Gut advice from anyone in similar situation - low ferritin, high CRP, high white cell count, low iron. Malabsorption?

[voldemortNO]

Hi everyone,
I am hoping someone can point me to some useful resources. I am struggling to get help from my local GP via NHS. Female, 41.
Issues:
Sept 2025, ferritin of 7 from a health checkup (nothing was flagged then)
March 2026, ferritin of 10 (received a text by GP to take iron tablets, end of)
Sept 2026, ferritin of 16 (after 6 months of religiously taking iron supplements both gentle iron and ferrous fumarate -which gave me stomach discomfort

Saturation iron binding scores:
sept 2025 16%
March 2026 23%
Sept 2026 15%

CRP
Sept 2026 8 mg/L

White cell count
Sept 25 - 7.4
March 26 - 9
Sept 26-9

All this while I am experiencing hair loss, not being able to sleep, soft squidgy poos. I have just sent off a stool sample to see what might be the issue. But I received a text to tell me to take iron supplements again when my blood came back with low iron.
Is this the kind of care I can expect from the NHS? For context I moved to UK about 2.5 years ago. I am used to private healthcare as I was offered through my previous workplace.

Using chatGPT to analyse the results, it sounds like I have some kind of absorption issue. I don't know what my next steps should be. It feels like NHS support is very much, "ok your results are in range" (even if they are right at the bottom of the scale or even under) and send you out the door. I understand that the NHS is facing serious problems but surely if you saw me and got everything diagnosed properly, I wouldn't have to keep coming back with various issues?
But I want to also say every healthcare professional has been very helpful but I feel like I keep coming back to them rather than being able to resolve and move on (and further free up resources for other patients that need it)

Any advice would be very much welcome at this point, thanks for reading x

Yep, that is normal from NHS but is 17 in range? You should have been told to take the iton tablets every other day and with vitamin C.

Have you had your thyroid tested? Also B vitamins,
zinc, selenium? And tested for coeliac (although it’s not a fully reliable test)

17 is not in range, the lowest is 30. So I am not even within the range. I have done the Vet C + Iron since March. With virtually minimum improvement. Gone from 10 to 16.. that's all after 6 months of supplementing.

Yes, thyroid comes back as normal also. I have not tested for coeliac. Is this also done through the NHS? Do you need to be referred to see a gut specialist or will the GP also be able to order it for me? I will ask for the vitamins to be tested too. Thank you x

I would push for further investigations, if its not heavy period bleeding, the second look should be a GI issues. Absorption issues in the small bowel or bleeding that isn't noticeable, have you done a FIT test? Or is your stool sample calprotectin? Also look into an abdominal ultrasound

Also new advice from the American Association of Haematology says ferritin under 50 is abnormal. These 2 videos explains more (watch them through as they talk about it in more detail and the various categories not just in realtion to menstrual bleeding if they start with that)

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdbnpklSxI/?stkn=ajIxOHI5emZiNmw4

https://www.instagram.com/p/DdbGwDpjOU3/?imgindex=2&stkn=MTdiMWdoY2lsMmp2Mw==

I would show both of them/the American Association of Haematology website/pdf of the new guidance published in the last months to your GP if they are refusing to do any more. They also advise more use of iron infusion via IV especially if you've been using iron tablets for a while now and it hasn't gone that much higher.

Also try and take iron every other day as that helps with absorption and take one that has vitamin C with it and on an empty stomach.

Also GP can and should test for coeliac - it is very simple. Do not stop eating gluten as then the test won't detect coeliac, so keep on eating it to get an accurate reading.

Presume you are taking iron every 48hrs? You can't absorb it more frequently than that..

My GP told me to take every 48hrs, with high strength vitamin C tablet on an empty stomach with no food or drink for 2hrs afterwards.

The old advice of multiple tablets a day is not used any more.

Also, if you are bleeding, you won't go up very fast. Get a mirena coil too.

If you’re still not within range I would go and speak to another GP.