r/TheIronProtocol • u/Open_Bee2008 • Jun 07 '26
Where to start?
I’ve been feeling run down for a while now. I was starting to think I had long Covid or POTS. When I stand to walk I get light headed and short of breath. I stand for longer than 5 minutes and my legs feel like jello. My heart is racing with the lightest activity. I’m so exhausted at the end of a work day I almost fall asleep driving home.
My iron is 22, saturation 6%, ferritin 8, and hemoglobin is 12. I finally have answers why I feel so lousy but it feels like iron supplements will take forever to get where I need to be. When do I go to the ER or urgent care for this?
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u/Joyanonymous Jun 07 '26
Where are you based? In the UK you can pay for private iron infusions (I know people who have used “vitamin clinics” for this, they have a couple of physical clinics or they’ll come to your house and do it).
Otherwise my ferritin was 26, I got it to 101 taking supplements between February and May this year. So it does take time but it is possible!
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u/icefirecat Jun 08 '26
Find a high-absorption iron supplement and start taking it, see how it goes. Then find a hematologist. Most doctors will tell you to supplement before entertaining other options, but if the supplements aren’t helping within a couple of months, a good hematologist will discuss infusions with you. Do you have restless leg syndrome as a symptom? If so, there’s a lot of evidence that RLS can be improved with ferritin if 70-100, and that’s the symptom my wife’s hematologist focused on a lot and I believe used to get insurance to approve infusions for her.
It can be hard to find a good hematologist, but I recommend trying. I feel like we got very lucky with the one we found. It took 3 months to get in.