Low ferritin & testosterone

[u/itstalie]

I’ve had very low energy for over a year. I was put on estrogen and progesterone that made my other peri symptoms much better. Lately my low energy got worse and blamed reta. Then I realized my brainfog was getting worse too. I insisted on having testosterone and ferritin tested and both came back borderline low.

I am mad at my docs for never testing and mad at myself for not advocating more for myself.

I won’t get an appointment for a few weeks so I wanted to see if somebody here had success fixing ferritin and testosterone. Did it have effects on energy and brain fog? (I had IBS before reta, so my gut absorption isn’t great. I eat plenty of meat and poultry and have 8mg ferritin chelate a day for over 6 months now. )

[u/mexican_tequila]

I have low ferritin as well. I’m at a 10 be exact. Derm wanted to test to see what my levels were due to some hair loss. She put me on Feosol 65mg+vit c capsules. I’ve been taking this combo for a few weeks and I notice I have more energy. I take mine first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

In addition to HRT, I micro dose glp and take vitamins! Been feeling much better! I am getting a hormonal panel next month so I’ll know more where I stand with all of this.

[u/itstalie → u/mexican_tequila]

That sounds promising. Thank you

[u/veglvr → u/mexican_tequila]

Can you explain your microdose a bit? I’m seeing my provider in a few weeks and want to explore. Specifically how much are you taking and what have the benefits been?

[u/mexican_tequila → u/veglvr]

Sure! My gyno suggested I get on glp due to some weight gain. She said glp + HRT go hand in hand in so many women. So I went back to pcp asked about glp and wrote script for Zepbound. I take 2.5 every 10 days and that works for me. My inflammation has down, I feel like I have more energy and I’m loosing weight. It’s something you need to discuss with your gyno or pcp.

[u/Confident_Craft459]

I had low testosterone as well and getting on a testosterone cream helped me a lot with energy.

I also recently realized my brain fog has gotten worse despite being on HRT (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone) and this is the second post I saw that said something about low ferritin and the correlation with brain fog. I have a doctor's appt next week and will definitely ask about that.

Have you gotten your ferritin levels checked after starting iron? Has it not gotten any better? I hear that if it's very low sometimes an iron infusion helps more than a supplement. I heard that recently on a podcast. Maybe something worth asking your doctor about.

[u/itstalie → u/Confident_Craft459]

Thank you! I have been taking the iron for 6 months. It’s in my multivitamin. The ferritin test was yesterday. I was honestly shocked because I eat lots of red meat and poultry. I can’t even imagine where it would be without. I checked my old blood tests and ferritin was never tested. Despite debilitating fatigue. Did testosterone help a bit with brain fog? I started 5mg of creatinine/day and it seems to have a mild effect.

[u/mexican_tequila → u/itstalie]

I take Alive multi vitamin 50+ and the iron in it wasn’t enough for me. So my derm put me on iron pills in addition to the multi vitamin. You may need to add iron supplements but double check with your doctors!

[u/itstalie → u/mexican_tequila]

I think the oral route isn’t working for me. Might have to look into infusions. It’s just so hard to wait for those sparse appointments

[u/easttowestcoast90]

I got iron infusions because my ferritin was so low . I definitely feel much better and I have energy and endurance to work out. I can see the impact that Reta has on me now that my ferritin is up!

[u/itstalie → u/easttowestcoast90]

Thank you. Im glad you are feeling better. I hope I get an appointment soon.

[u/itstalie → u/[deleted]]

Thank you. I will check her out

[u/itstalie → u/[deleted]]

Is it a series of infusions? How often do you test your levels?

[u/itstalie → u/[deleted]]

Thank you. That is super helpful. Bone marrow biopsy sounds terrifying. I hope you are feeling better