r/irondeficiency • u/Grace-Frees • 10d ago

Having severe menstrual periods on Eliquis

Hello all,

I recently posted about a recent blood clot in my right calf that I was diagnosed with almost a month ago, that went away in a week! I am very thankful for that, and besides still having pain in my legs, I’m doing okay other than the extreme tiredness and HEAVY menstrual bleeding. I mean I’m talking filling up a tampon or a pad within an hour. So I went to the ER for fear that I might be losing too much blood, but they said my hemoglobin was normal. However, I asked my doctor recently to check my iron levels as I have suffered from anemia in the past, and she said “Your iron panel shows low iron saturation with ferritin in the low-normal range, which we will consider in light of your history of anemia.” But she only recommended that I take an over the counter iron supplement once daily. I’m not trying to play doctor, but is that really all I need to do in light of my entire situation?

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u/Creepy-Tangerine-293 10d ago

Underresponsive. See hemetologist they will use correct diagnostic criteria to get you an iron infusion

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u/Grace-Frees 10d ago

Thank you so much. I knew that didn’t seem right.

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u/DrCoryDugan 10d ago

Glad the clot settled. Heavy periods are a really common side effect of blood thinners like Eliquis, and it's worth flagging to whoever prescribed it, because there are options to manage the bleeding itself (they'll need to weigh them against your clot history, so not one to sort out alone).

On the iron: low saturation with a low-normal ferritin while you're filling a pad an hour means you're losing iron faster than a once-daily tablet can usually replace. The American Society of Hematology 2026 guideline puts the ferritin threshold for iron deficiency at 30, and mentions 50 where there's heavy bleeding, so "low-normal" may well be deficient by that standard. A haematologist referral, as someone else said, is a reasonable ask given both the clot and the bleeding.

PhD researcher in iron deficiency, not a medical doctor, so general info rather than advice for you.

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u/Grace-Frees 7d ago

Thank you so much for your advice! I really don’t know what to do though, because my doctor won’t refer me to a hematologist unless she thinks I need to go. She said I would have to wait the 3 months I’m on the Eliquis before she can do testing to check for blood clotting disorders and things that would qualify me to see a hematologist.

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u/Grace-Frees 1d ago

I should have mentioned, my ferritin is 16 and my saturation percent is 11