low iron

[ballofworry]

i suffer with health anxiety badly ...so please be gentle with me as bad today ..

im 42 have had low iron for years highest ferritin 15 , back in june got told go on iron pills as ferritin 9 , HB 24 so went on for a month or so levels went back up to ferritin 33 and HB cant remember but higher , had re check week ago to see how they were , had 2 periods inbetween and levels back to 14 ferritin HB 28 so not so low as june ,

all blood results on FBC fine , so doctor said just to take iron pills 3x a day when i have period to help replace my loss as quite heavy .

im just getting myself in knots incase something els is wrong , i have IBS and saw my consultant in august for further reassurance about things as low iron is because your loosing blood somewhere so was worried was to do with IBS bowels etc , of which he reassured me i am loosing bloosd my periods not my bowels , i had tests few years ago to rule anything out .

i did have blood test done for coiliac which came back negative from my GP along with other host of blood tests , and markers . back in may all normal

so my question is this , can low iron be just from periods and bad diet ...? anyone els suffer with this low iron ?

im scared to goole ....and i just over reacting ...

thanks for listening x

Yes it can. I had a low iron problem a few years back. I had severe financial difficulties and couldn't afford to eat properly. I had just over a year of problems with low ferritin levels and had 3 cycles of iron tablets. As soon as I was able to start eating properly again it resolved. That was in 2007 and I've only been on iron tablets once since then in 2009.
Don't Google if your anxious. I've got some gynae problems at the minute and I wish I hadn't Googled them.

thanks fairgame , my doctor has said many people suffer with low iron for this reason , and she looked back through the years and iv always been low highest being 15 ferritin ..she wants me to try for 2 months taking iron just around my periods to put back my loss , then back for re test of levels to see how it is ...she didnt seem concerned at all .
its me i read something on a post hear and got me all worried ...

on the flip of that i have read on hear also would seem fairly common to have low iron also ...specially period related

Hope you get your gynae problems resolved soon X and i will not google as done before very unhelpful ...

bump

It’s a shame that doctors don’t take low ferritin levels more seriously, especially as so many people find ferrous sulphate, which is usually what the NHS doles out, so difficult to tolerate.

If your ferritin levels are persistently at the bottom of, or below, the lab reference range, it would be worth asking your GP if she would consider a referral to a haematologist to see if you could get an iron infusion, or a referral to a gynaecologist to see if anything could be done about your heavy periods.

It does seem as if you have a long-standing problem that your GP is not quite getting to grips with.

thanks , booked an appointment to have further chats with my doctor in a weeks time about the iron , she wasnt concerned when i last saw her , said very common in women of my age and as seen gastro man couple of months ago and he wasnt concerned at all either , im just anx and need reassurance that its nothing sinister going on .. (which i guess they have done ) grrrrrrrrrr hate this feeling ...
and typical period lighter this month to ....

sorry big waffle ..

It is possible for normal but heavy periods to cause low iron, particularly if diet is less than ideal.

I need to have a bottle of this every month to keep my iron levels up and I am perfectly healthy in terms of things that can cause blood loss (I'm disabled but not in a relevant way).

Oh, I have to make sure I have the iron in the evening because I don't absorb it properly if I have it with caffeine so if you drink tea or coffee it may be a factor that doesn't help you.

Having low iron levels can make your periods heavier- I didn't know this. So very important to keep your iron levels up.

I couldn't tolerate the iron supplements on doctor gave me, but I found that a berocca (vitamins b & c) with two spatone sachets first thing every morning really helped to get my levels up.

I don't know why so many doctors take anaemia so lightly, unless it's because it's mainly suffered by women

I don't absorb iron so my ferritin levels keep dropping until they are topped up in hospital. If as you say that you're had all the tests (endoscopy/colonoscopy) and they've shown nothing then it is qquite likely that your periods are to blame.

I too was told most likely cause of my iron levels dropping was losing blood somewhere but all the tests ruled that out. If when you take iron suppliments your ferritin improves (and 33 is a pretty healthy level) then its unlikley to be an absorption problem I wouldn't have thought.

Also even 9 is only a borderline low - most GP's will make a decision based on whether you are actually symptomatic. If taking the iron tablets works and you can tolerate them, then take the iron tablets and reassess your diet.

Don;t borrow trouble when thigns have been ruled out!

and avoid dairy and eggs when you're taking the iron tablet - they inhibit absorption

Try not to worry.

My periods were very heavy and I was booked in for an ablation to stop them. As part of the appointment to discuss it with the consultant they checked my ferritin levels which were down to 6. I was bumped right up the waiting list. :)
I also have colitis and we keep an eye on my ferritin these days. They checked it recently. No periods. No iron tablets. And my levels were nearly 70.
So categorically yes heavy periods can cause massive drops in ferritin.

thank you every one , typical my period this month quite light !!

iv not had colonoscopy or endoscopy / i had few years back a sigmodoscopy came back normal, consultant said was severe IBS as i have such bad anxiety
i went to see him in august this year agin as i was worried as i had low iron , he examined me went through all my symptoms and does not think theres any concern or reason to go forward for any further tests , said would only heighten my anxiety and he does not think nor am my symptoms fitting with anything synister .

he said the reason i have low iron is because im loosing blood , from my periods .

my doctor also thinks same and said if i was not having periods and low iron then further tests woild be needed to descover why but in most cases its due to periods and poor diet .
and thinks this is the case for me , also my results over the past 10 years have been similar , up and down ferritin which wold indicate thats how i am ..

i will go back to ask further as i am worried incase something els ,,,but i hope thats just me with my anxiety and over thinking things again..

thanks everyone for listening xx

oddboots i did look at that in the chemist , wasnt sure if i could take or check with doc first , i was planning on taking iron tabs 3x a day around my period like she suggested then 2 sachets of spa tone other days and see how that goes ...maybe the bottle you mentioned would be better as i see has all the b vit to ...