I am not anemic right now but this feels like the right subreddit for my post. I was apparently anemic as a child but I don’t remember this. I am scheduled for my first infusion tomorrow with a ferritin of 46 (as of January). I am scared.
I am 30 and have been tired all my life. People think I just have a cool demeanour but I’m just exhausted. I force myself to exercise and I’m tired before, during and after. I loathe squatting or anything that brings me closer to the ground because it is so difficult to want to get back up. If it was socially acceptable to live in your bed, I would. You’d never see me out of it. Last year i felt that my hair was thinning and falling more than usual, but it was not an obvious change to anyone but me. I have never ever woken up rested. What does that even feel like? Socializing is a Herculean task, it requires energy I do not have but I try my best. I get randomly dizzy which scares the hell out of me cause what’s that’s about?? My legs are very sensitive to me itching them and marks take several months to heal. The brain fog is getting worse as I age, it’s hard to focus or care about work even though I used to be more ambitious when I was younger. I have amazing opportunities right now and I’m too tired to care. I have anxiety but I don’t know if that’s from low iron or from my mom :).. I could go on.
I was on birth control for 13 years and only had my period every 2.5 months on purpose.
Last year in September, I went to my doctor and told her I couldn’t go on like this, being tired all the time. She ordered a blood test and my ferritin came back at 34. She put me on iron supplements. In October I redid the bloods and the ferritin was 45. I stopped my birth control in the middle of December to prepare for potential pregnancy this year. Another test done at the end of January showed 46. My doctor said that I have poor absorption of iron and there’s nothing else to be done. It looked like the iron supplements were just replenishing whatever I lost during my period and that it would stay at this level. I started to gradually get more and more tired after December.
During this time I had some liver test done as they found a tumour thing on an MRI but it was completely benign and very common. The specialist for that also said that my level of 46 was perfect for a menstruating woman. Both of these doctors were female.
My primary doctor quit doctoring at the end of January and was replaced by a male doctor. I decided to try again to get help. I went last week and explained everything again and mentioned that my previous doctor didn’t want to do an infusion because it’s too much on the body (she brought up the infusion topic, I didn’t know it was a thing). He looked at my labs from October and January and said it’s obvious the supplements aren’t doing anything (I was still taking them) and he will give me an infusion just once to see if it changes anything. After that we will explore potential other causes of my tiredness if it doesn’t work. He said it would be beneficial to be in the 70-80 range.
My appointment is tomorrow and I am terrified. The brand is not one people mention here - I am in Switzerland. What if I have an allergic reaction? What if my ferritin is not low enough to justify an infusion and my doctor just said yes because I asked about it? I am already afraid of needles which I can manage fine during the appointment but it always bothers me beforehand. Also shouldn’t I have another lab before the infusion? Although I guess it might not matter since I’ve had 4 periods since January test so it’s probably even worse than 46. I don’t think I would consider my periods heavy now.. I go through maybe 2.5-3 large pads a day for two days and the last day is light.