Recently had full blood tests done as advised on this board and T4 and T3 were both high end of normal range, so "optimal", and the only flag was that my iron was low - ferritin of 21 when GP feels 125-150 would be ideal.
I'm so exhausted all the time and devastated about how limited I am in my life - not being the person I used to be, not being the mum and partner I'd like to be for my family. GP felt that moving the needle on the iron levels might be key as the combination of the two conditions can be very challenging... Does that sound right?
Anyway, I've been aware of the anaemia for years and tried various oral supplements without ever making a dent in the iron levels. GP said IV iron can be great for actually getting the numbers up, but that I don't meet the criteria for NHS provision.
It's £650 to go private - not cash we have lying around, but I could scrape it together. I just really can't afford to waste it. So wondering if anyone on here has tried the IV iron infusion route and could tell me about it - did it get your levels to a good place and did it improve the fatigue?
Really grateful for any thoughts.
Thank you!
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Jacula
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I paid for an IV iron infusion a few years ago. Long story but I'd had low Ferritin for a long time, couldn't really tolerate the tablets etc, then had an operation where I lost a lot of blood and they discharged me saying my iron would be back OK within 2 weeks. LOL! I was a mess.
So I paid for the iron infusion which worked within 2 weeks. Obviously I was recovering from a major operation where I actually almost died due to the blood loss + I wasn't at all energetic in the first place. Have to say I'm not sorry I paid for it although the GP now says they would give it to me on the NHS as I have a sleep disorder diagnosed that requires Ferritin of 75+. 2 years later and my ferritin is nicely 145 so it's lasting.
It would be good for the people here to see your thyroid blood results (with ranges), also are you supplementing anything else? Get bloods done for ferritin, folate, B12, D3. They may well also be low and causing you issues.
Eating iron rich foods like liver or liver pate once a week plus other red meat, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily orange juice or other vitamin C rich drink can help improve iron absorption
This is interesting because I have noticed that many patients with Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism, start to feel worse when their ferritin drops below 80 and usually there is hair loss when it drops below 50.
Thyroid disease is as much about optimising vitamins as thyroid hormones
Never supplement iron without doing full iron panel test for anaemia first and retest 3-4 times a year if self supplementing. It’s possible to have low ferritin but high iron
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and T4 and T3 were both high end of normal range, so "optimal", and the only flag was that my iron was low - ferritin of 21 when GP feels 125-150 would be ideal.
Iron deficiency anaemia missed by GP? 
Iron Deficiency (Infusions)
After a long fight, I had an IV iron infusion yesterday - here's my report back
Hashimoto and pernicious anaemia..
