Hi, Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask this question but I would be grateful if any help.
My daughter’s ferritin levels are currently at 12 but her full blood count is normal.
She has been complaining of ringing in her ears and leg pains. She has a lot of energy to do things but fatigues quickly (it’s like her body and her brain are doing two different things sometimes and she doesn’t know what to do with herself). She is very pale and has a slight purple ish colour under her eyes. She does however struggle to sleep and I appreciate that hormones are also potentially kicking in. She previously had iron (at the age of 5/6) for a few months because her levels were low then.
I am concerned that something is going on or that her levels are too low for her and she would benefit for some help, but I don’t know what to do. I have asked to speak to a doctor at our survey, but they just keep texting me her blood results and not talking to me.
Am I right to be concerned and to push this??
Thanks.
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Eve-Elf
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Thank you so much for your reply. No, nothing has been done so far. No other suggestions have made by the GP, but I have finally got an appointment tonight so will hopefully get some more information.
We do have a history of Thyroid issues, irritable bowel and other auto immune disease in both families too.
Your post brought back memories for me re my daughter.
Around 4 years old she began to complain of pains in legs etc.
When she was between 8 and 10 years and yet another visit to GP I mentioned to him that my sister had Rheumatoid Arthritis as does my husband..
GP was so furious with me and ignored this altogether and shouted at me 'for putting ideas into her head'.
I would request a blood test for B12 as she could have a deficiency due to pernicious anaemia. I have P.A. and have to have frequent B12 injections and my mother also had P.A.
I should have stated that when my daughter was in her teens she had a flare-up of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Since then she's had numerous operations and is disabled through this condition. My sister also had R.A. but my daughter's is so much more severe.
She's had an operation a few weeks ago but had to go to a hospital quite a distance away where they have specialists who have experience in joining bones together in her ankle.
Thank you, she is now back home. She is very brave indeed and I am thankful she has a husband who cares and doesn't get annoyed. I have lost track of all the operations she's had on most of her joints.
Thank you for both your replies and the information. I am so sorry to here that your daughter has been struggling so much. I hope her most recent surgery gives her some relief and helps, with a quick recovery.
I agree with Slowdragon that you need to ask for copies of all her results..........eg For haemoglobin my local NHS lab has a range of 110-153g/L , but adults are anaemic at 118 g/L.
Shaws has mentioned RA. My daughter had pains in her thighs when she was 10 yrs, and it turned out to be T1 diabetes..........it took months and months of me going to the GP and asking for help before diagnosis.
I can't understand why they haven't at the bare minimum given you advice on either increasing iron rich foods or prescribed supplements followed up by re-testing. There doesn't seem to be any info out there about iron levels for under 12 yrs, so fingers firmly crossed its one of those things that sorts itself out in kids.
What came into my mind was, is your daughter having sufficient vitamin C. We need vitamin C for iron uptake, and, lack of it can cause fatigue and 'blueness' under the eyes, or dark circles.
Hi, thanks for your reply. I hadn’t thought of this, but she absolutely loves fruit and has fruit juice plus a mulitvitamin, as well as fresh fruit daily. However, I do think it’s an important point and will make sure that she has some/more every day. Thank you.
Your daughter's symptoms remind me of me when I was a child. I was treated for anaemia at age 10/11 and at 15, and I'm sure that in both cases I'd been anaemic for a long time.
One very good reason for improving your daughter's iron levels is that when she starts her periods (if she hasn't already) low iron will make them heavier and may cause severe cramps and pain. And, of course, heavy periods will make her lose iron faster.
her full blood count is normal.
Do you have the results of her full blood count? If you have you could post the results here and we might be able to point out some things of relevance to low iron. For example, a Mean Cell Volume (MCV) which is low in range or under range indicates that red blood cells are small. This happens in iron deficiency. If MCV is large then it indicates that red blood cells are large. This happens in vitamin B12 deficiency. But if both iron and B12 are low or deficient then MCV might be anywhere in range, and doesn't give any information.
In that link above, which is from the World Health Organisation, look at the table on page 3 that gives haemoglobin levels for different levels of anaemia and for different age groups. Also read the note immediately below the table on the subject of "mild" anaemia :
"Mild" is a misnomer: iron deficiency is already advanced by the time anaemia is detected. The deficiency has consequences even when no anaemia is clinically apparent.
I know you haven't mentioned haemoglobin (which is tested in an FBC), but I'm assuming your doctor only treats with iron when haemoglobin is below range. This is sadistic, in my opinion. Iron deficiency needs to be treated with or without anaemia.
Just a note for the future... The iron supplements that doctors prescribe in the UK can be bought from pharmacies in the UK without a prescription. Unfortunately, they aren't recommended for children under 12. For information on iron supplements for children aged 12+ and adults, see this link :
Personally, I would be inclined to write a letter of complaint to the surgery, mentioning symptoms, and the low level of ferritin.
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I would ask for your daughter to be tested for coeliac disease. It's a common cause of poor absorption of nutrients. I'd also ask for her thyroid hormones to be tested, but I suspect the only thing that would get done is TSH (if it was done at all) which is not a worthwhile test on its own.
If you ever want to pay for blood tests for your daughter without going through a doctor, there is one company that does tests for children and that is Blue Horizon. Most companies won't test children. Unfortunately, Blue Horizon's tests are often more expensive than Medichecks (for example).
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