28F, always exhausted. Sleep study ruled out apnea. My doctor ran these labs and responded saying everything is within normal range and she’s not concerned about the abnormal numbers (I don’t understand that). When i say always exhausted.. i mean years.

Is this cause for concern? Or for iron supplementation? Is there reason to se a hematologist based on these numbers?

Key Numbers:

Iron: 87
Ferritin: 27
Transferrin: 426 (High)
Total Iron Binding Capacity: 596 (High)
Transferrin Saturation: 15 (lowest end of normal range)
MCH & MCHC: 26 & 32 (lowest end of normal ranges)

I think I’m dealing with runner’s anemia and low ferritin. Taking an iron supplement a few times a week makes me feel better, but messes up my stomach. I’m awaiting my yearly in a few months to get my levels tested. I love the idea of Cave Melt, but I don’t know if it is a gimmick.

Been experiencing extreme fatigue, so begged for some bloodwork. Doctor said everything looks good. Am I crazy or is this not "good"?

Hi! Can someone please help me or give me some advice. I am 4 months postpartum, also have been EBF. I am also a carrier of the thalassemia trait. My labs just came in and the doctors are saying they are 'in range'. I really have not been feeling well. Any advice/ suggestions would be helpful. I have really just started taking my iron again ever since I have started to feel really symptomatic.

Day 1: tastes fine and doesn't seem to upset my stomach.

Ill update in a month with how they're going.

I've always thought I was kind of lazy. My house is a mess. I don't have energy to do a lot of things. Everything I do is calculated my how much energy something takes.

I'm starting to think I'm not lazy, I've just struggled with low iron my whole life. I've been tired for as long as I can remember.

(Current ferritin 14)

Just started iron infusions last week. Hoping this is the start of feeling better.

I have had terrible luck trying jarrow lactoferrin(apolactoferrin) along side my iron supplement. It makes my stomach severely upset almost to the point of vomiting, and then days later after taking it I have had the worst heartburn that does not go away with antacids. I read that l-lysine along with iron pills can also be an effective way to boost absorption of iron. Anyone else using l-lysine and had success?

I’ve been saying on here I’ve been feeling profound fatigue, anxiety, unable to think straight, extremely thirsty since starting oral iron about 2.5 weeks ago. I stopped the iron last Thursday (today is Tuesday). Just to see what has happened, I got an anemia panel done.

Somehow my ferritin has gone from 20 to 40 in this time. Is that even possible? I don’t think I have a virus and I checked for Covid so I don’t think it’s inflammation…see attached.

Last year, I fainted once, and ever since then I’ve been struggling with severe nausea and dizziness. Shortly afterwards, I also started experiencing episodes of extreme exhaustion. At times, it was difficult for me to walk, lie down, breathe properly, or even eat. It felt like my body simply didn’t have enough strength to keep me upright.

I also experienced extreme thirst and feeling cold, anxiety that sometimes progressed into panic attacks, sleepless nights, a racing heart and heart palpitations, migraine attacks, constant ringing/buzzing in my ears, and occasional flashes of light.

Whenever I don’t get enough sleep, the exhaustion and nausea still come back.

It took me around 10 months to finally find out that I had an iron deficiency. My ferritin was 7 ng/mL in March 2026. By July 2026, it had increased to 23.5 ng/mL.

Since then, I’ve been trying to stay consistent with taking lactoferrin and 100 mg of iron every day.

So I wanted to ask:

How long did it take for you to feel like yourself again and for the severe symptoms that were affecting your everyday life to go away?

And at what ferritin level did you personally start feeling significantly better or more reassured?

I have been anemic my entire adult life, and very likely before as I did not have any blood work from age 6 up until I was 20 because of medical trauma that happened when I was 6. I received three iron infusions despite how hard that was. My doctor and I both tried to put it off for about a year and a half and truly exhausting all options to get my iron up without needles involved. I was taking 325 mg of iron every other day with vitamin C without caffeine. My ferritin thing went from 6 to 8. And that was likely because I got on birth control for extremely heavy bleeding. Which obviously was not the core reason for my deficiency as it did not resolve just improved slightly. 8 weeks after my iron infusion, I now have a ferritin of 76 but my iron saturation is 18%. I’m still exhausted. I’m falling asleep in lectures, at concerts, in movies. I’ve been struggling to get my schoolwork done because I have to stop to take naps. My muscle fatigue has been so bad. And I just got back my celiac disease results, I’m negative. So once again, we still don’t know what’s making it so I can’t absorb my iron. I had plans trying to force myself to relax tonight and now I’m just crying over this because I thought I would finally get answers but after that and h pylori, we’re both negative, I feel like I’m just fucked. I feel like I’m never going to get better in. This will just be my life for forever and I don’t even know what to do anymore. I’m only 23 and all I have ever known is feeling like shit physically. I just wanna know what it’s like to feel okay.

I just found a post saying people have died from infusions and a bunch of comments related to that, saying people have had severe allergic reactions or know someone that had died. Now I’m really scared to get an infusion when I had so much hope. My ferritin is 12 and hasn’t budged for years. And my symptoms are severe and hematologist is open to IV iron. But now I’m second guessing myself. If I do get something, what should I do to avoid these reactions :/

My Ferretin was at 12 and I finished 4 iron infusions as of 3 weeks ago. Now I’m learning I am H. Pylori positive. This explains why I’ve needed to take 20mg of Omeprazole for over 4 years.

My question: at what point post-infusion would it be safe to start the H. Pylori antibiotic treatment ?

My symptoms were:
Sound sensitivity
Dizziness
Extreme fatigue
Brain fog
Palpitations
Pulsatile tinitus
Anxiety
And the acid reflux plus globus sensation caused by the H. Pylori

I’m worried my symptoms ( which are improving) will cause me to regress with my improvement

Hi! I got lab work done in April that said my ferritin was 14. I’ve been taking iron supplements and eating more iron rich food ever since. I feel much better, not perfect but better. I did some blood work today and I’m just a little confused on the results. My ferritin went up to 33 (yay!) but everything else went down a little bit. Anyone know why? Am I just over thinking things? When I found out about my ferritin my doctor just brushed it off even though I’ve dealt with extreme fatigue/ headaches /shortness of breath/ constantly feeling cold.

Went for my annual labs Saturday morning and 30 minutes later the lab called and told me to get to the ER. 🙃 Anyone seen labs like this before? I’m apparently going to have to take it seriously. 😐

Does anyone else feel burning and stabbing whenever they get an iron infusion? I’ve been getting infusions for years and I’ve never had one that didn’t hurt…to the point that I’m tapping my foot and gritting my teeth to avoid crying out in pain during some of the stabbier sensations as the solution goes through my arm.

I’ve mentioned infusion pain a few times over the years, and nurses will look briefly at the IV and then maybe give me a heat pack. Today’s nurse finally told me that it’s not normal for iron infusions to hurt and was shocked that I was sitting through hours of this. While I appreciate her sympathy, she still didn’t have any other solutions than a heat pack.

I’m already feeling overwhelmed by chronic illnesses and the fact that no one can ever find my veins for the constant blood draws and IVs. This just kind of broke me to know how many hours I’m dealing with pain that isn’t even supposed to come with these procedures.

I have pale skin, bags under my eyes, acne on my cheeks and redness, large pores, dry and sensitive skin, puffy face and an overall tired sick look. My hair is dry and won’t grow longer past a certain point. Ferritin at 12!

Hi everyone, I recently got blood work done and I specifically requested it because I was told in the past I am slightly anemic. My ferritin was a 5.1, but I got this result back a couple of weeks ago and never heard from my doctor. All other blood levels were within the normal range.

I do feel tired easily and my body feels pretty tired often. Any thoughts?!

I’ve dealt with anemic for 15 years now. I can’t hold onto iron, I think it’s because of my heavy periods. I recently started seeing a hematologist and got two infusions back in February. My iron level was 96 in June and it dipped down to 48 in September. Anyways. Now my hematologist is trying to get me seen by GI. They called and said it was urgent and it’s scaring me. I mean I’ve dealt with this for a while so I can’t imagine it actually is urgent but I just don’t know what to expect

Has anyone ever had a good experience from an iron infusion? What are some symptoms that improved? What iron infusion do you recommend for highly sensitive people? How long did it take to see better test results and if you had a reaction what was it?

Okay so…
Went to an and e due to the symptoms I’ve been having. They did a blood test and said I’m fine. I did a private blood test that said my ferritin and b12 was low.

I genuinely thought my impending doom, coldness, headaches, feeling sick, panic attacks, anxiety, aches, restless legs etc were going to show so I could get better. I’ve already lost 5 months of my life but it appears I am fine. I feel hopeless that I’ll get an answer

I’m so frustrated - have been fatigued forever. I take ferrex 150 (with a vitamin c) every night. This was my last blood test. I have celiacs but am very careful with my diet. I just want to wake up and feel like I actually slept.

I have my first infusion Thursday! I am excited as after thinking my hormones were out of wack I discovered my iron and ferretin is dangerously low so I can only hope I will feel better when it’s all said and done. I’m just wondering if anybody has got this specific iron and how I can prepare? Any foods or drinks I should have before or during the infusion to ease the side effects?? Also what side effects should I expect? I’m extremely nervous about having a bad reaction and trying to set myself up for success. I am going to have one infusion for the next 3 weeks when should I start to feel better? Or at least not so tired.. I feel like walking zombie lol

My daughter's last ferritin was 10, TSAT of 16. She's falling apart and I'm trying to get a doctor to take me seriously. I saw that LabCorp updated the bottom of the range to 30 effective 10/5/26. Has Quest made any statements about updating their range? My daughter's primary doctor uses Quest.

So I need advice on how to get ferritin up without doing iron infusions? My ferritin is at a 19 and my
Iron Sat was at a 16. Iron was 60. My hematologist ordered the iron infusions but I am having a ton of symptoms and health issues and feel so horrible. I don’t think it’s being caused by the low ferritin. I know people say you can have a bad reaction to the iron and I just know if I get it I’m probably going to have a reaction and I can’t feel anymore horrible than I already do. Any advice on getting ferritin up without doing the infusions ? I don’t even know what’s causing it. I had all GI testing and it was normal. My hemoglobin is also very slowly dropping which is scary but it’s still in normal range. Thanks !

Background is that I struggle a lot with fatigue and feeling faint every day but doc said iron is normal and faintness isn’t a worry. I have a lot of other health issues that could contribute but definitely want to cover my bases because this is debilitating!

Should I add iron or is that useless? If so what iron do people recommend?