Next steps if this has failed?

[TVD2103]

This is probably not the right board but it’s got the most traffic!

I have anemia, I can’t tolerate oral iron due to gastro side effects so around 4-5 weeks ago I had an iron infusion. I don’t think it’s worked but I’m having a blood test soon to check, but I felt a tiny bit better and now I’m back to feeling probably worse than I did before - so so tired that no amount of sleep helps and I’ve even refused to drive at times out of genuine fear of falling asleep at the wheel, during the daytime, after 8-10 hours of sleep at night.

If my bloods come back and I’ve still got anemia, what’s the next steps? I imagine there’s a reason that the iron hasn’t been absorbed even through an IV and another one probably wouldn’t either? I know that blood transfusions are sometimes used, they make you feel better almost immediately which I’m desperately in need of, but that seems like quite a drastic treatment.

Has anyone got any experience of this? I did have a colonoscopy and that came back clear, however I do have an autoimmune disease and I know that sometimes can cause chronic anemia, but I think I’ll probably need some extra investigations if my iron levels aren’t increasing at all.

Are you taking vitamin c/ orange juice etc with your iron? This aids iron absorption. If not try that maybe!

Is it definitely iron deficiency anaemia? You can get anaemia from B vitamin deficiency, too. Have you had your folate levels checked?

avoid tea with food for an hour

I’m not taking iron everyday, I had an iron infusion through an IV as I can’t tolerate oral iron. My vitamin levels were all okay so definitely an iron deficiency! Xx

Did they actually tell you your numbers though OP or just that you’re deficient in iron and ok in everything else?
GPs have a bad habit of doing this IME. My ferritin level was 30.5 and because it was over 30, it was marked as ok. Apparently if you’re a woman and are presenting with anaemia symptoms and your number is below 100 then you should be getting extra iron.
My point being, they may have told you (for example) that your B12 is fine. But it’s not optimal and you may feel better after increasing it. Or your folate or anything else.

Yeah the numbers are actually fine, I double checked because I know they do this sometimes and looked myself and they were within a normal range, not borderline or anything etc xx

It may end up that it’s not the low iron that is causing the tiredness maybe?

I’m definitely considering this, especially as even though my levels were low, they weren’t low enough to compensate for how tired I actually am xx

How’s your lifestyle OP? Are you stressed or anxious? How old are you?

What's your autoimmune condition? They can cause tiredness, even when medicated.

Are you actually getting good quality sleep? What about something like sleep apnea?

Have you considered coeliac disease? Autoimmune diseases tend to cluster.