Low Ferritin, not anaemic but feel really awful

[LowF]

Hello

Has anyone else ever been diagnosed with low ferritin (I haven’t been given number yet) but not anaemic? Would you only feel symptomatic if it caused low haemoglobin also? I feel so horrendous but trying to figure out what’s causing what as have also been ill with post viral problems

thanks

My ferritin was 6, my haemoglobin was low (can't remember exactly). It's something that happens to me regularly. It's a long time since I had periods (earlyish hysterectomy), I've had every test but no cause has ever been found. I have only had courses of iron tablets, no transfusions. Personally I think it has a genetic link as my mum and her mum were often anaemic for no obvious reason.
I feel tired when my levels go low but I carry on as normal as I don't really feel ill or totally exhausted.

What are your symptoms?

Mine was 18, but I know it went below that as I was becoming short of breath in the 2 weeks after the blood test.

I lost about half the volume of my hair in about 6 weeks.
Extremely tiredness and some days would fall asleep during the day.
Becoming out of breath very easily, even just sitting still I would have moments where it would feel i had been holding my breath,and after walking up the stairs.
I only realised after the iron kicked in (took about 1-2 weeks) but I had barely been smiling, because I was constantly so wiped out.
As someone who always felt the need to go out everyday, I was suddenly very content staying at home. Certainly not normal for someone in their mid thirties!
Running around became plodding around. I'm really annoyed my OH didn't flag to me sooner, because i think at the time it's far more obvious to someone else than yourself.

Started taking fumerous ferate, and honestly the difference is astonishing. I feel like sonic the hedgehog, it's quite scary how a person can steadily go downhill and not realise until half their hair has gone!

My doctor has been useless, I've had to self medicate, in his eyes my result was classed as normal. Anyone with a brain could put two and two together and see it was causing my symptoms.

I've pushed them for a stool sample test to rule out any internal blood loss , that is probably going to be the most I'm going to get. Anything else I will have to go privately for they said.

For now it seems, I will just continue on with the iron supplements and have no idea what will happen if I stop....

I take iron supplement every other day because I read studies show it increases absorption and decreases side effects.

I have very severe heart problems, caused by radiation treatment 29 years ago. I can absolutely tell you that very low ferritin/thyroid is not a cause to feel so sick. Anaemia is debilitating but if everything was solved like the responses on this forum, we'd be a super-race by now. At least 30 per cent of people do not take iron in - in the form of supplements. No matter what form.

Fatigue, listlessness and depressive symptoms, fuzzy thinking, restless legs, off balance feeling that comes and goes.

Thanks for your reply but my gp told me that it can cause you to feel ill and cause symptoms. Years ago mine was 5, my hair was falling out.

Can I ask your source for it not causing symptoms?

@mirrensidhe I've had extremely low ferritin several times now, alongside regular anemia and low haemoglobin, and I can tell you that it absolutely can and does cause really severe symptoms.

Some people have relatively symptomless periods, others struggle with pain month after month.

@mirrensidhe your information is incorrect. Low ferritin can indeed make a person feel very ill.

Low ferritin makes you feel like death I can tell you that for nothing!

Slightly different as I'm pregnant but I had pretty low ferritin (12) at my 28wk blood test. Haemoglobin normal and not anemic.

I was so exhausted, I felt light-headed, brain fog, I was extremely moody and listless most of the time. Been taking iron tablets for a couple of weeks now and I feel significantly better! I'm still tired, moody and occasionally dizzy, but it's miles better than it was. Hopefully it'll get better from here!

So yes, low ferritin absolutely does cause symptoms.

Hi all I know this is an old thread! But worth a chance! I’m at a ferritin level of 11 & feel dreadful. I’m 1 year postpartum too. I have all the symptoms & also feel really spaced out and dizzy! Another major symptom is anxitey and panic! I don’t know if anyone else has experienced this? I’ve started my iron tabs this week, I know improvement takes time. Just looking for anyone that felt like me or felt worse the first week of taking the tablets. I’m also very breathless, to the point I’ve had to stop running which is a usual form of exercise for me. Thanks in advance

I’ve been living on 9 and below for years - I’ve just been left to it. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t feel exhausted.

I was breathless and had palpitations when mine was that low. I think I started to get some benefit after about a month. 3 month blood test showed improvement and I stayed on them another 3 months after that.

Below is a list of symptoms taken from the NHS website. Just remember that a level of 70 is advisable for healthy hair growth but 100 is considered optimal. Yes, that's right - 100! Women are being horrendously let down by GPs.

Symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia can include:
tiredness and lack of energy
shortness of breath
noticeable heartbeats (heart palpitations)
paler than usual skin
headaches

Less common symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia
Less common symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia (that are not usually connected to pregnancy) include:
hearing ringing, buzzing or hissing noises inside your head (tinnitus)
food tasting strange
feeling itchy
a sore tongue
hair loss – you notice more hair coming out when brushing or washing it
wanting to eat non-food items, such as paper or ice (pica)
finding it hard to swallow (dysphagia)
painful open sores (ulcers) in the corners of your mouth
nail changes, such as spoon-shaped nails
restless legs syndrome

EDIT
Make sure you take your iron with Vitamin C to aid absorption. No caffeine (tea, coffee, chocolate, cola) for two hours either side.

I went with 1 multivitamin + 500mg vit C in the morning away from tea/coffee and 20mg of "gentle iron" in the afternoon/evening, again with 500mg vit c and away from tea/coffee.

Had me feeling substantially better within a couple of months and I stopped looking like a dead person and my hair stopped thinning.