Low iron symptoms

[Olivia37]

What were your symptoms when you had low iron and how low was your iron levels?

my iron/ ferritin level is 8 and I have weird set of neurological symptoms like very mild-occasional feet cramp, toe cramp and on two occasions tingling feet. It may not be iron related so I thought I would ask you ladies.

I believe you'd need to take Floradix for at least 3 months as that's the cycle of the red blood cells.

Apparently Floradix is useless as not potent enough 😔

I just purchased stronger iron tablets.

My hair was falling out in handfuls.

Small update. GP prescribed medication to reduce bleeding during my periods which are usually very heavy. I still get symptoms, slightly tingly feet in cold and some random twitching after PT sessions.

Breathlessness
tired and no energy
tingling
craving for smells, mostly bubble baths, cleaning products
sucking on a sponge, strange one, I know.

At its lowest my ferritin was 3 and I was really struggling to walk up hills, stairs, bend down to get things out of lower cupboards. I itched all over, couldn't sleep, my anxiety was really high and caused me issues eating.
I had several iron infusions, about once a year, and once had a blood transfusion. Now have had a hysterectomy as mine was due to fibroids and polyps and caused very heavy periods.
Push to get an infusion if you can. It really helped me.

F

How were your tingling symptoms? And how did you restore your iron level?

My friend with low feretin and whos body couldnt / wouldn't absorb it from tablets - has just been diagnosed as celiac

My update since Christmas is that I had an iron infusion which worked for about a fortnight then had a blood transfusion 2 months ago and health is completely restored, still got no idea what caused it though. I felt like a zombie 😕 now take 230mg ferrous fumarate every day with Vit c capsule and orange juice to maintain iron levels. Hope you all manage to get back to optimal health x

OP I had tingling and pins and needles in my extremities, also cramping in my toes sometimes - my ferritin was 12 back then. Prescribed high-dose ferrous fumarate for 6 months and tranexamic acid to control heavy periods helped to bring my iron stores back up. The tingling was the first symptom to go away as my levels improved.

My levels are not optimal yet (I have very little energy) but they are okay. I now take gentle iron from Boots which has a decent dose - every other day while following the usual caveats to leave a time gap before taking dairy or tannins

Olivia37 · Today 08:40
it was a strange feeling, like pins being prodded into me all over my body. Felt it at night. Plus the main symptom I forgot to add, was feeling cold all the time. A jumper wouldn’t help either.
mines was extreme though as I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I’m fine now after my operation.

Last year I was suffering from horrific abdo pain at night - always about 2am, would be doubled over in pain, sweating, the works. Dr ran loads of tests, scans etc and the only thing that showed up was low iron & B12. Been supplementing ever since & no more tummy pains!

Bless you! I’m glad you are well now.@Shityshitybangbang

Massive hair loss and restless leg syndrome. Extreme fatigue too

Sorry to hear that. How was your restless leg syndrome like? And were they in both legs? @Powderblue1

I get restless legs even though my ferritin is now up in the 70s, but it was way worse when my ferritin was 16.

If you had it, you'd know. It's unbearable trying to stay still in bed and get to sleep.

I get it as soon as I sit on the sofa any time after about 6pm. It stops me going out for dinner as the more tired I get, the worse they get and I sit jiggling under the table.

Hoped that HRT would sort it but no luck.

I do take high level mag glycinate every evening too which helps a bit.

I feel your pain. From 16 to 70 is a good progress and sounds like you are on a mend. Keep up the good work. @Moredarkchocolateplease

@Moredarkchocolateplease do you get heavy periods? Is HRT helping with it?

Hi OP, yes I had a mirena coil fitted plus oestrogen patches and feel amazing
My bleeding was off the charts before that.

I did have a d&c as well to biopsy for spotting so that probably helped with stopping the bleeds.