Would you put your foot down over these results?

[EggLettuceTomato]

I've had loads of blood tests as feeling absolutely shattered, dizzy, tingly hands and feet, anxiety bouts, racing heart and brain fog. All has come back in normal range but would you query the b12 and ferrin results being on the lower side?
This has been ongoing a couple of years and has got to the stage now where I’m avoiding going out if I can help it but the Drs said last time
as it’s in normal range I should just get on with it.
AIBU to query this more with them this time round or should I carry on trying to push through it? (hate going to the drs!)
And has anyone had anything similar?
Ferrin is 16 u/gL (range 12-160) and
B12 is 161 ng/L (range 145-910)
Thanks x

@newusern9999 thanks for this -luckily I’ve only been taking 2.8mg of b6 daily

Your ferritin is way too low too, it should be more around 75-100
If you go to someone about hair loss, the first thing they will say is it needs to be around 75 for hair growth
Mine is 66 and I'm taking iron tablets to actively try and increase it to optimum

It is possible to get b6 toxicity from low doses of supplements or from diet alone if you eat lots of food high in b6 (fortified cereals, chicken, potatoes, energy drinks, bananas, avocado, pistachios, sunflower seeds). It is usually high b6 combined with a dehydrating event which can push the b6 into the nerves. This also affects your blood vessels so you get low blood volume which causes dizziness and brain fog. It is worth considering. Your symptoms are so similar. To heal you need to eat low vitamin b6 (RDA only) for 1-2 years and exercise if you can.

@Alittlefrustrated

where do you get the high dose sublingual B12 drops from pls?

@WhatWouldJeevesDo

which brand of ferrous fumarate do you use?

I’m struggling with this atm. Feel shattered, very low results but gp says no action required

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115542020092?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338268676&toolid=10044&customid=CjwKCAjw-O6zBhASEiwAOHeGxX_nxlqEkBoFjIqC-jLGd1-iRSqBjBIR5gACvm0we4ePFKqpsZ7zlRoCBXgQAvD_BwE
I hope you get better soon.

Thanks @WhatWouldJeevesDo appreciate it.

was advised to look into a MMA test for b12 absorption but gp didn’t seem too concerned

Could you see a different GP?

That's a very low ferritin for a menstruating woman.

The preference and ideal is 75.

Mine was 4 and I felt dreadful. Within a year if my hysterectomy it was 45 and I felt much better.

Didn't feel better at all until it was over 40 and I'm (obviously!) not menstruating anymore.

@jeeves

I think I might try private - just see what they suggest

Bloody hell that Ferratin is low. I felt like death when mine was that low.

get ferrous fumerate 210mg over the counter and some vitamin C 500mg tablets. Take both together on empty stomach twice a day. Within 2 months you’ll feel a lot better.

it’s well known that the “normal” range for ferritin is not a great indicator. My ferritin came up from your level too 100 within 6 months. I had all the same symptoms as you for 3 years. They’re now gone.

Join the Facebook group called The Iron Protocol

and get your Ferratin closer to 100. Make that your main goal.

Have you had a coeliac blood test?

My transferrin saturation is 12 - below the normal range and still nothing as rest are low end of normal

Just to check - have they checked your Vit D as well? That can make you feel awful!

Just to add the ranges aren’t absolute. They are supposed to b interpreted with context which seems to have fallen by wayside. If you are symptomatic and borderline low then you need treatment!

I would hope that MNers are more literate than to buy internet stuff and inject themselves with it on the say-so of in internet random

That might just be it. I get low iron unless I eat meat a few times a week, it's a good source of B12 as well.
I've tried cutting down a few times and each time, my iron levels drop.

Recent advice seems to be that it’s not worth taking iron more than once a day, and I got good results with every other day.

This

I feel dreadful when mine get that low. I also take every other day or particularly around periods.

Doctor prescribed three a day for three months when they were slightly lower so now I take the keep on top of it approach.

You can get over the counter or from an online pharmacy with next day delivery.

But, yes. Push for an explanation.

That sounds to me like it could be POTS which doesn't show up on a blood test. If PPs suggestions for supplementing don't work please ask to be investigated x

The advice about B12 deficiency causing permanent nerve damage is accurate. This is easy to check on line using reputable sites. The only way to prevent this is to increase B12 intake. GP s should offer a course of loading doses but this seems to be hard to actually get, so if you can get a GP appt this week and start jabs given by them, next week then that is the best way. It would be about six months to get this to happen with my GP, so suggesting a quicker way to get these started seemed reasonably good.

it is well documented by many other posters on here that it is possible to buy B12 on line from Germany, and I would expect the OP to make sure she is buying actual B12 and not just water, in the same way all those getting the weight loss jabs on line make sure they are buying from a reputable supplier. Or anyone buying anything off the internet makes sure they are not being scammed.

Have you considered ME? I have it and my symptoms are very similar.

Lots of good info here:

meassociation.org.uk/