Just wondering

[Lany]

I'm doing a bit of research for my 42 year old daughter who has been tired, depressed and brain foggy, thought it might be a vitamin deficiency.

[fbirder]

It's a possibility. But there are other possibilities as well.

You really need a full set of blood tests, with a full blood count, b12, folate, iron, ferritin, and Vitamin D plus a full thyroid screen.

[GavinUK]

Lany,

Unfortunately many of those symptoms can have multiple (as in dozens) of possible causes, so it is hard to do much without a blood test. However, this page nhs.uk/conditions/Anaemia-v... may be a good place to start to see if your daughter has any of the more specific symptoms. Iron is the third of the 'three' that are often interlinked or not in balance.

If your daughter is vegetarian or not a big meat eater, that might also increase the chances of a deficiency in something, although it may be so minor that an off the shelf supplement is all that is needed.

As fbirder says, a full blood test is really the way to be sure, though it can be tricky to persuade a GP to have them all done with general symptoms on the NHS.

Something my surgery did was an 'over 40s health check' (I suspect they were funded to encourage this), which did check some things, but didn't unfortunately do a full blood check. (It took a referral and 12+ months of numbness in fingers before my B12 was tested) It may be a start to see if something is available in your area though.

Family trends can also be a pointer, so worth thinking to see if there have been any similar conditions within the wider family - That may help tick another 'box' to persuade a GP to do tests.

The Pernicious Anaemia Society also has a good symptoms page: pernicious-anaemia-society.... - but again it may not be a good idea to get too tied into one possibility early one, as there are so many other alternatives.