I’ve been wondering why I’ve felt so dizzy with days of insane tiredness over the last 6 months. I’m 46 and on HRT for Perimenopause so regular periods are back. I asked for a print out of bloods and it showed ferritin was 20 in Dec (only 5 digits above lowest range). Dr didn’t notify me.
I’ve been feeling dreadful through January and asked for another blood test. Ferritin now 32 but still too low - should be about 100 to feel good.. I contacted dr again who put me on supplements.
Has anyone else had this problem?
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Julia7
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You may not have enough T4 to convert to sufficient T3 which is the active hormone, suggest you get T3 tested to see what the level is, if your GP won't do it then Medichecks home test kit is a popular one, you do the finger prick test send it back to the lab and get the result.
Did they give you iron pills? It takes awhile to get the levels up, usually months. It can make you feel awful even if you're at the lower end of normal, every Body is different. I ate liver & liverwurst to help too. Read the label of how much iron is in them if that's what they gave you.Hope you feel better.
Even when I take Ferrous Sulphate all it does is increase my iron a bit but my ferritin level is still rock bottom. How do you increase only the ferritin level without taking iron when it doesnt work. I also eat lots of red meat and liver but nothing seems to be changing. Thank you
Yes exactly the same. I was 20 so the doc said I was in normal range. I had to go back a few months later and it was 19. She apologised and said it was now known that people's needs varied and I may need to be nearer 60. Feel so much better now I'm on supplements. I wouldn't aim for a specific number though. You know when you have enough energy.
How long did it take to feel a bit better and less tired? I have an hour of feeling slightly better and then, bam, it returns! Dizzy also all the time.
The Dr gave me 300mg of iron daily combined with folate, plus you should also take vit c as it helps with iron absorption. I started to feel better after about a week but it probably took 3 months to get my iron levels back to to where they needed to be. I lost a lot with heavy periods so that always set me back when I wasn't on iron. I get a sore tongue when I'm low on iron and just fall asleep on the sofa. Now I've enough energy I've started running and it feels great! I take 100 mg of ferrous sulphate now when I'm feeling tired. I'm on hrt so I'm not losing iron like I was. Hope that helps!
I was also at ferritin level of 11 last January 2020. I had given blood 3 times that year and I was a first time ever blood donor. Low ferritin occurs more commonly in female blood donors. I was keen to do something for the NHS as they saved my brothers life. He was in CCU and ICU for 3 months. I didn’t realise how run down I was. A year on ferrous fumerate and my ferritin is back at 100. I also stopped HRT last January. I feel much better. I am 10 years older than you. Very fit and healthy non smoker. There are ways to supplement your diet to eat iron rich foods. The main side effect I suffered was hair loss but I think that was mainly HRT so now as a chemist I would say to ladies if your symptoms are mild try to eat and exercise well and avoid medication. I ended up going to see Phillip Kingsley clinic in London. If you google Phillip Kingsley ferritin they have a good article about impact of low ferritin.
what dose fumerate did you take and how often?? my ferritin is 14 but the ferrous sulphate made me so ill I has to stop. I could eat liver but I don't know which one and how often as it's high cholestrol and mine is high already ( doctor says my ferritin is fine so I buy my own iron ) thanks
I noticed on the results of my last blood test ferritin is 34, like in your case, doctor seems to have no problem with it. He texted me my blood test was normal. I would regularly feel dizzy. Like you IAm perimenopausal, but not on any treatment.
I am not on iron tablets. From looking at other posts on here I would be a little afraid to try, as they would seem to upset the stomach, and mine wouldn't be great anyway. My teenage daughter though is on one called Active Iron in a red box. She seems to be doing ok on it. Maybe that's worth a try
Low ferritin can cause a sluggish thyroid, so a bit of a double edged sword, I felt like I was dying with a ferritin of 27, still feel pretty bad with it in the 70s, need to get it around 120 for at least 6 mths to feel better.
I'm having more good days than bad right now, it's been nearly 3 mths of taking 80 mg of iron each day. Still have some bad days feeling fatigued and brain fog, will keep taking the iron tablets and then do another self test in about 2 months.
Haven't done the self test yet, but still feeling very fatigued, not sure where to go from here, did have a very heavy 2 week long period 5 weeks back so this probably has set me back! I'm also perimenopausal, think my hormones are all over the place!
I also thought i felt awful because if iron deficiency, Ferritin 10.. but then after 6 weeks my levels were good.. then I figured out it was the hormones !! I started taking them together with the anemia diagnose and ferritin pills. So it was confusing. Now I'm sure.
my ferritin is 14 their bottom range is 12 but my gp says that's fine even though I feel dreadful...it was 13 last year but for the last 5 years it's never been higher than 17...i tried iron tablets but they literally gave me such vile stomach cramps I was physically sick
Iron pills should make a difference. My ferritin dropped down to 6 (!) due to ridiculously heavy periods, which just wouldn't stop. My hair was falling out, I felt dreadful and went from a fit healthy runner to someone who couldn't go up the srairs without sitting down halfway 🙈It's all sorted now (was fibroids and had a hysterectomy) but the iron tablets made a huge difference. They take a while to work, good luck and hope you get it sorted x
Thanks for this. Did you know you had a fibroid? I wonder if I have one? I’m not bleeding (only when I have a period). No pain - just occasional mild right sided cramping.
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