Anaemia, periods, anxiety

[AgentCooper]

I feel at my wits' end. About 2 months ago, I was diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia and have been taking ferrous sulphate ever since. I had no idea I was anaemic - went to the doc's as I'd had a massive relapse in anxiety and was finding the physical symptoms (shaking, extremes of hot and cold, nausea and vomiting) very hard to cope with. I hadn't had a relapse in a long time and honestly thought I was getting better - there was no real trigger.

Not long after starting on iron, I began to feel better - less anxious, sleeping better, no sickness, appetite returned, less tired and dizzy. Just last week I had a light period - enough to cause tummy pain but not much blood. Since then, I've been feeling anxious, restless, sick, and this morning I woke up at 4:30

The GP thinks the aneamia was set off by a massive, haemorrhaging period I had back in January and I was basically getting weaker. My periods have been light and infrequent since then but this one last week was the first I've had since starting on iron. Could it be what's caused my setback? Any thoughts would be so much appreciated. I'm going on holiday in a few weeks and really thought I was making progress. If you feel rotten after your period, do you start to feel better again?

I think it would be worth going back to your GP to get your Iron and Ferritin levels checked again to see how the iron tablets are going.
When I had terrible periods I would be wiped out for a week and then surviving in between. It was just getting by at best.

Thanks Giddy, these past few days have been so hard. I really thought I was getting better and I feel like the bleeding, however light, must have contributed to how awful I'm feeling now, just really shaky, sick, tired and anxious. I absolutely hate it. Going to phone the doc today.

Did the iron eventually improve things for you and did you experience many setbacks?

I hope you got an appt today.
Mine wasn't handled terribly well because I have normal HB levels despite my ferritin being through the floor. I ended up on anxiety meds when iron would probably have done the trick.
I had finished having babies so I pushed for an ablation. The pre Med revealed a ferritin level of 6 which is transfusion territory apparently. Since the ablation was done my levels have normalised.
I wonder if your levels are teetering and a period has dipped you back into the place you get symptoms? But doubling up on tablets for a few days before your period might help?

Hi Giddy (I can't get over your username, by the way, it's brilliant), I spoke to the Dr yesterday and she said don't bother with a test, just up the dosage. I'd actually only been taking one 200mg tablet a day (which might have been due to my confusion at the Dr initially saying 'take one' and not mentioning the three times a day bit). She said yesterday that as my iron was at 8 and should have been at least 15, I really need to take more - 2 three times a day.

I think you're right about my levels getting better then dipping due to the period. I've been on medication for anxiety for years and have always been a worrier but I can't help but wonder how long I've been anaemic. I had cervical erosion for years, bleeding constantly, and then that huge big period at the start of this year. The fact that I was really starting to feel better but then started feeling awful with my period makes me feel it can't be a total coincidence. The tiredness and anxiety are so horrible. I'm waking early, chest tight, mind racing, feeling sick and I just want to feel OK again. I'm so sorry to hear you ended up on anti-anxiety meds too, but in a way it kind of gives me hope that these two things could well be linked and I might not be stuck with this forever.

Agent Cooper I had this my ferritin was 2 and I thought it was stress at work making me feel crap. I had dizzy spells, palpitations I thought were panic attacks, very poor ability to concentrate and very tearful. My GP said it was like a car running without petrol, you just keep going with no fuel and feel shit. I was on ferrous fumorate 200g three times a day. Took 3 weeks off work as I was mainly on the toilet with that amount of iron and went back on the progesterone only pill to stop my periods. Its taken time but i feel amazing now. It takes work but well worth it. No bleeding for a year and after 6 months on iron it was over 70.

The emotional impact of low iron is not well recognised but for me it was huge.

Thank you Meg...it sounds stupid but I'm actually feeling a bit emotional, knowing that I'm not alone in this. I'm so glad to hear things have improved for you

The doctor is still saying 'you've got history with anxiety, there's more to this than anaemia' and I know there's truth in that but I was feeling so much better after I started the iron, before dipping again. I wish, in all the years that I was constantly losing blood through cervical erosion, that someone had offered me a blood test. That's when I was diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder and I have had so many medications, so many therapists. I saw three different GPs before I was offered a blood test this time. I totally agree with you about running on no fuel - over the years my anxiety has hit the roof if I'm physically ill (tonsillitis, vomiting bug) or very tired (jet lag, no sleep).

The GP doesn't seem to think the connection is that huge, but there are reports of this from different people all over the web.

Just threw up my breakfast - proper projectile vomiting

I'm guessing this is a combination of the increased dose of iron (it made me feel sick when I first started on it) and anxiety. I just wish this would stop. I keep telling myself the iron will help, so I need to get past this rough stage.

Now the iron can make you constipated so keep an eye on that. You can ask for an iron infusion which some places do, mine wouldn't! But it may be worth pushing for it to get a quick response.

After childbirth first and struggling a bit with a baby (no shock there) Dr told me I had post natal depression and to go on anti depressants I said no and that I was just knackered from a new baby. Dr asked me to check what my husband thought of my mood and husband felt no not depressed, just knackered.

I had a blood test a few weeks later for something else entirely and my GP then rang and apologised. I was very anaemic and needed iron. She apologised that I was nearly foobed off with medication that would not have helped and I would have been on for years for no reason. She actually said she had learned a lesson and would do routine bloods when people presented with similar issues instead of heading for a prescription pad first.

My next bout of anaemia was after baby number 2 and very heavy periods. I recognised the symptoms myself and was shocked it had gone down to 2.

I explain all this as I do not doubt you may have anxiety issues but that you may have been overtreated for that when your underlying correctable blood issues went untreated. Go to your GP demand an iron transfusion and hint that they may have mistreated you in the past.

I may be fighting a battle through you vicariously I apologise but anomg a few friends and family we have discussed this and many women have been on medication for anxiety and then found to be anaemic easily(ish) treated and felt great.

You will get there.

Thanks, Meg...I don't mind you fighting vicariously through me because I am pissed off. In all my visits to the GP with anxiety I was never offered a blood test, not once. I asked for one myself, because the physical symptoms were ruining my life, and I thought it might be thyroid-related.

I'll be 30 next month and really thought I'd made big steps with my anxiety - meditating, exercising, finally managed to stop smoking - and then it all came back out of nowhere, with no real trigger or reason.

I'm glad you're in my corner.

It is annoying that those symptoms are investigated routinely for pre menopausal women. It's not a questionable link either. Might also be worth getting some B12 tablets to take too. That can exacerbate symptoms of anaemia.
So at least 3 iron tablets a day, a b12, plenty of fruit juice and fluids and a strong black coffee to keep things moving.
And thank you for your appreciation of my name :) It was the product of a long night lying in bed unable to sleep with the anxiety!!

Thanks for the tip about B12, Giddy, I've been reading a lot about that, will go down to Boots at lunchtime. It is annoying that there's not more attention paid to the body/mind connection- doctors will say 'you feel like this physically because of anxiety' but never check if it might work both ways.

The increased dosage of the tablets is making me feel pretty sick. I think I threw up yesterday due to taking it on an empty stomach so I've taken my first one with some dried apricots this morning as that's about all I can stomach. I know these side effects will pass but do they ever feel rotten. Just looking to the future, and focusing on feeling a bit better again.

I had problems with NHS iron pills, then I was recommended these:

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0038MKXW2?refRID=N9KTD538MSH0X75EBTSF&ref_=pd_bia_nav_i_3

They're soft gel capsules, much easer to stomach.

Sorry - Hemaplex soft gel capsules. There's liquid inside them.

I had tried all the diff NHS iron compounds. These didn't make me throw up or give me constipation.

Do ask for a thyroid and thyroid antibody blood test-thyroid issues can often have similar issues.

Thanks Yseulte, if the sickness continues, I'll look at those. I'm tempted just to stick with it as the sickness passed last time and I just want as much iron in my body as possible now.

Haggisfish, they did check my thyroid and it was normal. I had thought that might be it myself, though.

Giddy, thank you for the tips - I went to see the pharmacist at lunchtime and she advised me to get vitamin C to help with the iron absorption. I asked her about B12 and she told me not to take it if my doctor hadn't recommended it. Did you take it on doctor's advice yourself?

Still not doing great, but I just know I can feel better. I know I did when I started on iron before. The feeling sick and anxious are so hard to deal with, but I'm reading so much about the connection. This article says a lot about how I feel. Last week it started with a kind of uneasiness as I was starting to bleed, then I started to feel sick, then on to full blown, not sleeping anxiety.

How is going Agent, remember no tea around the time of the tablets, that tripped me up for awhile!

Hi Meg, thanks for checking in. I'm struggling, to be honest. I keep telling myself that being physically unwell lowers my defences against my anxious thoughts and that I'll feel brighter as my body recovers, but it's so hard to convince myself. I know I felt better last time and that I can again, but it's so difficult to be rational when you feel so bad. I know it's only been a few days on the increased dose and I have to stay strong.

I just feel so bad, like I'm letting everyone down. My manager has made me a cake to cheer me up as she knows I'm unwell, but there's no way I can eat anything right now. I completely ruined me and DH's holiday last year because of a massive anxiety episode that left me unable to eat or sleep for a week and I just don't want that to happen again when we go away in a few weeks. I had been feeling my best in years, about seven months of wellness until my anxiety struck again this summer and I eventually discovered I was anaemic. It's hard to see the light right now.

You have to be kind to yourself. The emotional side will not resolve/ be dealable with until a decent level of physical health obtained. Perhaps explore the option of an iron infusion with your GP. List for them the impact it is having on your whole life and your family life. It is unacceptable they leave you like this if there is another option out there. Lay it on thick.

Thanks Meg, I have to just keep telling myself that. It's like being physically unwell means my mind just isn't strong enough to fight the bad stuff. I know my GP thinks that the anaemia and anxiety aren't that strongly linked but I really believe they are.

They are linked and if that GP is shite is there another in the practice? Also is there and occupational health dept where you work that could be supportive?

Shite is the word, isn't it?! I'm actually so wary of talking to GPs about my health now, because you get so little time and they're really overstretched. The doctor said if I don't feel a change by next week to come in for an appointment, so I'll see how the weekend goes. I know they wanted to change my anxiety meds last time to something stronger but I don't want to do that if it can be helped.

Do you mind me asking, when you had anxious/depressed feelings (or anyone you know) during anaemia, what did they feel like? For me, it's like my thoughts are racing to the worst possible scenario and I start to feel really sick and hopeless.

Unfortunately the normal parameters for iron and ferritin are still far too low from the optimal level.

I really struggle with my ferritin level and have been having a fight with my GP for nearly two years to get me referred to a haematologist. He originally referred me to a ME specialist who took one look at my blood test result and said in the nicest way possible you are wasting your time seeing me.

I have very light periods, eat a good balanced diet plenty of green veggies, steak etc but I'm losing iron so quickly.

My GP has now referred me to a neurologist. I know that that's also the wrong department! It's so frustrating.

At my worst, February 2013, my ferritin was 3. I was losing my hair, my nails flaked, I slept all the time, palpitations, muscle fatigue, I existed but I didn't live IYSWIM.

Theres so many stories from other women on the Internet with exactly the same issues who are dimissed by their GP.

My neighbour had one slightly low blood test and was referred for the procedure where they put a camera down your throat and another 'upwards' to look at her bowel. Why haven't I been offered that? Oh yeah it's because I'm 26 not 60 something. I feel so let down :(

I'm so sorry to hear about your rubbish experience Equiem, it is utter shite. I'm 29 and me and DH would really like to try for a baby sometime next year. I don't want another anti-depressant, when none have really helped. I want them to recognise something that's presenting as a problem and understand that it might be at least part of what's been wrong with me for so long.

I said upthread that I had cervical erosion for years, bleeding throughout the month, had my cervix cauterised twice in two years. No blood tests. Then a huge period that was soaking through towels, tights and the trousers I had on over them, which I'd never had before. No blood tests.

I'm wishing you strength - I really need to find mine because my mind and body feel so broken.

I could just take iron pills constantly but that would be solving a symptom, not a cause. I'm like you Agent I want them to realise that something is wrong and they need to find out what! The tiredness has been going on since I was about 17. I've just learnt to live with it, it becomes the norm.
I've scared myself shit less by googling symptoms, convinced there's properly something wrong with me and I'm going to be one of those stories you read in the daily mail

Sorry I've just started coming on here and don't know how to made the posters name bold :)