Is this low iron (test results)

[changednamee]

I always feel shattered !! Have a few of the symptoms and have had my levels checked, doctors said normal but the tibc is high??
Anyone have experience ?

Do you have your serum ferritin and Haemoglobin results?

Yes here

Under NICE guidelines you are iron deficient (ferritin under 30) but not anaemic (your haemoglobin would need to be under 120).

I'm not a health professional but have personal experience of chronic iron deficiency and regular iron infusions. I think my consultant likes iron saturation to be 20% or above, so yours looks low and also points to iron deficiency.

Most GPs in my experience aren't great with this. You may benefit from taking iron tablets if you can tolerate them but obviously i have no idea if there is a medical reason why you shouldn't. You want to aim to get your ferritin up to 100 to be optimal.

Lots of guidance online about taking one tablet every other day, not with caffine or milk. Best with a bit of orange juice if I remember rightly.

Oh thank you ! What’s the difference between iron deficiency and anaemia??

Anaemia is when you have low haemoglobin. You need iron to make red blood cells and if you are deficient in iron for long enough this can lead to anaemia.

Google probably explains it better than me 😁It says "Hemoglobin is an iron-containing protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body and gives blood its red color. It's the main component of red blood cells and plays a vital role in meeting the body's oxygen needs."

I stand corrected by others, perhaps, but iron deficiency is when your ferritin is too low. Ferritin are your iron stores like the tinned tomatoes and pasta in your pantry. Anaemia is when your haemoglobin is low, under 120, and that transports oxygen around your body in red blood cells. It's like the milk and bread you have to replace more frequently and needing it depletes your ferritin, because your body then uses what it's tried to store up. So my ferritin has been <1 before but my haemoglobin about 110, which is low but not disastrously so. Iron tablets bring haemoglobin up to 135 for me in about 3 months, but ferritin only to 9. It's a hard slog. If I remember rightly, the NHS say your ferritin should be near 30, but when I've felt so ill I've Googled it and Australia set the benchmark much higher, like around 100. So ferritin is the one to get up, which in turn keeps your haemoglobin higher.

That's how I understand it. With me, I have to eat foods that are high in iron to keep my ferritin up.

Its exhausting and i still can’t seem to get my ferritin above 36 no matter what i eat, even with taking regular ferrous fumarate.

You might be deficient in something else that prevents your uptake of iron / ferrous fumarate?

Im sure i dont absorb nutrients as I should but as we have all discovered, doctors arent too interested in helping and google takes you down rabbit holes with no clear ending!

I always had lowish ferritin then I ate a higher protein diet for a year or so e.g 120-150g a day mostly meat but also bean based.

GP said my iron was really good and I don't get fatigue like I used to in my 20s and 30s.

I think I have to overeat, to be honest, and keeping my BMI at 23 plus really helps. When you take iron DON'T eat or drink dairy or tea or coffee within two hours either side. Take it with orange juice and alongside iron I would buy Spatone too. Ferrous sulphate works best for me.

You could try a different type of iron. Get privately tested for vitamin C, vitamin D and b12 too. These deficiencies can make you v tired and low energy. Vitamin C helps uptake of iron. You could consider paying for an iron transfusion. It’s not cheap by any means, but it could be worth it. I looked into it once, but fortunately my levels are back to normal with supplementation. I used ferrous fumerate - twice per day for 3 months to get back up. I now take daily or every other day. My iron deficiency is caused by heavy periods.