Am I anaemic with normal haemoglobin but low ferritin symptoms?

[anaemicornot]

Am I anaemic or not ? I’m perimenopausal (46) but I’ve always had heavy periods due to endo and now they are just more frequent. For the last 2 years I’ve had anaemia symptoms and ferritin has been at its lowest 9 and highest 50. I was told by one GP that ferritin should be 70-100 for menstruating women to feel well and that’s the optimal level to aim for and I was prescribed iron supplements.

I still feel awful and still feel anaemic but my ferritin is currently 35. So within nhs range but not optimal. I have a new GP who has said to stop all iron tablets as my haemoglobin is 125 so ‘perfect’ and transferrin too high at 68%?

He said I’m not anaemic now but from looking it up the high transferrin doesn’t mean I have too much iron ? Im not sure what to do ? I don’t fully understand can anyone explain to me - am I anaemic or not !

It’s the haemoglobin/haematocrit figures which dictates whether you’re clinically anaemic or not - so you aren’t just now. Your ferritin stores are aLao above the line for the normal range, but you won’t feel your best even at 35. But low ferritin isn’t the measure for anaemia.

I’ve had low ferritin all my adult life - I’ve never had a figure as high as 35 and I know how rough I feel from it. But I have been clinically anaemic in the last year, and I simply couldn’t function at all. It is different, even knowing how awful I feel with low ferritin.

So it’s correct to stop the iron supplements? I think I’m worried that my next period will make me feel really bad if I’m not on them as I bleed so heavily then ferritin will go down again

If that’s the advice you’ve been given, you should follow it - too much iron is as much a problem as too little.

You’ll have to try to offset your periods with diet - it’s hard but you need to get more red meat and leafy greens in, and do some internet research for other good iron rich foods to pack it in. I even started eating liver which I hate, but it worked!

This is what I’ve always done I think I have a diet rich in iron but my periods just cancel it out totally 😭

I understand completely, I’ve been where you are for the last 30 years. It’s very hard to handle and you just get used to feeling awful being your normal. I’m finally having a hysterectomy at 55 as just when I thought I’d reached the blessing of menopause, I’ve been back to bleeding unexpectedly, ironically.

Good luck with it. If I had better advice for you I would have taken it myself over the years. It is rubbish.

It’s awful isn’t it, I feel like hysterectomy is something I’ll need to consider in the near future especially with my cycles getting shorter and shorter I had no idea that could happen I thought they got longer !