To not want to feel like this anymore??? Anyone with medical knowledge or knowledge of iron deficiency??

[DearRubyPoet]

I’ve had my blood tests back. I have ferritin of 6, serum iron 5 and haemoglobin of 110.

Symptoms are - unable to focus/concentrate, body aches, a trembling sensation in legs when I lie down and bruising easily. Also, no energy to do any of the things I want to do in life.

Ive been prescribed meds that i have tried before that I really struggle to tolerate, and taking them will take months to offer any improvement, from what I understand.

I just wish I could get an iron infusion. I know they offer them in other countries for levels similar to mine but not on the NHS it seems.

Has anyone else been through this? Im feeling very down about it all.

@DearRubyPoet Do you know the root cause of your anaemia?

Mine was very heavy periods. My ferritin was 4 a year ago. It's now 125.

I had a mirena coil fitted to stop my periods, I've had two infusions (my GP would only give them when my ferritin dropped to 4), I've also been taking a very high dose vitamin D. When I was taking ferrous fumerate I was making sure to take it away from caffeine, dairy etc as other PP have said. I liked to take mine with a sachet of Urgent-C.

My ferritin hadn't been higher than 25 since 2014. I had a PPH when I had my first baby and never really recovered until now. The ridiculously heavy periods where themselves a horrible circular symptom AND cause of the anaemia!

No it is a major warning in the BNF for most of the preps. It was 20yrs ago and the infusion I had was an older type that was licensed for use in pregnancy. But there is a risk so if you do have one done privately make sure you ask if they are equipped to deal with it.
It does work well. My Ferritin was around 4 and my haemoglobin iron was 83. Six weeks later I looked like I’d spent a month in the Caribbean. I’d had chronic anaemia for so long due to endometriosis that I was permanently porcelain white complexion.
Since having it and then having Mirena coli fitted my iron levels have remained healthy since then.

Pharmacist here and also had extremely low ferritin for years before being discovered.

My experience was that ferrous fumarate was fine for me, no side effects other than black stool (TMI!). Couldn’t tolerate ferrous sulphate in the past.

And, although it takes months to fully replace iron stores - anecdotally I felt better in 5 days. Walking my usual route to work, turned a corner that then went up a steep hill - my legs just…. did it. I nearly cried as I hadn’t even realised I had been struggling with that hill, or any other exercise. I was just exhausted all the time.

if you can’t tolerate the iron tablets - spatone is a legitimate alternative, despite it looking like it’s got a lower elemental iron content.

My OH kept suggesting iron infusions for me and I was very wary because of the risk of anaphylaxis. The idea of getting it fixed quickly nearly made me do it though!

You need to get hold of heme iron. It's a supplement based on animals products and means the iron is much more bioavailable so you absorb more. It also doesn't cause the digestive issues of other iron supplements. I was able to buy it from Amazon under brand name Optifer, but unfortunately not anymore. I joined the iron protocol on Facebook and have since bought it from the US brand name Three arrows. One pill is 20mg of heme iron and you can take multiple a day.

I take ferrous fumarate with a meal to feel less sick. I was at 7, now over 30, I found I was feeling better within days of starting the supplements.