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Low iron and anxiety/depression?

Posted , 5 users are following.

elle87858
elle87858

Hello, I would like to post a new question and ask if anyone has experienced increased anxiety and depression with low iron. I have had symptoms of low iron for years but my hemoglobin was always normal so never was anemic and didn't realize that you could be low in iron without being anemic. After requestion an iron panel I could put my ferritin was a 10 and my iron serum and iron saturation was also low. Below the range. The reason why I requested it was because I had been going thru a really stressful period in my life and my anxiety sky rocketed and developed a serious depression. To me it didn't seem right, like I couldn't understand why I was freaking out so badly. I felt really really awful I can't describe it. I started taking floradix and started to feel a littl little better but I think the extra herbs and vitamins may have been exciting my nerves so I stopped floradix and started taking ferrochel iron because I read it was most easily absorbed. I also started taking 200 mg of chelated magnesium at that time because magnesium is great for the nerves and it certain I'm deficient especially since I'm deficient in iron. I feel that I am slowly getting better , I haven't done any new blood work. I do have somewhat heavy periods so that scares me now. I am tired, irritable, moody, tight chest feeling, shortness of breath, and although my racing heart has calmed down and my anxiety is getting better the depression is lingering and I'm tired of it. Its like feeling so bad physically made me mentally messed up. Has anyone had any similar experiences and can you tell me how long it took you to feel better. I'm sorry for the long post but I am looking for some reassurance. I truly believe vitamin and mineral deficiencies are the root of most of our problems so I'm trying to figure mine out and am slowly seeing progress but it's all so overwhelming.

1 like, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • elle87858
    elle87858

    Posted

    I would like to point out I was super lethargic like I couldn't do anything atall, felt like I should sleep all day but couldn't fall asleep. Since switching the iron my energy has increased but still tired all the time. Also , I wish I proof read my post before posting it.

    • Mumof5
      Mumof5 elle87858

      Posted

      I had awful anxiety when I was low in iron, also felt depressed.

      In fact I had horrible anxiety symptoms which I thought were low iron symptoms, I was also low in vitamin d and b12.

      Even after it all sorted itself out with tablets etc I still had the anxiety symptoms until I realised that's what it was, anxiety.

      When I began to read uonsbiut anxiety and read my symptoms were anxiety related I started to get better, the anxiety slowly disappeared.

      I still get it every now n then, especially if I get unwell because the dread creeps up again, like I don't want to be ill like that ever again.

    • elle87858
      elle87858 Mumof5

      Posted

      See that's what scares me. I've had anxiety for years but well managed. But never felt anything like this before. So now I'm afraid that even when I fix my iron levels I'll still have these feelings.

  • Drabm123
    Drabm123 elle87858

    Posted

    Yes it might true that IDA can present with symptoms of anxiety or depression or combination of both.

    As lethargy , weakness, irritable mood, difficulty in sleeping ,reduced appetite ,lack of concentration,and memory difficulty, palpitations etc. can be present in both IDA and depression,so IDA can easily mistaken as depression.

  • addie1617
    addie1617 elle87858

    Posted

    I don’t know why they go hand it hand but I think they do. My anxiety and depression has been much worse recently along with every single one of those symptoms you mentioned. I wil be honest, when your ferritin is at 10 (mine was at 8 at the lowest point) it’s going to take a very long time for it to go back up through pills. I would recomend getting iron infused directly into your blood, I had a couple treatments and I felt like a human being again for a few months before it dropped down again. Even if you have to get them done freqeuently they are worth it to feel human again. Mine went up to 152 after treatments and I was functioning well, but they have now only 6 months later dropped by almost 100 points so it’s time for me to go back. this is the most frustrating thing because it’s often has symptoms that make it difficult to know weather or not your panicking or having an anamea attack. God bless
  • sliding
    sliding elle87858

    Posted

    This is what I do for my depression (which I had even as a child even though I didn't have a name for it):

    1. Betaine anhydrous, also called trimethylglycine or TMG -- it is found in beets, in molasses, and in some other foods. You can also buy it as a supplement from companies that cater to body builders. (It is supposedly used to help them increase energy and the time they can work out.) I have found it works better for me than SAMe for depression, without the cardiovascular or anxiety side effects I had with the low-dose SAMe I tried. Now I take 1/2 tsp in the morning in a small amount of water (I make sure I drink it right away because as far as I understand nobody is really sure how long it keeps in water). I started out with just 1/8 tsp and worked up to 1/4 then 1/2.
    2. Omega 3 DHA and EPA (docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid) from algae oil. This is pricey but it is worth it for me, for the benefits to my cognition and mood.
    3. Zinc citrate or zinc gluconate. I read that too little zinc can lead to 'emotional libiality' and I know I've dealt with that! Plus it is hard to know if your zinc is low because no one seems to have found a really good way to accurately measure it yet. Then too, having low zinc can possibly make it more difficult for us to absorb iron. I take half a pill at night with a super tiny amount of taurine ( the smallest amount of powder I can dose out from what I bought from a body-building supplement site). I take half a pill because I don't want to overdo it and I take it with the taurine because I read that taurine may help with zinc absorption.
    4. I take iron too, half a pill, in the morning with my B complex (just 1/8 a capsule or less, I just tap a little out of the capsule), extra B6 and niacin (but not the whole capsule for either one), and 1/4 of a vitamin C pill-- and the betaine I already mentioned.
    5. I take extra B12 in the afternoon or at night, just a regular cheap cyanocobalamin.

    This is a lot of supplements, but I can't really afford to be without them. I feel so much better when I keep up with them.

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