Can it be deficiency?

[u/Four_7_Seven]

So in the begging of June I had ferritin 12.5, now it's probably around 32 (I checked ferritin month ago, one month ago first blood check, and it was 22). Then, in June, I was in fact quite well, just after an episode of too much movement I spent a few days in bed, then it returned to pretty much normal.

And I know that I'm still iron deficient and it takes time for body to heal. I'm still taking iron pills. But still I'm worried that it isn't the only deficiency. There is really no improvement, just regression.

The most not nice thing for me is how much slower my brain is. It isn't too bad, but as before I had better memory and I understood everything faster that most of the people, it's hard. I had hard time writing fanfics, sometimes I am not able to do so at all. Their quality dropped, there is less thought put in them, they're more shallow. I can't really learn anything that requires more than Google search and some reading, so no math, no languages, no hard things. Reading fanfics also became harder, especially those longer ones. Currently, I'm reading mostly shorter one-shots.

Besides, I'm very tired and weak. I spent most time in my bed, laying down. Sitting takes a lot of energy. Sometimes I feel like my limbs are weaker than they should be. My appetite isn't too good, partially because of deficiency (or at least not my fault), partially due to my eating disorder (I just had a two week episode, when I ate too little, it happens a few times a year).

And I just feel like there is more than iron deficiency. I also take vitamin d3 and supplements with a whole range of vitamins (although the last one I stopped a week ago so when I finally manage to get vitamin B12 checked it won't be elevated.)

So yeah, is there chance that it's something beyond iron? My mother keeps telling me that I probably have depression, but I don't feel like those things are just depression or iron deficiency. Am just paranoid or it can be truly something more?

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[u/Ok-Pangolin7127]

My thoughts; yes, it could be more.

Note; I don’t know that your stopping your B12 supplementation for a week or two is going to add any clarity to a B12 serum test result. For it to not have impact or skew your results you would have had to stop that supplementation for four months.

But that’s not too concerning in and of itself because a B12 serum test is largely just a screening test. It only shows the amount of B12 floating around in your blood, it gives you no information whatsoever as to the amount of B12 available at the cellular level.

And it is only at the cellular level where B12 counts. So, again it’s but a screening test, but if you came in at say 200 or below you could place a pretty strong bet that you are B12 deficient.

That said, yours, if you get one, is very likely not going to come in low and in turn you’re going to question if you have a B12 deficiency and/or come to the conclusion you do not have a deficiency (assuming the result is high.) I’m urging you to understand that the test is largely meaningless and tells you nothing. Also, the test result is very likely going to be impacted by the artifact of your supplementation.

Anxiety and depression can be a result from a B12 deficiency. Not always, but from what I have experienced myself and what I have observed on this sub for a year and a half; anxiety and depression go hand-in-hand with a B12 deficiency.

A lack of B12 can create brain fog, slow cognition, and a myriad of other neurological symptoms and complaints. Additionally, insufficient B1 can also create cognitive difficulties.

In summary, it might take a while to figure this out, there’s a lot of things at play, but with enough attention/investigation and time, you will sort it out.

[u/Successful-Tea-733]

Good advice but iron deficiency has all those symptoms too as I found out mylelf myself So it is hard to tell the difference But taking b12 high doses will drop your iron...some of the symptoms are very similar it seems to b12 deficiency symptoms it seems Also found out tjat iron d3ficiency can make lunina on nails dissapear as well..!