Theres something wrong and I can't work it out.

[XxrosesxX]

Hi. My health has never felt the same since my second child 2.5 years ago. Just remember never feeling "right". I put it down to tiredness. My mood felt fine. But I had a variety of symptoms like weakness and feeling abit off. Periods were bad. 9 months ago I told the Dr at last how o had felt. She told me all my symptoms seem like anxiety. She gave me a CBT online course card. I walked out confused. I wanted to do loads of stuff. I wasn't worried. I wasn't nervous. But my body was letting me down. I went back and she gave me the combination pill. I tried that hopeful it would improve my periods. At the same time she took bloods to check iron, vitmain d, thyroid etc.

Three days into the combination pill I woke up trembling. Feeling sick. Panicking. Couldn't breathe properly. It last half an hour and my partner held my hand as I finally was able to sleep. The next day we talked about how odd it was. I stopped taking the pill straight away. I realised my mood was terrible the next day.

Blood results came back. She said no wonder you feel terrible you have no iron reserves. She started me on tablets. 8 weeks later another blood test confirmed numbers were ok. Receptionist said no further action. I stopped taking iron as I ran out. I was at that point doing the school runs,4 miles walking a day and feeling pretty good.

Then February this year a heavy period put me right back down. I was so weak o was shaking. My heart was pounding and I was soaking through loads of pads. The following week I laid on the sofa and cried. I just couldn't move. A blood test confirmed no iron reserves again but my numbers were higher weirdly. I felt horrendous. The next three weeks I took iron and watched my partner take over. I felt guilty as I'm a stay at mum and he was doing all the school runs.

I just had got better before lockdown and started taking her again. Since lockdown I have just felt rubbish. I had a locum dr give me the mini pill to try. I have always been told I can't have it due to anemia. But he prescribed it and I trusted him. I hoped I was lucky. But 12 days in I started bleeding. It lasted 5 weeks and I gave up. All that time I was weak. Tired. Sluggish. Feeling slightly queasy.

My cycle is back to normal now. But my digestive system is awful. I feel sick and stomach achy alot. I phoned the drs yesterday. Same man rang me. I just can't get access to anyone else! He prescribed me lansoprazole for nausea. He said it could be the iron tablets causing a reflux thing. I've taken it for two days now. Had an okish day but felt yucky and tired at teatime. Went to bed around 10.30. now I'm awake feeling sick and my throat feels like it's got acid in it. I am sat in the bathroom writing this with water.

I'm so confused as to why my body feels so Terrible. I feel something is wrong. It's more than just iron levels surely. I've been taken them for 3 months now and still suffer so many crappy feelings.

Where do I go from here?

My friend had all these symptoms and it turned out to be Bowel cancer. PLEASE get checked

Liquid iron, I highly recommend you give it a go, and it's over the counter.

You could ask about Mirena coil which stops periods in many people, may be worth considering.

If you have choice of private tests then take it . Plus if you have thyroid test at doctors it is very unlikely a full panel .probably just tsh.

Bowel cancer? What symptoms could be pointing towards that?

When I was anaemic (not picked up by GP, only found when I went to donate blood) I was prescribed FerrogradC, which are slow release with vit C which is supposed to help absorption. It may be worth trying these, I think they are available off prescription.

sorry, not got time to rtft, but re iron:

watch your tea and red wine consumption - that inhibits iron absorption.

Do you know who your DH's private health cover is with? From experience you give them a call. They will tell you what you need to do. Probably what you will need is a referral from your GP to see a consultant gynaecologist. Tell your GP this is so that you can access private health cover and lo and behold a referral will magically be made (as it wont cost your GP anything).

I could have written this post years ago. I was never able able to keep my ferritin levels up, horrendous periods, etc. I was often given iron tablets to pick the ferritin up, continued until I was in range then taken off it only to go back on again within 6 months. I also have a b12 deficiency and hashimotos which were diagnosed later on. I was bounced to and from gynae, always being told scans were fine and being told to try a different pill/other hormonal contraception with never changed much or for longer than 6 months.

Eventually I got referred back to gynae after a burst ovarian cyst and got shipped out to a private place via nhs. The Dr did an ultrasound and said all seemed ok, and was puzzled looking at my history. He then decided to do a transvaginal scan. It took all of about 10 seconds for him to say he knew what my problem was. As I'd tried all the alternative treatments and was done with having children I opted for laser treatment. My periods are barely there anymore and my ferratin levels for the first time in my life have stabilised. What was discovered under my very thickened womb lining was a complete mess of polyps and fibroids.

Yours may not be linked in that way at all, but I just want to say beware of scans looking normal if they haven't done a transvaginal one. But definitely they need to look at why you aren't retaining ferratin.

I used to take my iron tablets with coconut water - I found it less harsh than orange juice.

If you have the option of private healthcare, just do it. Nothing to do with 'being worthy' - this is your health, it's really important.

My husband was having some problems a couple of years ago and his GP was reluctant to do anything. He mentioned he had private healthcare and bang - instant referral for an MRI.

You need a specialist of some sort - looks like other posters have some ideas. Give your husband's healthcare provider a call.

My story is similar. I was feeling very rough, breathless on exertion, tired, so tired. Lots of migraines too. My GP checked me over, got bloods done. My ferritin was 13 so I had a course of 3 months of iron tablets. I had a repeat blood test after one month which showed my levels were rising. I hadn’t had a repeat after 3 months just because of Covid19 but I’ve been today because I’ve become breathless again. My GP did suggest investigating cause but because I have been diagnosed with endometriosis I said it’s probably down to that, baring in mind I’ve had a gastroscopy and colonscopu that were normal except I have a hiatus hernia. With your history of reflux I would be pushing to get a referral to investigate these - coeliac disease can be confirmed by doing a gastroscopy and taking a sample from the start of your small bowel.

My friend had servere anaemia, heavy periods. Was constantly put on iron tablets. Felt exhausted and unwell all the time.

Because it's rare in people in 30s, they never checked her for it. It wasn't until she got so unwell after months she took herself to a and e and they found out then.

I won't retell her whole story, but it started out pretty similar to you, and I didn't want to scare you but please consider asking your GP for a test

A couple of random questions OP, how much caffeine do you have in a day? Also what is your posture like when you eat and soon after?

Caffeine intolerance can cause the reflux and nausea etc. As can bad posture whilst eating and after. Try cutting down on coffee/ tea and maybe walk around a bit more after a meal. Hope you feel better soon.

I had this, told I had anxiety and stress, lots of physical symptoms such as dodgy digestion, panic attacks, muscle weakness, never awake, strange periods as well as nausea-this was like morning sickness. It was actually a very over active thyroid. Low iron is actually one the things that is linked-please please please get this checked-I was stupid and through everyone else knew better about what was wrong with me and ended up having a mini thyroid storm and going to hospital. It is so easy to treat to so dangerous if not.

Hi. I have 3-4 max cups of tea a day. I drink around 3 glasses of water/squash each day too and usually a glass of orange with iron.

I hope it's not bowel cancer. The thing is there's so many tests. I'd I ask for bowel cancer tears. Thyroid tests. Vitamin deficiency tests. Gynocology tests. Celiac tests won't they think I'm being ridiculous?

His health care is Aviva. I suppose I could ring them for advice? My tummy is very fizzy still.

I'm not sure why and this is completely unrelated but my tailbone has been sore and bruised for 2 months now too. I've not injured it as far as I know.

If I ask for bowel cancer tests that should say

@Crimeismymiddlename thanks. Did they not check your thryroid? They say they checked mine.

Ask for all of your blood test results. Please ignore posters suggesting you take supplements that you can pick up from the shops. You need prescription medication to significantly improve your iron levels, and even then it takes months. I have to take prescription iron daily as my levels plummet as soon as I stop a normal course of iron.

@XxrosesxX no, not at first I was very emotional in my gps appointment, I had a list of all my symptoms and then cried! The GP did not take my concerns seriously at all so instead I was booked in for group counselling for anxiety sufferers, I was in such a state I just went along with it-frankly the whole thing was a wake up call to how I needed to advocate for myself. I was very lucky-I also changed gps, who I must say is fantastic.

Ok, so I would start today by writing down your symptoms in simple points.

Then, find out what the health cover includes, often a virtual/online doc appointment included as a first step.

Go through all symptoms and explain how they are affecting your quality of life.

I would tell the new doc that you've had some blood tests but haven't got result information, and would like to start from scratch. Ask about ways to get private blood tests.

You would do all of this for your children so don't be afraid to advocate for yourself.

You deserve to feel better.

@3girlsmama

Thank you. That's helped. I will do those steps.

I think I just feel like for so long everyone thought I was anxious and now I have no faith that they will believe me.

I really do struggle. I might have a walk in the woods and picnic planned with the kids for a random Sunday. Then I wake up that day and I have no energy and I feel sickly. It's miserable. I am worried I won't be able to enjoy our holidays we have booked. Just UK ones and Corona dependant. I really want to be ok for the kids. I don't want this to be my life.

You are likely anaemic secondary to heavy periods. You also seem sensitive to hormones. I would suggest phoning your GP again to discuss other options. You sound like you would benefit from a coil; there are several types, the mirena is the most popular. has a bit of progesterone but at a significant lower dose. Most women's periods reduce significantly or stop . It would sort out your heavy periods without the need for the pill.

I would take one iron tablet a day (200mg ferrous sulphate) ideally with orange juice as absorption is better with vitamin C. If you take a big dose you just get constipated.

Sorry to hear this. Like others I have also had severe anaemia and even had to have two blood transfusions last autumn followed by two iron infusions on a drip and now take 200mg ferrous fulmate. I knew I was feeling terrible but because I have had thyroid issues for over 20 years I thought jt was that. Do make sure you have your thyroid levels checked and most importantly ask them for the actual numbers - don’t let them just tell you it’s normal. I sympathise because I think women feeling rough like this are often unfortunately fobbed off.

Op, bleeding for 5 weeks is not normal. I had this and I had fibroids with no other symptom that massive prolonged blood loss. I was losing around 700ml blood a week ( I use a cup) and I also had the constant trembly fluttery feeling. I am also know to be constantly low in iron and the B bits and vitamin d. Both me and my sister struggle to absorb vitamins as we have chronic GERD. We eat a lot of mushrooms, marmite etc and have monthly injections to top us up. Within two days of getting a b12 injection I go from feeling like I'm about to die to being on top of the world.

Ask for a scan to rule out fibroids. Ask for a full panel of bloods and actually get a copy of the results. You need to check your thyroid too. Once you have those it's easier to go forward. My Gp offered me 3 b12 injections and that was it. So I bought all the stuff and now do my own as I just can't cope without it.

I would say look into your gut health, do a cleanse, try and get yourself well from that perspective. Docs don't tend to advise anything about the gut as there is no 'medication' to hand out. Just Google it.