybe you’re writing a character whose blood also sucks! Here are a few lil hints and tips from my experience:

So tired. If you need about 12 hours of sleep suddenly you might be depressed but you also might have anemia, low b12, low iron, or a combo of both.

How’s it happen? Blood loss or inability to absorb nutrients, in most cases. Sometimes diet. So this can come from injuries, periods, various disorders and diseases, and various medications. Could also happen because a mystical sorcerer is stealing your blood for nefarious purposes. I’m not gonna limit the possibilities.

What else? Headaches, loss of appetite, dizziness, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, trembling/numb/cold extremities, and tiring more quickly after exercise. I used to be able to go up the 5 flights of stairs to my apartment no problem but now it leaves me seriously winded.

Anemia also goes undiagnosed in a lot of cases, and it can feel like something’s just kind of “off” for a long time, like no one’s hitting the energy switch. So your character may be frustrated by feeling sick/low energy but not knowing why.

In order to get blood that doesn’t suck you generally need to either stop bleeding, consume more iron, get more b12/folate, or some combo of all three.

And there’s ur tips! Good luck!