Melissa Gorga shared an update on her ongoing battle with anemia, which she says is the “hardest thing” to deal with during the holidays.
“Every day I can’t believe I’m so anemic,” The Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 45, told PEOPLE exclusively while hosting the annual Big Santa Lighting at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ
“I take iron every day. I have to go for regular blood tests and check everything — especially when I start to feel exhausted. And this time of year is always the hardest, isn’t it? I always say November and December are the busiest months — regardless of which are my favorite months — but they’re also the busiest,” Gorga said, adding that she regularly receives IVs when her iron is too low.
Melissa Gorga hosts the Big Santa Lighting at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ
Westfield Garden State Plaza
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According to the Mayo Clinic, “Anemia is a problem of not having enough healthy red blood cells, or hemoglobin, to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues. Hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all other organs in the body. Anemia can cause fatigue, weakness and shortness of breath.”
The Mayo Clinic says infusions are one way to “increase your body’s iron and hemoglobin levels.”
Gorga says that for her, the biggest sign that she starts to struggle with is the feeling of “cloudiness”.
“I’m always on the move, I feel myself when I’m tired and I know I just can’t go on. And I say: ‘I think I need to come in for a blood test because I feel tired.’ And that’s not who I am.”
“I can go from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. if I have to,” she tells PEOPLE. “And when I can’t, that’s when I know maybe it’s time. I don’t feel very well tired. I just get really blurry. I get very groggy and ready to go to bed at 8:30 at night. And then I call my doctor and sometimes he says, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ ”
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“I’m very careful about it,” she said, adding that after hosting the two-hour holiday event, “I’ll make sure I have steak for dinner tonight.”
The Mayo Clinic recommends “iron-rich foods” like beef and spinach to help prevent anemia from worsening.
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Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education