Low iron in 13 year old

[elmleemum]

Has anyone got any experience if this? My dd had a blood test as she had awful headaches breathless and was pale and it showed that her iron was 12. Not quite anaemic but low. She’s been on ferrous fumarate for 3.5 weeks and is getting slowly better but she’s still not back at school. She’s barely been in since the holidays. Headache, fatigue and now awful tummy aches and cramps, breathlessness. I imagine school probably think she just a bit tired but it’s so much more than that she can’t make to go in. I know th iron is likely upsetting her tummy / any tips on that or if you’ve experienced this how long these symptoms may last. It’s so awful to see her suffering

I do have the nhs app but it’s only my stuff not hers?

Please dm if I can be of further help. She must be feeling awful.
I remember going into the pharmacy last year to get iron tablet when my ferritin was 23 and they all laughed and said I'd never get levels that low up by diet alone. Please use the pharmacy iron and not the branded supplements as they just won't have enough iron in them. And pester your Drs for the cause. I had a high dose Vitamin D prescribed to me just before Xmas and again its gone to below reference so I'm assuming my issue is absorption/gut related but also have adenomyosis which doesn't help either!

Ring and ask about b12 results. They don't automatically test for it.

Interested to see all the b12 comments as I read a bit about this and have ordered a gummy version to add into the mix …. I read it helps the iron but does it cause similar symptoms? Would this need prescription strength or would a gummy or similar ok?

Any reason they gave her galfer syrup and not a tablet? Does she struggle to swallow tablets? As a quick comparison of the elemental iron from the normal, daily dose:

Spatone- 5mg
Oral spray- 5mg
General multi-vitamin- 14mg
Floradix- 15mg
The above are maintenance doses, once someone has a normal Hb/iron level, and below are correction doses for a deficiency.
Galfer syrup- 90mg
Ferrous fumarate tablets, depending on dose 68mg-204mg

I too would be asking about a coeliac test, especially given her previous digestive issues. (Its spelt coeliac in the UK, and celiac in the US). And a B12 check if not already done.

Iron tablets give me terrible stomach ache, your poor daughter. I take my iron tablets right before bed so I don't have to be awake for the inevitable stomach cramps.

If her ferritin iron stores are 12, that would be enough to make her feel rotten, even if her haemoglobin is ok. My ferritin went down to 3 while I was pregnant and I nearly passed out a couple of times.

Your daughter, if it IS the iron that's a problem, should start to feel the benefit after 3-4 weeks when the new red blood cells have been produced - it's worth persevering.

Yes breathlessness and other symptoms

Be aware, taking b12 gummies/tablets will interfere with future b12 tests (two or three months ahead). They can hide low levels which need proper treatment by b12 injection.

Good to check d, celiac also

@7238SMi don’t know why syrup it’s just what was there when I went to collect it. She is ok with tablets. I got all confused looking at the dosage and what the elemental bit is when I was comparing it to others so that’s useful thank you

She definitely had low D so she’s on tha too. Interesting about the gummies maybe I won’t start until after her blood test next Monday and ask then to check that too?

I think I am going to try and give her it all as one dose before bed and after food from tomorrow to see if that helps the tummy pain during the day. Really want her to get back to school for a day or two this week

If her ferritin is 12, that is very low, ignore posters saying it’s the low end of normal. Advice now is to treat if ferritin is below 30.
Ferritin of 12 can leave you feeling awful but having been there, the iron supplements can also make you feel pretty horrendous too, and our bodies don’t seem to be that great at absorbing iron either. You’ll
probably need to try out a few different types of iron before you find something that works and she can tolerate.
It’s also generally better to give iron in an empty stomach first thing in the morning, then wait an hour or so before eating. But obviously that’s hard if it’s upsetting her stomach. Also remember to avoid eating anything with calcium close to taking supplements.
It’s definitely worth trying to get the full test results because you need to see the transferrin and tsat results too, and they should ultimately be trying to work out the cause, not just giving supplements. And she should be retested after 3 months.

Agree with her iron being unhealthily low despite being considered normal by nhs standards. It’s the same with b12, other countries recognize and treat low b12 while the nhs considers the same levels passable.

DS has had low iron levels for years. He refused to take the horrible liquid the doctor prescribed and he is also extremely fussy with foods and refuses green veg and red meats so we are at our wits end. I swapped the liquid for gummies and the doctor didn't bother to tell us that his iron levels were still low following a blood test, and it was left for months with us not knowing. I eventually got him to swallow a multi-vit with iron and his latest bloods say that the levels are normal according to the gp. But I don't trust them tbh. He gets ulcers and stomach cramps so I am wondering about celiac now. He's 12.

Definitely ask them to investigate coeliac disease. She hasn't started her periods and she's not a vegetarian so there has to be another cause and coeliac disease is the most likely (if not that then they need to investigate possibly internal bleeding) completely irresponsible of them to just prescribe supplements without investigating further.

My daughter had low iron and low vitamin D. Gp prescribed iron tablets, she then started to get stomach pains. Instead of the gp investigating why she was low in iron and vitamin D he just kept giving her more iron tablets. To cut a long story short it turned out that she had Crohn’s disease and the stomach pains was from the flare of crohns which was made worse by the iron tablets that are not good for the gut of those with crohns.
So I would keep an eye on the levels and if they don’t improve I would request for your daughter to be reffered to a gastro team to investigate as to why she is not absorbing nutrients.

Totally agree really frustrates me when GP’s just offer iron tablets instead of investigating why iron etcis low.

Thanks - I do still have a suspicion it’s gut related BUT she is better since we did the iron at night. Stomach pains have gone she just feels sick sometimes but that’s usually when her headache is bad - that hasn’t really gone yet and is her main symptom now . She’s back in school this week and although still tired and headachy I can see improvements. If the levels haven’t gone up I’d be surprised but the won’t test again until April. Definitely going to keep an eye on the gut/absorption link