The gp isn't taking me seriously?

[SteaknGuiness]

Low ferritin (6) and low blood iron (10). Absolutely totally utterly exhausted, brain foggy, falling asleep at weird times.

Iron pills give me crushing headache. one gp said it couldn't be the iron even though its a side effect and the second told me to eat red meat and Guinness (1 pint of Guinness contains 3% of your recommended iron intake)

I have SEN children and am currently so lethargic and my brain literally doesn't work and I need it to!! . I've had a five minute lecture about sleep hygiene which isn't really something I can incorporate with an asd child who has severe sleeping difficulties.

What can I ask for here? Has anyone any idea what I can do apart from chow down steak? (yes I do eat a good diet in general - no, they aren't sure why levels are so low)

There’s no quicker way to raise your iron than to eat it in precisely the form humans need, in blood...so if you can stomach it, black pudding for breakfast for a few weeks will do it. Have it with a glass of fresh orange, and a strong B bit compound, if you want to really assist absorption, but the black pudding alone is likely to deal with it.

Also, milk products interfere with iron absorption, so maybe avoid those 1 hour before and 3 after your steak, black pudding or guineas ?

Ah well, easy diagnosis then. Reflux medication has a known link with anemia, see this article:

www.futurity.org/anemia-proton-pump-inhibitors-1888972-2/.

So, can you change the type of reflux medication, and/or make sure the iron is taken at a different time of day (4 hours before / after)? Do you definitely still need the reflux medicine?

I'd write a letter of complaint to the practice manager for them saying you're more likely to be anaemic because you're a woman and you bleed and then shrugged at you? That's appalling behaviour.

Have you been investigated for your need to use proton pump inhibitors? As far as I'm aware they can reduce your B12.

And another one here saying get tested for coeliacs disease. And even if the bloods come back negative then request an endoscopy. Not pleasant but a bona fide method of diagnosing it.

Wow, he sounds like a terrible GP. You can request a second opinion/make an appointment with someone else.

Ah, proton pump inhibitors? That is worth following up, because taking them long term absolutely impacts the digestive tracts ability to absorb certain vitamins and minerals, including B12. I came off them when a study was published showing increased risks of bone fractures (family history of osteoporosis so don’t need anything increasing risks to bone health).

Has the cause of your reflux been identified? Mine wasn’t, but I was on rabeprazole for years as it was the only thing that worked. However, I now realise I actually had rebound syndrome because every time I tried to stop I had even worse symptoms. Also, having too little acid in the stomach can cause the same symptoms as too much, which doesn’t help trying to work out what’s going on.

I was finally diagnosed with a silent gallstone which is the root cause of my reflux. I weaned myself of rabeprazole slowly and using Zantac if the heartburn got too much. I now only take it if I’ve eaten something that irritates my gall bladder (eg too much rich food).

There’s no quicker way to raise your iron than to eat it in precisely the form humans need

Well, that's assuming there's no underlying undiagnosed form of Thalassaemia, of course ...

Get a better GP!
Okay you need a Thyroid test, Coeliacs blood test (goes with Thyroid), and more precise Iron tests. If he says it is "women's issues" then ask for a referral to a gynaecologist - as they should be investigating if there is anything "sinister" behind your Anaemia.
Have you tried Iron Fumarate btw? I find it is much better for absorption without the side effects. But then the side effects are another symptom - so you do need more extensive blood tests to check out if your iron levels are okay but haemaglobin isn't.
The reflux have they ruled out stomach Ulcers?
But your GP sounds like they are massively out of date,,,

Just wanted to say I’m in the same boat. I have a lump in my neck that’s been up for 8 months now. One gp wouldn’t even touch it. One of my consultants made me go back. Since then the dr said it must get checked out. As my voice is changing and I’m struggling to swallow. My emergency app is end of the year!! I rang my gp and said why wasn’t it sooner. It should of been done under the 2 week wait. They refused. Saying it was not emergency. (I have some very rare conditions. So see around 19 different consultants) 3 of those have said I should just pay private. I asked for the dr to write the reason for his refusal (he said it wasn’t an emergency. Lumps don’t always need checking and it’s provably just a salivary gland that’s blocked ) a. He can’t tell that unless he’s got X-ray eyes. My 3 other consultants have said. Don’t wait. He reckons he spoke to one. But the one he spoke to rang me to see if I’d got it checked he was that worried. And he said the dr hadn’t rung him

They backed down when I asked for the refusal in writing. They want me to go in yet again. 4 drs in that surgery have felt it and you can now see it through my skin. I don’t see what another app will do that their staff haven’t already handled. Unless they feel their staff did something wrong

My consultant said if you every have w complaint

Write to the surgery. Say you give them 7 days to respond otherwise you will speak to the medical ombudsman

Get the dr to put everything in writing

It works trust me.

Coeliac here too and insane blood levels 🙋🏻‍♀️

Don't take any B12 supplements before getting it tested as supplements can artificially raise the level in your blood, making it harder for a deficiency to be picked up on

I'm another Coeliac with iron levels in the toilet. I've been taking iron for the last 15 years and it's never any better than boderline with occasional dips into low. I'm religeous about taking it. Took B12 for years too.

I had similar systems for a long time and it was endometriosis. You may need a gynae referral. But also hassle a (different) GP to test your throxin, vitamin D, B vitamins and try some of the alternative versions of iron people have recommended.

I only got normal iron levels after two laser ablations and the fitting of a Morena. I took a.shed load of Spatone! My migraines have improved a lot since dealing with the endometriosis, although apparently it can also.ne a positive side effect of pregnanvy, so it may not have been connected.

Morena!

Google has autocorrected that twice. The coil, I meant...

All other typos are my own, though. Sorry!

I recently had an intravenous iron infusion as I couldn't tolerate iron tablets. I have very heavy periods and I'm a vegetarian. I also discovered I am a thalassemia carrier. I think full blown thalassemia is pretty awful and you would know about it if you had it.

Other things it could be (which I have)
Underactive thyroid
Low vitamin D
Insulin resistance

My bunch of health issues mean I've had more GP appointments than I'd like. In my experience you've got to be pretty forceful and direct.

Thank you everyone. I'm currently trying a new liquid iron medicine, and had spinach for dinner. With orange juice.

I think they're offering thyroid, recheck iron and full liver and kidney tests (no idea why those) when I go for bloods next. I had my blood sugar tested recently as I'm at risk of type 2 diabetes after gestational diabetes but they're normal...

The reflux medicine, I can't do without. If I'm late taking it, I'm in pain with really bad heartburn and I can be sick with it if it's bad. I have wondered if it could be gallstones somehow, but I've just been prescribed stronger medicine each time (on my third ppi after ranitidine stopped controlling it) so I wonder if it's somehow connected there...

I feel so self absorbed, going on about more bloody iron and flopping about all the time - I said that I feel like I have dementia because I cannot keep a thought in my mind and that's actually quite scary, you know?

Thank you for your advice - I'm definitely getting the idea of pushing on with over the counter gentle iron medicine, and pushing for thyroid to be tested, and also for the heartburn to be investigated (can't check for ulcer as they don't do blood tests here any more and I can't stop taking medicine for heartburn for a fortnight to do the breath test kit)

I would push for a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy

One to investigate the silent reflux and two because low iron can be caused by undetected intestinal bleeding

Op I work in gastroenterology and second what pp have said. Ask for referral to gastro. You can then be investigated for coeliac disease with bloods and a gastroscopy. Gastroscopy and colonoscopy can also rule out any internal bleeding to account for your low levels.

Gasto and Colonoscopy are what I had after all the Gynae exams (and after I'd pointed out my Mum died of Colon cancer). In your circumstances I'd think they should be done before the Gynae exams.

In my case everything came back clear apart from minor Gynae issues - we think the anaemia was just Thyroid + perimenopausal bleeding, and its treated with Iron when needed, which does work for me.

my mum did have colon cancer...

I think I may have been referred for a gastroscopy because I've received a referral letter - doesn't say anything about which department or anything, just that I'll get another letter when they can offer an appointment. One doctor said he would try to investigate what to do as I can't do the breath test for h pylori...

To me, its affecting everything day to day from not feeling alert enough to drive, to falling asleep unexpectedly to not remembering the words I need, yet they're saying to drink Guinness. I feel vaguely gaslight ed - like I must have done something wrong to be patted on the head and dismissed like this.

One doctor said he would try to investigate what to do as I can't do the breath test for h pylori...

They can do a biopsy during the gastroscopy to test for this

Please get them to try b12 tests - so many GPs don't if you aren't a pensioner (because the typical sufferer is over 60)

I was back and forth for months before a locum said 'it's probably not because of your age, but we may as well test your b12 levels'