Could my DD have iron deficiency?

[Lonelythisxmas]

My 10yo DD has been suffering from vague symptoms for the last 4-6 months. Tiredness, lack of energy, lots of mouth ulcers, getting lots of colds (she never used to), irritable, distressed and anxious, pale, low appetite. Other less frequent things like thirst and wanting lots of ice, sore tongue and aches and pains in her legs.

I took her to the GP before Christmas and she said to give her a multi vitamin and keep a symptom diary so we could narrow it down.

DD is vegetarian and has been for about 4 years, and I can’t help but feel that this is pointing to iron deficiency. I’m taking her back to the GP next week and am going to be a bit more forceful about them doing blood tests, because I really want them to test everything and I’m quite worried now.

My question is, has anyone had a child with iron deficiency and are these the symptoms?

I should also say, she doesn’t like eggs and doesn’t eat much cheese, although she has a good diet otherwise - lots of different veg, lentils etc and she does drink some milk.

Yes, be forceful about blood tests.

If not iron deficiency I would wonder about leukaemia, but maybe unlikely seeing as she's had the symptoms for months. But not impossible.

You need to get her checked out Asap.

Some of those sound like iron deficiency ( I'm anemic) but some others like the thirst can indicate other things such as diabetes.
If this has been going on for months I would force the blood tests from your gp.
Make sure you tell them all the symptoms you losted here it should be enough to get bloods done.

I'd also ask about testing for coeliac disease from that list

My little boy has had low iron he was run down, got lots of cold and said his legs and tummy hurt. I get low iron I feel tired, cold get restless legs, breathless and feel weak

With those symptoms it's possible that she has a B vitamin deficiency.

It's not just vegans that are likely to have it.

Thank you. Although I now feel very worried!

I did think of diabetes and coeliac disease, although her bowel movements are fine, no diarrhoea etc. I will be asking them to check her blood sugar too.

I just think with her restricted diet it is more likely to be a deficiency?

@Sleephead1 Does he now have iron supplements? And has it helped?

I can't believe the GP didn't do any blood tests. Definitely go back and 'insist' you get them.

I'd say chances are she's deficient in something. I'm veggie and I'm forever getting iron deficiency anaemia despite having a good diet. So I imagine a child would be more likely to be.

I didn't have any bowel issues nor did either of my kids and were all coeliacs. Does she currently take a multivitamin? No harm in her having one in the meantime if your worried about her diet

@lonleythisxmas yes he has an iron liquid prescribed by paediatrics but he gets it from the gp he is just finishing a six month course so hopefully it's done the trick. The gp referred for bloods it showed low iron so they then referred to paeds as he doesn't have a restricted diet and is negative for celiac disease. They also advised he needs to eat red meat regularly, up green veg and pulses( he already did ) but I increased as they advised and yes it does help him. I also try not to give him too much wheat as they did say some people can gave a sensitivity and can irritate tummy.

This is exactly what happens to me when I come off multivitamins. It may be that she just needs a few weeks longer to see the benefit of taking it. I'd avoid iron supplements if you can help it, they give you horrible hard poo whereas the iron in multivitamins doesn't.

Please don't panic the symptoms could point to low iron/iron stores,especially if she's a veggie and being a child I don't think she would eat a lot of anything anyway. But do go back to GP and explain you are concerned and would like some blood tests to check for any deficiencies. If the GP thought it could be something serious she would have referred her straight away.

Thanks @Oldmum55. We had some blood tests done today. They’ve included red blood count, coeliac, glandular fever, thyroid and a few other things, so hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of it.

All her symptoms point to B12 Deficiency... hopefully the doctor included that in the lost of things to check. Let us know what her results say x