low ferretin

ChristineVA

For some people, there are no symptoms at all. For others: hair loss, fatigue, mental fogginess, shortness of breath, tiredness with any physical exertion.

irisheyes39

I had palpitations and chest pain and anxiety, even panic attacks. Along with the shortness of breath, fatigue, hair loss etc. This stuff is not to be ignored it is a serious issue affecting all body systems, you cannot live without blood and if your losing it constantly you will be a walking zombie like I was.

MandyPandy

I agree with everyone else. For me unfortunately the symptoms that I was having overlapped many other conditions that I have. The doctors did not catch it until I went to the hospital and had a Ferretin level of 1 and had to get blood transfusions. The symptoms that I was having was tiredness, brainfog, weakness, trouble breathing, anxiety, depression, headaches, trouble sleeping, PICA (craving Ice all the time), Heart beating very rapidly (especially after walking up stairs) and probably more even that I haven't even tied to this.

Audrey-B

I experienced the worst tiredness ever, brain fog, no energy, no motivation, wanted to sleep forever, lost interest in going out and enjoying things with friends, foudn it hard to focus for a full day at work.

Like MandyPandy, my symptoms were not totally iron related as i was to find out much later. My symptoms overlapped with poor adrenal function, thyroid condition and stomach issues due to bad digestion.

Once you begin taking iron supplements and you are eating a good diet which includes meat or meat subsitutes if you are vegan and your ferretin is not rising, then start looking at what is causing your low ferretin. In these cases the low iron is a symptom of another illness.

shimmy7145

Hi everybody. I was wondering if somebody can give me some re-assurance.
a few weeks back my GP tested me for diabetes he has recently told i am not diabetic yet.
So he decided to do do another blood test and he has told me i am slightly anaemic i am 63 years old and 5 years ago i major bowel surgery for a ruptured diverticular so he has asked me to do 3 feacal specimens in what they call a feacal occult blood test.
I pulling my hair out with worry that this could be bowel cancer and he also wants me to go for an endoscopy and colonoscopy in the near future,I would like to ask if anybody on the forum has had to undergo these tests. Regards Colin.

FLFLOWERGIRL

shimmy7145--Most of us here have had all three of the tests that you mention. Be sure to have both Endo and Colon at the same time as well. I want to say that you are probably in the clear as far as CA because it has been 5 years since your surgery. Didn't you have a colonoscopy back then? They only recommend 5 years with problems and 10 if not. My father is 75 and he runs mildly anemic and has some diverticuli?? But in his case he has also been on PPi's since they came out so I think it is impairing some absorption. It's really hard to say, but it's not normal for a man to be anemic. All you can do is test and watch these things closely. My dad just had the colonoscopy last year and all is well. So we know it's not CA. Don't think the worst maybe you have more DV going on or something new. Keep us posted. FLFLOWERGIRL

shimmy7145

Hi Flower girl. The diver was a complicated process i had to have colostomy bag for 6 months then the surgeon reversed it. About 3-6 months after that he did a colonsocopy to see if everthing was getting through and to see if there was any problems there and i got the ok.
I have been taking tabs for quite a few years for Acid reflux in the gullet i am not sure if my GP could be wanting to have a look at that area to see if theres a problem there, so you can imagine its quite a worrying time.Regards Colin

Audrey-B

Shimmy - my cousin's dad had major stomach surgery a few years back and it's really changed his life. He has to get iron injections once per month for the rest of his life. He has to eat meals at set times of the day and very regularly eg: ever few hours, as he can only handle a small amount of food at any one time.

I had a stool analysis done which involved seperating the stool matter into 3 different contains. It's probably the same test you are having done. The test was quite good actually as i was amazed at the amount of stuff they could pick up via such a test. I feel this type of test should be a manadatory test to accompany a complete health check up, whether you are a younger or older person.

I had my test done prior to my doctor medicating me for my thyroid. I didn't think anything would come up via this stool test, but it showed i was not absorbing protein and it was fermenting inside of me. I was in the clear for all other issues. This has changed my life for the better now as i'm taking digestive enzymes and my stomach feels so much better than it has in years.

Don't worry about the test as i'm sure it's just a formality and all will come back clear

shimmy7145

Hi Audrey-B. Thanks for that message, My GP just alarmed me when he said "You Are Losing Blood From Somewhere " he his not the most diplomatic GP you will come across.
I actually fell fine in myself very active do get a little tired somedays but i rarely get a good nights sleep.Trawling through the internet it appears that it is quite rare for blokes to get Anemia compared to ladies for obvious reasons.I have not seen any blood as yet not in the toilet pan or on the toilet paper, my GP says you should look at your stool everyday but when its in the pan you just seem to flush it away, sorry to be so crude but thats the way it is.Regards Colin

FLFLOWERGIRL

Colin--Do you think that this could be a result of your prior surgery? Maybe you should have been supplementing all along and didn't know it? Just curious. I have heard of this also. When do you get the occult blood test results? Good luck to you and keep us posted. FLFLOWERGIRL

shimmy7145

Hi Flower Girl.None of My GPs have mentioned before about supplementing but whether this slight anemia as not been picked up before i dont know i do know there is quite alot of different blood tests you can have.
I start my stool samples tomorrow {Sat}UK time i have had to abstain from all kind of meats for 4 days before i can start the 3 samples, we have a bank holiday on Monday so got to take the samples in first thing Tuesday morning the GP wants me to make an appointment for next Friday 29th August hopefully the results will be back by then.
I know this does not sound very nice but could you tell me the best way of taking the samples the nurses only give you a very small phile. Regards Colin

Ashley9045

Why do you think anemia and low ferritin cause dizziness. This is one of the worst symtoms along with the horrible fatigue!

shimmy7145

Hi ashley, whats the difference between anemia anf Low ferritin, cheers

Audrey-B

My dad's ferretin is at 81, which i feel is low for a man. I expected to see his results somewhere in the 100's. My dad has bad night sleep and wakes 2 hrs after falling a sleep, then makes a cup of tea and listens to the midnight news on the radio. My dad also has a lot of the same fatigue issues that i had and thyroid issues seem to run on my dad's side of the family. My dad's thyroid is enlarged, but they only do a TSH test on him and wont do the T4 or T3 and he's never had a thyroid antibodies test.

Considering his brother had his thyroid removed and that brother's grandaughter is on thyroid meds as am i, i keep hounding my dad to get the further tests done, but he is being obstinate and refuses. He got the worst run around you can imagine and that was simply to get an ultrasound done of his thyroid so now he is refusing to go near any doctor and test anything further. I keep telling him that the tests might help him relieve some of the symtpoms he is feeling and therefore give him better quality of life.

In your case with the bowel operation, your low iron could be related to that and your tiredness would be related to your low iron levels too. I think the low iron is when your hemoglobin is good, but anemia is when your hemoglobin is low.

The stool analysis testing i had done didn't say to exclude meat products as they wanted to see how well i digested protein. My issues were with insufficient pancreatic enzymes to help with protein digestion. I had to do my test at home in the morning, divide it among the 3 little containers (messy job!!) and a courier collected it that day around lunch time. It was so funny as he picked it up from work and was shaking the box and making jokes about what was in the box (he was our regular courier). I told him not to lose the box and he said he wouldn't and that he'd sit it on the seat right next to him. It was so hilarious as he didn't know the box contained poo and felt it was something he had to guard with his life. Even the next day he told me how he took great care of my little parcel. Too funny!!