Hair loss and low ferritin

[WhatHaveYouBecome]

Hi,
I’m wondering whether anyone has been in a similar situation and what the outcome was please.

A few months ago I started to lose a lot of hair and there were noticeable bald patches on my head. I spoke to the GP and had some bloods which showed I was deficient in ferritin, folate and vitamin D and I was told these were probably linked to the hair loss.

I took supplements and had a further blood test. The folate and vitamin D are normal and although the ferritin is, it’s on the low side (20).

My GP is saying that everything is normal, nothing else needs to happen. Only my hair has started falling out again and I’m feeling very tired. I was made to feel like a massive nuisance for questioning why my ferritin is still only 20- told it’s normal but it doesn’t seem right to me that it can still be borderline after taking supplements. I’ve been told it will be diet linked but there wasn’t a single question about my diet and no advice about what I can do to improve things.

I’m wondering if I need to be pushing for more help here. Any advice please?

I’m 33 and generally in good health.

I feel good & my energy levels are good - to be honest when I was at 33, I felt really awful - I was tired all the time and that's what caused me to see the GP in the first place (I thought it was perimenopause).

I felt a lot better even with levels at 38 but I was popping iron tablets 2-3 times a day to scrape up to that point. Given my hair issue I really wanted to address this for once and for all.

Yes I bit the bullet & went private. But astonished I had to find out about the possibility of infusions myself. Also I now have a script for tranexamic acid, which the GP hadn't even suggested as a possibility despite my complaining about v heavy periods. His only suggestion was to take more iron supplements.

Hallo. I've got very thin hair loss at the crown of my head and it's begun to fall out again after a year of stability. My GP said my iron levels are 55 and that normal range is 13 -150. Do you think she was talking about ferritin? And would that be a low enough level to cause hair loss? I am also exhausted

Sorry. Posted in a panic. I think she must have been and am wondering if that would be a low enough level to lead to hair loss

Do you not get given a statement of your blood test results?

@rifling

Do you not get given a statement of your blood test results?

Over the phone unfortunately. I'll ask for one

Yay, I'm getting my infusion next week!!

@Onlyrainbows you lucky thing! I hope you will soon be back to bouncing energy.

You say ferritin under 30 warrants infusion, I did Google but all I found was under 30 was iron deficiency anaemia (so why is mine ‘normal’ at 23?!) but it says to treat with ferrous sulphate/fumerate. Do you have a link to any info about infusion please?
Tia.

I'm having issues with my hair falling out. Dr ran tests as suspected am peri menopausal (which I am; but also low ferritin levels (13 I think) she gave me iron tablets which I took for 3 months.

Just had another appointment (with a different doctor) who was confused when I said I had low levels as he said my tests didn't indicate that. My hair is still falling out and now have itchy skin which I have read is connected. He agreed to another blood test as having feet issues (numbness) and was pre diabetic. Will be interesting to see what comes back.

[quote Wouldntitbenicetobeinyourshoes]@Onlyrainbows you lucky thing! I hope you will soon be back to bouncing energy.

You say ferritin under 30 warrants infusion, I did Google but all I found was under 30 was iron deficiency anaemia (so why is mine ‘normal’ at 23?!) but it says to treat with ferrous sulphate/fumerate. Do you have a link to any info about infusion please?
Tia.[/quote]
I used to have a printout from my hospital but lost it :( it took me about 8 years to get regular infusions. GPs don't have much of a clue, but last year I ended up in A&E (passed out) and another time almost had an accident because of a migraine with aura. Since then I've been under hospital care and not the GP.

I’ve just had my blood test results.
Ferritin is 24 and ‘normal’. 🙄
I don’t have periods (hysterectomy) and just can’t seems to get my iron up. I really wish I could afford a transfusion.

I'm another one with low iron. Think it was 13 last blood test. It's been chronically low since having my second daughter nearly 6 years ago though. My diet probably doesn't help as I'm pretty much vegan now but I do supplement daily with a high quality multivitamin. Having bloods and ecg tomorrow as I'm symptomatic again and my heart rate is high (108ish). I'm going to ask about iron infusions as I can not tolerate the ferrous tablets. I hope I can get one rather than forking out 800 quid!

Another one here with low iron, I was supplementing myself with 2 x Spatone per day and although it helped me feel better it was so expensive and only took my levels from 6 to 9. Like others, I struggle to get through a 12 hour day, falling asleep at the dinner table, lost most of the hair on the crown of my head etc.

I was tested again recently (8) and was told my levels need to be at 70 for optimum hair growth. I was prescribed 3 x 332mg per day and felt a real boost to my energy levels after 7 days. I had a standard letter from an administrator at my practice asking me to make an appointment to discuss the test results, as there was a medical concern that couldn't be discussed over the phone, and the original GP I saw had made an appointment to be retested to check the impact on my levels.

The GP appointment was scheduled for yesterday, but I had a call from a GP to say that that he wasn't sure why I had made an appointment, that the bloods were normal, to stop taking the tablets on prescription when it was something I should pay for myself, and to 'stop wasting NHS time' with the re-test my original GP had scheduled for 8.30am this morning. I asked him to cancel it out of the system as the surgery was closed with phones and online form switched over to Out of Hours provision for the night, but I'm not convinced he would have done this, which has really annoyed me, I work for the NHS and would hate to be considered a DNA.

I was away last weekend and forgot to take the tablets with me, and there was a marked difference in my energy levels even from missing them for 4 days and having to rely on a much lower dose from a local chemist.

I'm going to buy a supply of the tablets I was prescribed once these run out, and continue to take them, but I do feel terrible going against medical advice. The original GP who prescribed them is a locum and I'm not sure if I could get to see her again. I've been dealing with this for 10+ years now, had to go part time from work and actually stop working altogether at one point due to exhaustion, and I'm absolutely sick of getting nowhere with something that should be fairly straightforward.

Been there, in my case it was all linked to an under active thyroid the NHS claimed to be perfectly normal and as all my results were in range and therefore normal there was nothing wrong with me. Gah I was on my knees and could barely function.

I ended up going it on my own.
Did they test your vitamin B 12? Vitamin D?
I take a supplement called Hema Plex which has iron and lots of B vitamins in it including B12. I also take vitamin D and vitamin K. My hairs been good -back to normal thickness - ever since. I had to have it it cut short which isn't a good look for me as it was so thin and straggly. Now it's a bob (partly thanks to covid lockdowns) and nearly shoulder length.

@CrotchetyQuaver how did you find out about underactive thyroid if gp said it was normal? Did you go private?

[quote CreatingHavoc]@CrotchetyQuaver how did you find out about underactive thyroid if gp said it was normal? Did you go private?[/quote]
Yes I was very lucky that my dad said he'd pay for it, I went to a private GP that was on a list kept by the thyroid uk website. Never looked back!

@CrotchetyQuaver Interesting. I've heard others saying that the NHS ranges are completely wrong for thyroid stuff. Makes me wonder as I have a lot of symptoms that don't seem to make sense.

Hi OP.
Your story is exactly rhe same as mine. I am the same age and had hair loss with rather large (biggest 6cm circumference) bald patches. I was distraught and inconsolable. I went to the GP who said I had low ferritin and recommended supplements. I saw this as pointless as I was sure it was alopecia and low ferritin does not cause alopecia. I then went to a consultant dermatologist who confirmed alopecia and I mentioned that the hair loss coincided with getting my first covid jab. I mentioned that I was convinced there was a link and he said it could be possible. Anyway he basically said that there's not any treatment that would help and it would all be placebo. There have now been several articles suggesting a link between alopecia and the covid vaccine. Thankfully my hair has grown back and was nor exacerbated by subsequent vaccines. I really hope that yours goes back to normal, I know how distraught you must be. Big hugs x

@ClockBusCanada I’ve just bought that strength, 6 months supply. Knowing how the 210 strength affected me I’m going to just start off at one a day, increasing it to 2 then 3.

I will also now Google Hema Plex @CrotchetyQuaver , although I do have B12 injections.
I do have hypothyroidism and take thyroxine and liothyronine. (& Desunin 800) nothing makes me feel better.

I wish I could afford a transfusion & I wish someone was interested enough to investigate why my iron won’t increase, despite a couple of years on prescription ferrous fumerate.

@Wouldntitbenicetobeinyourshoes good luck, it has made a difference to how I feel, I hope it works for you. It's the sheer indifference of medical professionals that makes it worse. Where is the intellectual curiosity? It drives me mad.

This has been such an interesting thread. Checked through some old results and ferritin has been as low as 15 'normal' and only as high as 53. Can't access my last set of results though. I do suffer from IBD so I wonder if that might mean I could ask for an infusion. I will read up on the Nice guidelines!

I've just read that eating whole grains hinders the absorbtion of iron. I've been eating whole grain oats/cereal for breakfast and wholemeal bread for years on the basis that they're better for you. But apparently they're not if you want to absorb iron! I already knew about spinich not being great for iron absorbtion because of oxalates but with wholegrains it's phytates. I don't know what I'm supposed to eat for breakfast now...

Does anyone know what the optimum level of ferritin is for women for hair growth and good energy levels? Currently at 29 and determined to resolve my fatigue and hair loss issues once and for all. GP initially told me 29 was classed as within normal range and no further action required, but now has prescribed one tablet a day for 3 months

I was told by a locum GP that it was 70 for optimum hair growth.

Latest update from my practice is that 8 is within normal range and no need to treat further.

What?! 8 within normal range? That’s medical gaslighting.

Infusions are not risky. Yes there can be side affects - mine have been a metallic Taste for an hour or so after the infusion and a headache.
but they are life transforming.
it makes me so Cross to read that a treatment that is so quick and easy is not being provided to women. It’s disgraceful.