At Last

Congrats, that's terrific!!!

And well done on getting the iron tablets. My ferritin dropped fairly quickly to 17 and luckily for me my GP noticed right away and put me on tablets. Once my levels were high enough he wanted me to keep taking the tablets until the level was well clear of the threshold, just to be on the safe side. I still get it tested regularly just in case.

Most common side effect is constipation so keep an eye out for it and treat accordingly if it starts to happen. If dietary iron is insufficient, other things may be too, such as Vitamin B12 and Folate. If they are low, you feel very tired.

A doctor only looking for red in blood test results, not the numbers, is very lazy and working below acceptable standards. He should know that lab reference ranges aren't perfect, and often people can need treatment if they are at the top or bottom end of a range. I often do.

When you're not celebrating your amazing weight loss successes you might want to see if you can find out more about why you became anaemic and even see if you were tested for the full iron panel of about 4 tests. If they are a bit haywire, there might be something else going on. It takes a while to rebuild iron stores so its good to catch it as early as you can. Well done.

Hi @licklemoose

Well done!! That is tremendous. So pleased for you.

Doctors do not have time to look at the numbers of every single element of every single test of every single patient, which is why the lab highlights the abnormal ones. This is the very reason I advise newcomers and others to always either ask for print outs or (if in England) ask for test results on line, and then go through each result with a fine tooth comb. It is what I do, always. It is never a wise idea to accept a doctor/nurse saying "fine" or "normal". As you discovered, your iron was right at the bottom of the standard range but classed as "normal" but was causing you problems.

Bluetit1802 said:

Hi @licklemoose

Well done!! That is tremendous. So pleased for you.

Doctors do not have time to look at the numbers of every single element of every single test of every single patient, which is why the lab highlights the abnormal ones. This is the very reason I advise newcomers and others to always either ask for print outs or (if in England) ask for test results on line, and then go through each result with a fine tooth comb. It is what I do, always. It is never a wise idea to accept a doctor/nurse saying "fine" or "normal". As you discovered, your iron was right at the bottom of the standard range but classed as "normal" but was causing you problems.

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Just to clarify my comment about the blood tests, I should have made it clearer that I meant a doctor who won't look at the number on a test when specifically asked to by the patient is not one I would be happy seeing, unless of course there was no other option. I don't expect my doctor to look at every number - there are at least 30 items on a routine set of bloods for me - but he does read the numbers on the occasional one that either of us is particularly interested in at the time. And he is very aware that a borderline result should be taken seriously, because the reference ranges are meant to be guide only.

Very well done and I too enjoy my daily fix of strawberries,
raspberries, blueberries and double cream. My nurse actually agrees with my diet after seeing the 4 stone weight loss and halving of blood clorestorol! She’s one of the good ones!

licklemoose said:

thank you i did jump with joy.......god knows what others thought lol
ive been complaining of shortness of breath for a long time and now put down as a hypochondriac
the last lot of bloods were 3 months ago

b12 460ng/L (180-915.0)

folate 5.2 (3.1-19.9)

ferritin 41 ug/L (30-300)
im now taking b right b complex, and b12 and the iron tablets from the drs (no constipation luckily but they do make me feel icky)
im due bloods in 3 months to re check the ferritin so i will be asking for all of them to be done

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Good stuff. As you can see, if your ferritin can go from 41 to 30 in 3 months, then it could have gone well under 30 next time, which in my experience could be symptomatic. I don't know how long it takes to rebuild iron stores through supplements but if it takes longer than it does to lose them, then that proves how important early intervention is.

Eating/taking Vitamin C within 2 hours of eating/taking iron increases the absorption of the iron. People with too much iron have to avoid it, so combining the two may help you increase your iron stores, I guess.

I stopped taking iron supplements when my level reached 100 and it has stayed around there ever since. If you find the supplements are still unpleasant to take once your level is, say, 50, you would want to consider stopping them there if you feel well enough. I had no side effects so kept going a bit longer.

I really hate it when people are put down as hypochondriacs. Medical science doesn't know everything about illnesses and it's quite possible a patient can tell when something is not quite right, long before tests would prove it. There are many illnesses, like chronic fatigue syndrome, (CFS) that have no diagnostic test and are a "diagnosis of exclusion," ie they exclude everything else and diagnose CFS based on symptoms and history. Alzheimers is another one - there is no definitive test, all they can do is observe the person and say Alzheimers is the most likely cause. As time goes on it becomes more apparent. Researchers are working hard to find tests - and treatments - for both.

Labelling a patient a hypochondriac is dangerous because a major illness can be missed, and it can do emotional harm to the patient by treating them as if they are putting it on, for attention, I presume. There are a tiny number of people who have a genuine mental illness where they fully believe they have a life threatening illness like cancer, when they clearly don't. If a GP thinks a person has such a mental illness, they should refer them to a psychiatrist asap. But they don't think that, of course, they are just looking to avoid doing the work needed to help the person.

Shortness of breath is a valid symptom of many possible conditions, some minor, some serious. I sometimes get it as a side effect of medication. If I take a few deep breaths it comes right. If it doesn't, I know to get medical attention.