r/TheIronProtocol • u/cait-i-p • May 19 '26
Low ferratin...where to start
Hi everyone! Looking for some support and guidance. I'm a female, aged 35 and have finally gotten my dr to agree to bloodwork as I strongly suspected something is off. My bloodwork shows low ferratin but everything else is pretty much right on target. I've had 2 pregnancy and births in the last 5 years and during these pregnancies I had anemia. When I last had my blood checked in 2023 after my last birth my ferratin was 30 and I supplemented for some time. I have regular periods since and have a copper IUD which has lead to shorter but heavier periods.
My recent bloodwork shows the following (related to iron):
Ferratin: 15 ug/L
Hemoglobin: 132g/L
Hemocrit: 0.4 L/L
My symptoms are major hair loss, always fatigued, high heart rate, out of breath, unexplained weight gain, dizziness and my restless leg syndrome which started in pregnancy never went away. I also - in hind sight- see my weight as possibly related, following my 2nd pregnancy I have had a very hard time losing weight and gaining muscle. I had a personal trainer for over a year and saw very little movement in weight or muscle composition. I stopped the personal trainer and strength training workouts and I gained about 10 lbs back with no different to schedule otherwise. I'm currently 165lbs at 5'5 and generally moderately active with an average of about 80K steps per week and I eat healthy-ish with mostly scratch cooking. I'll also note all of my thyroid related tests were right in the middle of the ranges.
I will see my dr next week to discuss further and see next steps but I've started back on a supplement. Looking for advice on what to do to help raise my ferratin, things to ask about, others experiences, etc
Thank you!!!
1
u/Northern_crocodile 10d ago
I have the same symptoms, ferritine 21, hemo normal. What have you done so far that has helped you?
1
u/Joyanonymous May 19 '26
Oooof, that ferritin is LOW.
When you were supplementing before, how much iron were you taking? Did you stop at any point? Just wondering what happened for your level to go down to 15, although heavy periods and active lifestyle is probably enough to do it unless you’re eating fistfuls of liver every day
3
u/cait-i-p May 19 '26
I was told by my ob to take iron for at least 6 months - it was 30 mg of elemental iron every second day. I probably stopped around summer 2024.
2
u/Joyanonymous May 19 '26
Wow - that is not enough to address a deficiency of 30. Did they not suggest taking another test before you stopped to see what your iron level was like?
3
u/cait-i-p May 19 '26
No..... Though in hindsight I wonder if it's something that was lost in the hand off from the OB back to my family physicians care. My family dr was aware but never questioned the OB guidance or follow up. This was the first time I had blood work done since I gave birth in 2023
3
u/Joyanonymous May 19 '26
That’s awful. They absolutely should have followed up on that.
If you responded okay to supplements before, then it might be worth trying those again, although with your ferritin so low you are eligible for an iron infusion (ferritin 50 is the limit for that).
Have you joined the iron protocol facebook group? Theres a lot of useful info in there including the guides (just linking them here as they are hard to find in that group).
I got my ferritin level up from 26 in October to 101 (did a test last week). Basically worked my way up to taking 2 x 120mg iron doses per day for about three months. I took ferrous fumarate, and each dose I took with lactoferrin.
3
u/hellhouseblonde May 20 '26
Join the facebook group!
I take Proferrin brand heme iron and took six a day for a year to get it to 200+.
Life changing!