Anemia

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I have iron deficiency (no anemia). I have had anemia and iron deficiency multiple times since puberty. The last time my ferritin was checked a few weeks ago it was 9 ng/ml. I started out with taking more iron bisglycinate (was already taking 14 mg a day but that I still got a deficiency on that amount) and at first I felt better but then I crashed and after talking with my GP I switched to 2x 200mg ferrous fumarate a day (120 mg iron). I felt so incredibly good for like 2 weeks. I made sure the absorption is optimized and it clearly worked. Suddenly since friday my energy has dropped to the worst I've felt in a long time. I'm tired, cold, air hungry, have mouth ulcers/sores and I look extremely pale. I have no energy to do anything and feel like a corpse. How is this possible? I drank alcohol for the first time in 7 months on thursday night (1.5 glass of wine), is that the reason for this crash? I don't understand why this is happening again and it's very frustrating.

Based on my lab records, I have had chronically low ferritin levels for years but didn't realize until recently what ferritin even is. 🤦🏻‍♀️ In March it was 15, last year 8, and three years ago it was at a 4! 😫😱

Like many of you, I have a big list of symptoms; however, I would say my #1 worst symptom of all time is the CONSTANT NAUSEA. Yes, constant, 24/7, for a very long time. Doesn't matter what I eat or don't eat, how much or how little, no medication or supplement has helped. The only slight relief I get is if I sniff essential oils or rubbing alcohol. Or if my body decides to calm down on its own temporarily. It's even worse on my period.

I went to 2 different GI docs over the span of a couple years who did scopes and said everything looked perfect, that I was healthy, and both just diagnosed me with dyspepsia because they couldn't find a cause. 🤨 Y'all, I would not wish this on anyone, ever!! 😭

Does anyone else have constant nausea with their low iron/ferritin levels?? Did it get better once your levels went way up? I know now that ferritin should at least hit 100.

Dear Community , I´ve been struggling with extreme fatigue and brainfog for over 10 months now .

I wake up everyday feeling super exhausted and sick, no matter how long or short I sleep .

I´ve been to a lot of different doctors , which did plenty of bloodtests . All of the doctors said my test results are fine and look healthy . They all said its a psychological thing , so I tried therapy etc.

Nothing made my fatigue go away , I came to the conclusion that its either psychological or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome .

After my latest blood test , I discovered something weird . My ferritin levels seem kinda low ? ( 28 on February and 32 on june this year )

So I googled it and apperantly a lot of people struggle with similar symptoms like me .

I attached my blood results in this post . If anyone has advice for me I would appreciate it a lot !

Im male and 21 years old . ( I dont know if thats a information you need)

Edit : Sorry for any typing errors :P

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I (M38) just got Diagnosed a few months ago.

I went to the doctors with shortness of breath expecting to be told i had asthma. Got chest x-ray and a blood test. Got given Folic acid to take at the start of May.

Come June my breathing is totally fine but, I started feeling emotions again I didn't know I had lost. I feel like I've walked out of a fog into a car crash. Has anyone else had this experience??

Hey everyone! My girlfriend suffers from anemia and recently got iron infusions. She went for 3 rounds and afterwards was feeling much better. She had energy, was sleeping normal amounts, had less trouble with physical activity, etc. however, about a month has passed and her symptoms are starting to show again. She’s extremely frustrated and I can totally understand why, it must feel horrible. She can’t take iron supplements because they make her horribly nauseous. I guess my question is, have any of you experienced something similar and if so what did you do to combat your anemia? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I just want her to feel better.

TLDR: Girlfriend gets nauseous from oral supplements and got iron infusions that wore off after a month, what should she do?

This is probably a familiar story in this sub so I’m looking for advice. I do triathlons/endurance runs and historically have very high hematocrit. However, I’m also feeling several symptoms of anemia/iron deficiency, so doctor caved and ordered an iron test. Serum iron=74, ferritin=13. No recent CBC results (last one was a year ago). GP says my ferritin is “within normal range” and doesn’t recommend iron supplementation, and won’t order a new CBC.

Meanwhile my runs are slowing, I’m wheezing on hill sprints, godawful restless legs, minor hair loss, and feeling completely invalidated. My ferritin is too low, right? Why is my serum iron normal then? Where the heck do I go when my gp won’t take this seriously?

Hi. My anemia is mild, but chronic. Definitely low, but not severe by my lab work. However, I’m definitely having low iron symptoms and can’t handle oral supplements due to digestive issues. My doctor prescribed me injectofer because she says everyone is different and that my levels are presenting symptoms even if they’re not “severely low” by my lab values.

I have an infusion scheduled for next week, but now I’m scared because I’ve read so many horror stories. Is that warranted? Anyone have any experiences or advice to share?

I just finished my third round of Venofer. The first went fine but they did stop halfway through because I was nauseous but was I was able to finish. The second and third treatments went well until I left and was overtaken by pain under my right rib cage. It was some the worst pain I’ve experienced since becoming ill.

For what it’s worth, I do have infarctions in both of my lungs from pulmonary embolisms last year. My right lung is particularly bad as it was fully obstructed in five lobes.

Is this normal or common? TIA!

I'm feeling great since my iron infusion - but I feel hyper and antsy when it's time to go to sleep. So here I am at 2:30am, wide awake, wondering if anyone else has experienced the same.

Hi about 2 years back I was taking a lot of iron. I would take about 120mg or so a day probably more (maybe I took less i cant remember), one time I took like 200mg in one go (not that much but close enough) and my brain felt so foggy and I felt sick and bad but I didn't throw it up. I'm worried I caused gastrointestinal damage because I've had a worse stomach since more sensitive and my brain has gotten worse and slower. Is it possible I did and any other damage I did? My ferritin was 20 or 29 I don't know but despite the iron supplements it didn't go up.

Did anybody else feel their symptoms become different/worse/inconsistent as they started to get into supplements? I'm 1.5 month into supplements and while my levels and some symptoms have improved, it seems other symptoms stay stagnant while others get worse while others are fine one day and bad the next. My most annoying symptoms so far are fatigue, muscle pain, stomach pain, and lots of anxiety/panic attacks. Just wondering if anybody else's journey was a zigzag instead of anything linear or exponential. I feel hopeless some days and I don't have any support in my offline circle, so I'm just wondering.

Sometimes I have bad reactions to iron supplements what could be causing it?

So I don't know if I slightly overdosed in my iron pills because I don't recall if I took one in the morning today before I (actually) took one around dinner time. I counted my pills after I realized this (I was prescribed 30 pills and I have to take one everyday).

I found that I have 17 pills left so 30-17=13. So for 13 days I've been taking my pills.

What I'm confused is do I count the day I got my prescription filled (06/18/2024) to today's date (07/01/2024) or do I count the day after I got my prescription filled (06/19/2024) to today's date (07/01/2024)?

Cause when I count the day I got my prescription filled I would've hit the 13 pill on 06/30/2024 not today's date (07/01/2024) and 14 pills would've been used (which they havent).

Sorry I know this is all confusing, I'm just trying to make sure I haven't accidentally overdosed today and I'm slightly panicking and not thinking straight.

Any positive experiences after monoferric infusions? All im reading on here is negative experiences with nausea/vomiting/fever a few days later. I didn't get to pick my appointment and I'm hosting my daughter's birthday party 3 days after, is ther even a chance I'll be feeling okay after?

I have no appetite ever, feel weak and I’m basically home bound because of how I feel. How long until an iron infusion works as I’m getting one soon.

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Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed with "severe iron deficiency anemia" a few weeks ago. I only found out when I went to my doctor after experiencing a bad case of bronchitis. She ordered general lab work. My hemoglobin was low, which led to additional iron tests, and here we are.

Numbers: Hemoglobin: 10.1 g/dL Ferritin: 4 ng/mL Iron saturation: 3% Iron: 21 ug/dL TIBC: 617 ug/dL UIBC: 596 ug/dL

I've had some exercise intolerance, but nothing severe. I just biked 10 miles this past weekend. I exercise at least 4 days a week. I will say that cardio is tough for me, and I can't lift much of anything. I figured this is because I'm slightly overweight (65", 145 pounds). I've had some gradual hair loss over the years, but I am almost certain that's genetic (and my derm agrees). If i get up too fast, I'll feel a little lightheaded on occasion. Nothing else, however.

I know I'm fortunate for this, but I can't help but feel something seems off here? I asked my hematologist, and he just said that everyone has a different tolerance level.

I'm on iron supplementation and I will check my numbers after one month. If they're improving to my doctor's satisfaction, I will continue. If they're not, he'll order an IV.

Anyone else here of this or feel the same? It's kind of scary - I wouldn't have even known had I not gotten the initial lab work and the hemoglobin was just under to raise the flag.

I've had low iron on and off again through the last 15 years. I'm low again. I've been taking a supplement for three weeks and have added more iron-rich foods into my diet. So far, I haven't noticed a difference in energy level.

I feel like I have lost control of my life. I don't have the energy or stamina to do anything. Simple twenty minute projects might take days because I am so tired and lack the strength and energy to do anything for that long. Taking the trash can to the end of the driveway for pickup and walking back into the house requires a nap.

I'm sleeping maybe 12-15 hours a day. 8-10 at night--I'm going to bed at 8:00PM and waking up around 6:00AM, then usually going back to bed from 7:00 or 8;00 until 9:00 0r 10:00AM, then I'll take a nap in the afternoon that's an hour or more. I might sleep more than that if I do anything that's physical.

I've had pretty severe deficiency before, but this time feels different. My iron level has been lower than it was when I had it tested three weeks ago, but I don't remember being this unable to function. That was ten years ago, I don't know if it's just hitting me harder because I'm older (32), but I don't know what to do. I can't get anything done. I can't afford help, I don't have friends or family that could help. Usually the supplements start helping in two weeks.

I'm seeing an endocrinologist at the end of the month to see if it might be an additional hormonal issue, but until then, all I can think is that this is an iron level problem.

I'm already pretty depressed, and this is making me feel even worse about myself because I can't do the simplest things.

I’m ID w/o anemia, and I’m feeling way better - I can do cardio without being terribly short of breath. I had my levels checked for the first time post infusion:

March 29: ferritin 4 1 Infusion on May 13 June 28: ferritin 97

They suspect the source of my low ferritin is my menstrual cycle. I’ll now be taking oral birth control continuously to eliminate bleeding and see if that keeps it from dropping!

The ! In the title was meant to be a question mark, I got a cbc blood test because I never ate or drank water years upon years so I just got dizzy and if I ate it was junk or drink soda and now I'm low on every vitiman mineral iron biotin all of it is it reversible at this point after having it for years without knowing?

Does anyone else experience stabbing headaches, that last only a few minutes or even seconds? I also suffer from the pressure in the head sensation. Is this headache one normal?