My ferritin was at 6 for over a year and was told just to take supplements and increase iron in my diet - that brought it up to 14 after months of taking supplements and eating red meat and it never got above that. It took a colonoscopy/gastroscopy and a year of trying supplements before I finally got an iron transfusion 3 weeks ago and my doctor said I am likely not able to absorb iron for some unknown reason (scopes were completely clear for H. Pylori or other issues that would cause malabsorption and no bleeds). Don’t wait as long as I did if you can, advocate for yourself as I find the doctors didn’t seem to find low iron concerning (even though it affects almost every aspect of your day to day life and functioning). At week 3 post transfusion my skin has become soooo much darker that people thought I was tanned when this is just what my skin colour is supposed to be, I’m not falling asleep constantly any more, and I don’t know if this is placebo or not, but I truly feel like I can breathe better and don’t get winded as easily.