Can you help me figure this out? Going crazy.

It's call slow fe. I also take a multi vitamin.

Hi,

A few questions, and maybe a couple of suggestions, but haven't got anything concrete !!

1.  When you stop taking the iron pill (and you tend to feel better), do you keep taking or stop taking the multivitamin pill ?

2.  When they did the initial test (last December), what was the test that came back low ?  Iron, Ferritin, Transferrin, or Haemoglobin ?  And how low ?

3.  Did your Doc think you should have started on a supplement ?

4.  If the supplement is helping, would you not continue taking it ?  Or is this related to the weird side effects ?

Is there any other event that roughly coincides with the stopping and starting of the iron pill ?

I'm definitely with your Doc as far as the water and the sleep are concerned !  Always useful.

Apart from the iron pill, is your diet high in iron ?

I haven't got an obvious answer at the moment, but you will know your own body best, so if you feel something isn't right, and your Doc isn't spotting anything obvious, it would be worth you asking for a referral - maybe to a Haematologist, for further investigation.

1. I keep taking the vitamin.

2. Iron= 40

Total iron binding =321

Iron/total iron binding =12%

A1C = 5.3%

Average blood sugar 105

And that's the only results I got for that test.

3. Yes doc told me to take the iron.

4. Yes. It comes with other side effects I don't like. I have not taken an iron pill for 6 weeks and new test says iron is at 107 and Ferritin is at 214. Headaches are back, foggy, tired, and some anxiety issues for no reason.

Can't really think of any other event. I take notes on everything.

I don't feel like diet is high in iron. About average I guess.

Thanks for taking the time to help me investigate. I really don't know what my deal is.

OK, I'm still guessing, but I'm still trying to investigate !

Your TIBC was 321.  Do you what the 'normal' range is for where you are ?  Is it 200-400 or what ?

Have you got a date when these (40 / 321 / 12%) tests were taken ?

You could be at the low level of iron, but ……..I'm the last person to jump in and say take iron, without being certain it's needed.

Is it possible that your multivits have not got the best balance of the other nutrients needed for iron uptake.  There are some good products around which give you all the necessary other Vits - Vit B6, B12, Vit C etc. etc.to assist the iron.  Might be worth a quick test on one of these for a week or two, and see if that brings the benefits you're getting without the bad side effects.

I don't know what your Blood Sugar range is, so I'm not sure how high or low your 105 is ?  But the HbA1C looks OK, so I'm guessing it's fine.

Your iron level is now at 107, and you haven't taken iron for 6 weeks ?  So, when was the most recent iron reading taken, before the 107 ?  The date would help me align it with when you were on and off iron.  Certainly 107 reflects that your body has taken iron onboard.

Have they done any tests to check for infection at all ?

"Yesterday I got a bad bad headache and the restless legs returned"

It's probably asking too much, but any chance you can backtrack and recall what you ate for the 6 hours before the headache ?  Or were you doing strenuous activity - any other event that coincided a few hours before ?  Or hot weather, dehydrated, anything you can recall ?

Your Ferritin is 214.  I'm working on a 17-300 range, so 214 isn't too low.  But when did they measure it previously ?  I'd be interested in whether it has gone up or down, and whether you've been on or off iron since the last measurement.  Not easy if you've switched both on and off iron since then !

Would you be happy to list (or PM me) the side effects ?  I understand if not.

Constipation is often one quoted for iron, and I don't yet know if that's a good or bad or just normal sign.

But nausea to me is a bad sign, and hair falling out.  And any infection signs.  These all suggest iron is not required.

But you seem to feel better on iron !!!

My gut instinct says - dig deeper, ask for referral to a specialist.

Are there any other meds you're taking which could be confusing the picture ?

I think I'm going take your advice and see a specialist before I go any more crazy trying to figure it out.

You're very welcome Hockeymc3 !

Feel free to post back if you've got any other thoughts yourself - you sound as if you keep a good record of everything, which can be helpful.

I would go see the Doc again, and maybe beforehand, note down all the aspects you mentioned, or think significant - e.g. waking up cold, bad bad headaches, crying spells.  Some of the other symptoms are also worth mentioning, but they often get mentioned by everybody, so Docs may not find these so useful as pointers.

And if it's allowed, maybe send a written note to the Doc before your appointment, so they've had time to consider it before you see them.

I hope that helps.