Which blood tests to get privately? Awful bloating, Low ferritin, rubbish GP, felt rotten for months and TTC

[RosiePH]

For months I’ve been feeling generally not right, including a lot of tiredness, feeling cold and hair falling out. I had a blood test and my ferritin was 24 so I was reluctantly prescribed iron supplements by the GP. My thyroid TSH was 3.8 but GP said this was fine even when TTC (although so much I have read online says otherwise). My periods have got increasingly heavy so I was also prescribed transexamic acid.

2 months into the iron supplements and I have experienced 3 weeks of the worst constipation I could ever imagine. Dulcolax did absolutely nothing. It’s easing up now but the bloating I feel is bordering on painful in my upper abdomen and I have no appetite. I stopped the iron supplements 48 hours ago. I wake up every night from nausea and I feel so weak (for the last week).

Today I spoke to another GP. He told me I was not iron-deficient, do not need iron tablets and that a ferritin of 24 is well within range. He offered me more transexamic acid and did at least refer me for an ultrasound for potential fibroids, but said that will be at least 3 months away (which was sooner than I expected actually!). He told me to buy myself a probiotic from Boots but that will take a couple of months to work. He also said I can’t have a thyroid antibody test as my TSH is well within the NHS range.

I feel really deflated as none of this helps in the immediate term. And I’m worried about the longer term and the impact on TTC (I’m 31, just started for first baby and no other health conditions and a healthy weight and regularly active). What tests should I try to arrange privately at this point? I don’t really trust GPs anymore. I was told there was nothing wrong with me previously for a decade and I actually needed an operation when I finally saw a consultant for a gynae issue (unrelated to current symptoms). Consultant couldn’t believe no-one had performed an examination before.

Any recommendations on next steps would be much appreciated. And anything to stop the bloating would be amazing… it’s added 2 inches to my tummy and I have a wedding dress fitting next week for my wedding next month!

A ferritin if 24 is not OK. Here's mine which shows if under 30, it should be looked into. It rarely is.

You could get the suggested iron studies privately here: www.medichecks.com/products/iron-deficiency-check-blood-test

You can take easier forms of iron such as sublingual - avoiding your digestive system as much as possible, eg betteryou.com/products/iron-10-oral-spray

Hold it in your mouth as long as possible.

What you also need is a doctor willing to look at your whole situation, but that's harder to find.

Forgot screenshot:

Have you been tested for celiac?

You could try digestive enzymes such as Enzymedica Digest Complete.

You can also get a full thyroid panel including antibodies done with the same company.

Thyroid UK have a forum where you can post your blood tests and ask for advice. It's a bit intense though, and naturally a lot of people having a hard time end up on there.

Thank you Bluebells. I had seen medichecks so may give their thyroid panel a go. At least it comes with a report so they can say if my TSH is okay, rather than just okay by NHS standards which seem very low.

I have had a test for celiac disease and it was negative.

I wish my blood test results came with all that useful information! Mine just said within range as the range was 11-300 or something bizarrely broad.

You just need to download the NHS app to access all that info.

I expect that Medichecks use the same criteria in when TSH is low as the NHS. But if you order the panel you will have a lot more information.

The UK keeps that ridiculously low lower limit of 11. In Australia for example the lower limit is 30.

Third para refers to ferritin.