Low iron levels - at my age?!

Thanks for the info - I have Cameron's ulcers too and a small hiatus hernia but they have been discounted. However, I have another blood test due on Monday and I will ask the question again. Personally I think I had a problem for sometime which was aggravated by the norovirus, but they look at me as if I am completely mad when I mention it - hazard of growing old I guess!

Hello Nannymarg, (and Hollycat) A few years ago, I went through the same fatigue, couldn't walk up a small hill to work without a pounding heart. Blood tests showed hgb 60 (should be 120) ferritin 4 ( should be 40 at least), Dr. sent me to hospital for an emergency blood. transfusion, and then to a GI specialist. Tubes up, down, camera swallowed, ultrasound, CT scan.......no source of bleeding identified. On to a hematologist.... For two years, I had to have iron transfusions once a month, and about 18 months ago, on my last endoscopy, the GI found Cameron's Lesions in my hiatus hernia. He cauterized them, and it was like a miracle! I only had a few more iron transfusions, and my hgb level is now over 140 and holding. I still have a blood test once a month, because if the levels drop, I'm bleeding again. So far (9 months down the line) it's looking good.

Hollycat, that's what happened to me, it wasn't until I had a Capsule Endoscopy that they discovered the whereabouts of the bleeding, my small colon. I was lucky that all this happened while I was working and had private medical insurance through my company. You can get it done on the NHS though. If I were you I would ask your consultant.

4 years ago I had a bout of norovirus which left me so tired I couldn't climb upstairs without resting. A blood test came back so low I apparently was on the verge of a stroke. My doctor diagnosed internal bleeding and I was subjected to every test known to man. All negative. Since then I have failed 3 bowel cancer tests and colonoscopies are still negative. I have been pumped full of iron which leaves me feeling great but runs down quickly and am now prescribed just 2 iron pills a week to keep the ferritin levels up. Clearly somethings wrong if bowel tests show occult blood, but they can't find it. Still I feel ok so I suppose that's all right?

dark green veg, like kale, spinach, etc.

I have always been anaemic. My mother used to give me an iron tonic called Parrishes Food. My haemaglobin reading is always low - 11. Iron tablets had no effect apart from making me constipated which made the piles bleed. I try to eat as much red meat and liver as possible. Have a varied diet and cook everything from scratch. Will certainly try the vitamin B12 tablets and the dark chocolate. Cocoa instead of tea?

I was extremely surprised that my pre-op blood tests showed I was short of iron- so now take iron + B12 tablets- and also magnesium which seems to have totally got rid of the muscle pains in my calves.

I have lived with anaemia for a long time. It took four years to get a diagnosis. As I was breathless all the time it was thought I had asthma, them COPD. It was only when I had a blood test for my aching joints they discovered I was extremely anaemic and was urgently referred to the hospital to see a consultant. After many tests (involving many scopes and I even had to swallow a camera) I was told I had angiodysplasia which causes bleeding in my small colon. There is no easy cure and I have to take 600mg of iron daily, I try to keep my diet healthy but find I can't keep my iron level up by diet alone.

I have to be really careful what I eat as so many things can thin your blood and therefore increase the bleeding. Cassia cinnamon and turmeric to name but two. There are also many medications I can't take, including anti-inflammatories, so my joints still ache a lot.

The ferritin level indicates how much iron is stored in the body.

Nannymarg53, have you been referred to a specialist? Anaemia can make you feel really unwell, I know, and there can be lots of causes. I hope you make a quick and complete recovery.

I feel so very tired, get plenty maybe too much sleep and have had blood tests for thyroid but told all well. However, i find that B12 and tablets containing the complete group of B vitamins are a great help taken every day. On occasions when i have stopped taking them I revert back to falling asleep worn out after just being out to the shops.
Maybe worth your trying them.

Solgar do desiccated liver tablets which are very easy to take if you are not a fan of cooked liver. I take some whenever I feel low energy getting the better of me..

Anya I am not medically trained but have experience as a patient, advice from doctors and also because we have a coeliac in the family which condition can result in anaemia, but we did not know the cause for years. We have done quite a bit of investigation over the years.

I was vegetarian for years and had to start eating RED meat again. It's the only food source the body uses to manufacture heam effectively. Chicken etc., just does not do it.

Jalima you certainly seem to know what you're talking about

Nannymarg I think that low ferritin levels do not necessarily mean you are anaemic, but if they continued to be low you could become anaemic.

Just a ps:
Iron is easier to absorb if it is heme-iron ie from meat rather than non-heme iron from vegetables and dairy.
Tea does inhibit the absorption of non-heme iron, as does cheese and dairy (don't eat a juicy home-made steakburger with cheese on top!).
I presume the same would go for calcium tablets, although I do take those from time to time.

I didn't know camels were a good source of iron chelseababy

However:
Spinach is good Not any better than any other dark green leafy vegetable - when the research was done the scientist allegedly got the decimal point in the wrong place and it was thought that spinach contained much more iron than similar veg - hence the Popeye legend!! So it is good but not that good!

I hope your GP has done a test for coeliac disease, however, if you do have that you would probably have had other symptoms too.

Do you know what your haemoglobin level is? It should be between about 11 and 17 for a woman.

Thanks everyone. I don't drink tea or coffee and I know about Vitamin C with meals containing iron. My Hb is normal apparently so the doctor was leaning more towards either a deficiency in my diet or my iron being 'stolen' as chelseababy put it. The problem is I think, because I'm on my own a lot I tend not to eat properly or snack on high calorie/low iron foods. Or I might be just guessing - surely my diet can't be that bad so I'm tending to go down the stolen route! Ah well, must try harder, can do better, as my school reports used to say. Thank you for your helpful comments and it's nice to know others have had similar problems with no apparent cause found. Very reassuring

After meals!

You should not drink tea for at least half an hour after camels as this can "steal" the iron, so I read.

Yes, but not all iron is able to be absorbed.....

We can get much more iron from meat than we can from other sources. Eat more lean meat and chicken.

Didn't your doctor tell you what to do?

You need to have a sufficiency of vitamin B12 in order to process iron from your diet. For those who need to increase iron in the diet a good source is plain i.e. not milk, chocolate. The higher the % of cocoa e.g. 7%% or 85%, the better. I learned this from my friend who was anaemic during pregnancy nearly 50 years ago and having, initially, been advised to eat raw liver but totally unable to do so, was told by her very old GP that chocolate would do just as well. During my own pregnancies and the run up to the menopause I substituted chocolate for Iron pills with great success.

When I recently told my young GP about this, she said she had never heard of it but at a subsequent visit she thanked me and told me she had researched, discovered the efficacy of high cocoa chocolate and was now advising her pregnant patients accordingly. It is certainly much more palatable than raw liver and a good excuse to indulge a 2 squares-a-day chocolate habit #yumyum

My DH has just been put on a course of iron tablets and has to have Vitamin B12 injections for low iron/ferratin or whatever levels. He is 70 and has never had this problem before. He eats lots of green veg.

Plenty of green veg will help your iron levels.Maybe 2 portions a day is realistic.

Stepnana is correct. Some people don't absorb iron very well and taking Vit C with a meal will help. This need not be a supplement, just ask Dr Google which foods are rich in Vitamin C and add them to your meals.