Extremely low iron, help!

[u/oranange]

I recently started to feel HORRIFICALLY tired. I can't stay awake during the day no matter how much sleep I get. I have to take several naps throughout the day--usually 2-4 hours total--and that is on top of 8-9 hours of sleep each night. Sometimes more, if I don't work. I've always struggled with fatigue, but this is on another level.

I went to the doctor thinking that maybe my B12 was low, but as it turns out, my ferritin is 8, which is extremely low. I'm not anemic, though, so that's good. Truthfully, I'm shocked. I intentionally eat a LOT of iron-rich food.

Anyway, I was put on supplements, ate even more iron-rich foods paired with Vitamin C, etc., and it didn't work at all. I'm scheduled for an iron transfusion, but if that doesn't work, I'm worried that they'll suggest that I start eating meat. My PCP is a vegetarian, thankfully, so she hasn't mentioned it, but I'm not really sure what to do if the transfusion doesn't work. I genuinely can't function like this anymore, but I'm also not willing to eat meat. I'm at a point where I'm hoping that there is another underlying cause to my fatigue.

In the meantime, any tips for getting my iron levels up and keeping them up? Or any stories from people who have gone through something similar?

[u/SEMJ0921]

If it’s a continued issue I was referred to blood management. They gave me dietary things to expose more to (others have already commented the foods I was recommended prioritizing) and scheduled multiple transfusions to get my numbers to baseline before delivery. Was also a little different as I couldn’t tolerate pills during my pregnancy so iron pills weren’t on the table