AIBU to request an earlier GP appointment- low ferritin

[HariboFrenzy]

Recently had blood tests and though haemoglobin fine MCH, MCHC and ferritin were out of range (below). Ferritin is 12. Had a message from GP for telephone appointment on 22nd May.

Thing is I feel like utter shite. I'm carer to a young child with complex needs and really struggling.

AIBU to request an appointment sooner?

It's not urgent yet if your Hb is good, unless you have extra low B12 as well, with neurological symptoms?
You could try high dose iron supplements in the meantime.

I’m afraid your GP will have triaged you and decided this is an appropriate next appointment and they know your health better than us

I recently had tests and they rang me at 8:30am when the results came in to ask me to go in that day as levels of ferritin and B12 were low to start a course of B12 injections so I would say if they thought you needed immediate treatment they would get you in sooner.

I'm not sure that you can buy iron supplements in the strength that the GP would prescribe? I guess it might be worth seeing a pharmacist. I'm getting regular heart palpitations of over 150bpm at rest, have a constant headache and just generally feel exhausted 😩

I hope you're feeling a bit better now x

You can - I took Ferrous Sulfate for low ferritin and I get them via an online pharmacy but sure a pharmacist in person could help too. Warning - they will make a huge difference to your energy levels and you’ll feel unstoppable on them 😂

You can buy iron OTC (ferrous sulphate or ferrous fumate) that will keep you going until then. If that’s hard on your stomach then try a gentle iron from Holland & Barrett or Boots.

It's definitely worth seeing if they can get you in sooner then, or at least for a phone call. You won't be able to supplement better than an iron infusion. However I buy 45mg iron for my ferritin which was 30, last time I checked. You can indeed buy very high strength, quite cheaply.

@SixSavvySwans @TeaPot496 @VanGoSunflowers oh thank you, I'll see what I can get then! I was just feeling a bit sorry for.myself that I'm not even going to see the GP for 3 weeks and then the supplements take a few weeks to make a difference dont they? I'll definitely get started while I'm waiting!

Start taking a high dose iron supplement now. No need to wait for a GP appt. I use Nutrition Geeks iron, it's relatively cheap and available on Amazon.

you can be 'proper' iron in a pharmacy. However, a iron deficiency probably isn't going to be the thing that's causing an HR of 150 at rest so if you haven't had an ECG during an episode of that then you need to.

I was diagnosed with SVT a few years ago and told I'd probably 'grow out of it' - which I had seemed to have done. That's why km assuming it's to do with low iron as its only been in the past couple of months

Take them after your main meal in the evening with a glass of orange juice or a vitamin C supplement. No coffee or tea an hour before or after as it affects absorption. I started feeling better after about 2 weeks but my ferritin wasn’t as low as yours. When you do go back to the GP, make sure you tell them you’ve been taking them.
Many other iron supplements marketed as ‘high strength’ that you can buy from Amazon etc still aren’t strong enough.

Take 200mg iron from pharmacy. You can buy them over the counter.
You need the 200mg ones though, normal supplements are 14mg and NOT enough.
My ferritin was 14 and I felt so crap, once they kick it's wonderful.
They can give you a bad stomach so if one brand is giving you a bad time you can try another.
The over the counter stuff is the same as you get on prescription as the first time I had it they gave me a prescription for it. They cost about £2 for 28 tablets.

I had to go via A&E as the gp receptionist In all her mighty wisdom decided anaemia didn’t require a same day appointment, she gave me a phone appointment in three weeks.

my hb was 77 and ferritin 3, great that they are allowed to triage! It would have been more understandable if it wasn’t in my notes that I’d had an emergency transfusion two months before!

Goodness, you must have felt dreadful! Goo job you didn't wait 3 weeks to see the GP! I hope you're feeling better now and got to the bottom of why you were so low

Go to the pharmacy, you can buy what they prescribe

I was seriously ill, but I think you lose perspective of how bad it’s got. Fibroid surgery has worked wonders, I’ve got two more iron infusions booked in this year and hopefully that will be it sorted. I’ve tried all the oral supplements and them make me vomit.

@lunar1 glad to hear fibroid surgery has helped! Hopefully you'll be much better going forward. I bet you felt amazing after the transfusion kicked in!

I think it must be because of your haemoglobin being okay. My adult daughter’s haemoglobin was eight and her ferritin was six, so she got an iron transfusion within a couple of days each time.

Truthfully if you are symptomatic, get a sooner appointment, I was short of breath just walking to the kitchen. I’d just lie to the receptionist next time and say something I knew would trigger an appointment.

How long is your heart rate that high? Would get that checked out, they put me on beta blockers for SVT so could be a separate issue. Worth checking just in case. I had a 7 day ecg which caught lots of them I didn’t really feel.

@DeathByKPI yes low haemoglobin is (or can be) very serious. I hope your daughter is doing better now

@Xmasallergies they're usually quite short - a few minutes? When I got diagnosed it was because I ended up going to A&E when it hadn't stopped after an hour.

That sounds urgent ie heart rate of 150/min and also as you feel v unwell.

I would phone surgery again and emphasize those points.