so last week I had restless leg syndrome which is my bodies way of telling me my iron levels have dropped. My levels have a habbit of going up and down which is something Im not able to fully control. This is because if I take ferrous sulfate when I feel fine my levels go above normal. So I have to rely on my symptoms to let me know they have dropped but at the same time hope I catch it early as one time I almost had a blood transfusion. Thats a zone I dont ever want to go back to but it was also reported that time that I had Microcytic, hypochromic anemia. So when my body gave me restless leg syndrome I went back on my meds and straight away started to feel better. However by thursday midday I relizsed it was absorbing the iron quicker than I could give it or at lest it felt that way. As i always take it right before I go to bed as normaly taking one a due cures my problems. So I had woke up feeling like I was coming towards the end of my issues. However by 5-6pm I ended up feeling by both light and drowsy on top of the restless legs. I kept nodding off to sleep without relizsing I was doing so and quite frequently. Also went off my food. I ended up doing the only logical thing and rang 111 who put me in touch with an out of hours person. Out of hours said there wasn't a lot they could do because even if they got me out for a blood test I wouldn't get the results till the next day. so they told me to book and emergency one with gp surgary in the morning. Now I had the blood test feeling a little better as I had some iron the night before right before bed and luckily haven't gone back to how I was feeling thursday evening thanks to iron meds.
Then today I ring up for my results to be told me levels where all normal and when I tried asking for numbers the woman over the phone didnt quite understand what i wanted. So I ended up finding out my white cells was at 5.1 and my red cells where at 4.50. This has like left me supper confused like how could my levels be fine when my symptons only went down when taking ferrous sulfate? Like it just doesnt make sense to me. like how could my iron be low but not my blood? like why would mt body need the meds if my levels where fine? im just confused.
also just in case anyone was wondering I have to leave a two hour gap ether side of meds or I will get stomach pain even if i have eaten something that shouldn't conflict with the meds. I also have a high metabolism and small stomach so I struggle to find time in the day to top up my iron. As i have to eat small meals but more often which is why I would always take my meds right before bed.
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I find it easier to go to the surgery and request a print-out and that should contain results with the ranges. Makes it easier all round, except of course if you cannot get to the surgery. If you keep a record of the ranges then you just need results.
I read that to help iron to be absorbed if you take Vitamin C along with it. You may already know that:
yeah I would of gone down myself if it wasn't raining when i rang up as I dont drive.
I have been told that by a few people before. In fact I used to take my meds with orange juice before I accidentally ruined the lining of my stomach. Now my stomach doesnt react so well to orange juice. I should probably look into getting some vitamin c capsules as that might help instead.
You have no history in your Profile of hypothyroidism and I looked through some of your past posts and you have been diagnosed hypo for nearly 4 years now.
You say you took Vit C juice with your meds but was that just with the iron tablets, or was it also with levothyroxine?
If you can post your full blood test results with the ranges it will make it easier to comment to try to help you feel much better.
When our thyroid hormones aren't optimum and we develop other symptoms, many doctors assume it is due to another problem in the assumption that we are 'somewhere' in the range of thyroid hormones and prescribe any other meds except for increasing levothyroxine which may be the root cause of the symptoms.
Post them on a new question as you will then get more responses. You really want to get back to having a normal university life and get your qualifiations.
I think you have missed the point of my question. I know my thyroid is low and has been for four years, im on meds to control that I take first thing in the morning, along side vit d as when I need to, these are taken plain no juice. I feel no different on my meds and thats not because i'm on the wrong dose or anything like that as I have been told its doing work in my system. I was once under an endo doctor when a gp couldn't figure out why I have muscle problems and thought they would answer my questions. It didn't and funnily enough I picked up a few other auto immune issues along the way. I'm seeing a specialist on 15th at registered specialist centre for lupus as me and my immune system fight most days over different things. I'm coming towards the end of my fourth sinus infection this year. Though I try to push through it all for the sake of my degree. The day damaged the lining of my stomach I spent four hours in a&e and as soon as they discharged me I went straight into uni as it was deadline week. If I wanted to pass I didn't have time to rest, yet alone be Ill. Today I came on here hoping maybe someone would be able to help in anyway as the symptoms I currently have(apart from the sinus) go away when I take iron tablets but yet my blood test results say that my levels are fine. This confused me and still does because if the meds make me feel better then my levels should be off which there not. If it was to do with my thyroid or any other part of my body because hey my immune system hates me then I don't think the iron tabs would be helping. So maybe with it not being my thyroid maybe this wasn't the best place to ask but I thought hey is a large enough group maybe someone might be able to help, i dunno. Though one thing I do hope is that my body isn't using the iron a way to mask a bigger a problem that its not telling me about.
tldr(as i typed loads): this wasn't a question about my thyroid as that is controlled but instead about the fact that iron tabs makes my symptoms go away. Yet somehow my levels are fine. I have other auto immune issues along side my thyroid and I am seeing a specialist on the 15th. Was once seen by a endo doctor for my muscles but they said it wasn't a problem their end. Though I keep on fighting for the sake of my degree as I dont want my problems to get the better of me. Only took orange juice with iron tabs. Thought I would see if this group might be able to help with current issues being a large group.
I apologise if I misread your query and sometimes when we have one autoimmune condition we can develop others.
As you also have ill-health whilst studying it is a credit to you that you are persevering in your studies.
I hope someone who knows about iron, etc can assist you.
This site HUTUK is about dysfunctions of the thyroid gland and that, at times, leads to other questions about clinical symptoms still remaining.
I am not medically qualified and I doubt whether other members are as we have all struggled to get our thyroid hormones in balance.
Hypothyroidism is classed as 'serious' in the medical profession in that we can develop other more serious conditions if we aren't given sufficient thyroid hormones.
'Fine' 'O.K' don't always reflect how the patient feels and they are sent on their way with clinical symptoms still remaining
Hypo is classed as it is a life-long condition and we want to remain as healthy as we possibly can and that can only be achieved by optimum hormones - that means we feel energetic and normal health.
The answers we give are 'suggestions' not medical advice and it is up to the person who has posted to suss out what responses may help them.
When I first began on thyroid hormone replacement I had bad muscle and joint pains which eventually went with thyroid medication.
Regarding muscle pain - I cannot understand why your GP or Endo isn't aware that it is also a clinical symptom of hypothyroidism and even if they state 'your bloods are fine' if clinical symptoms develop/continue they should take another look at how they can relieve them as it can mean we need an increase in dose.
You can see from this link that it is not unusual to develop pain either before or after diagnosis.
If you haven't had a recent blood test, maybe request another for your thyroid hormones and ask for Free T4 and Free T3and the procedure is as follows:-
Make the very earliest appointment, and don't eat before it but you can drink water. Allow 24 hours between your last dose of levo and the test and take levo after it. This allows the TSH to be highest as food can interfere with the result as will having it later in the day.
Levo should be taken first thing (except when having a blood test for thyroid hormones) with one full glass of water and wait about an hour before eating.
The Free T3 blood test is very important as it tells us how much T3 is circulating and it is T3 (liothyronine) alone which enters our billions of receptor cells and our brain contains the most. Low T3 can affect everything else in our bodies so we need optimum hormones by that I mean we should feel well with no clinical symptoms. T3 is the only hormone which is active and has to enter our receptor cells so it has to be sufficient. Our brain contains the most receptor cells.
its okay apology accepted. I also understand people on here are not medically train but any advice is better than non. Though it should all be taken with a pinch of soult as everyones body is different.
In terms of the endo and the gp in terms of my muscles it wasnt that they didnt think it was my thyriod but instead something else. I had been going to the gp for about a year and half before I ended up with thyroid problems. I had countless blood test and nothing was showing up. So they where trying to convince me nothing was wrong which wasnt the case. I was seen by an endo doctor three years after diagnoses when the gp at the time thought they might be able to help as nothing else had up to this point. I had just been discharged by physiotherapy when I got referred as the help physiotherapy where giving me was not substantial enough.
Endo did all they could to help me before they also discharged me. They got my vit d and thyroid to a level they felt that could be managed fine by a gp. They said that due to the fact that over the year I had seen them that my muscle symptoms hadn't gotten any better it wasn't a problem their end. They recommended that I be seen by a rheumatologist instead. I was seen by one that did nothing to help which is why i'm know seeing a specialist.
I had my bloods done beginning of July for everything, dont have a print of results as I didnt feel i needed it at the time. The I had the one I had the other day was just to check my iron. I was going to get everything checked again just before my appointment on the 15th but the nurse said I dont need it done. Though the next time I get it done I will ask for a print out so I can monitor my levels to get them close to what you mentioned.
That's wise, to get your levels checked properly but most of the thousands on this forum have found that Endos/Doctors don't really understand the effect that low thyroid levels (hypo) can have on our health.
It came as a huge surprise to me as I always thought that people with qualifications knew more than I did. As I said before I wasn't diagnosed by any of the medical people I saw from gastroenterologist(s), GPs, barium swallow, cardiologists, A&E depts. It was actually a first aider who noticed by swollen gland and I then requested my own blood test and was confirmed as TSH was 100 by then and it has taken 7 years to get to a 'good' place where I know what makes me feel well, all of my unpleasant symptoms have gone, my heart is calm instead of racing at 140+ bpm plus other symptoms all due to hypothyroidism undiagnosed/undertreated.
that actually makes a lot of sense, not sure why i didnt think of that. Though there wasn't a lot I could do as I didn't want to put myself in more danger by not have a tablet.
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