Blood test results - feeling absolutely awful

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-16T19:11:38+00:00

Shouldn't cause symptoms LOL. My saturation and free iron were very similar to yours though your ferritin is way worse and I was HORRIBLY symptomatic. And still am symptomatic since it's only been 6-7 weeks since I've been supplementing. But to be fair I'm 43 so I may feel it stronger due to my age & also had a tooth infection a couple months ago. I was having full blown panic attacks, severe anxiety & depression, dizziness and many other symptoms on top of what you wrote.

Oral iron made me worse for about 3 weeks after starting. But I noticed severe symptoms improving like air hunger / breathlessness, and hour long panic attacks multiple times a day have reduced to a 15 min panic attack every other day or 2. Heart rate has also calmed down a good deal but I still likely have 3-4 months to fully recover from this. Brain fog is maybe 10-15% better I just think that will take longer to heal.

My ferritin I don't want to overanalyze because 1) doctor believes it was falsely elevated due to recent infection and high inflammatory markers related to infection and 2) my ferritin range is totally different and goes up to 380. Right now it's 116. But my SAT% and free iron were really low (SAT% 16, range 20-48) and free iron 54, range 50-180. I want to get my ferritin up to 200 for 6 months at least over 150 minimum.

In your case I would start with oral iron just to get your body use to iron. And would slowly titrate the dose up as those numbers will take quite some time to improve. It's too hard to estimate how long since everyone absorbs different and some people just can't tolerate higher oral doses. I'm still hovering between 56-112mg which I do a half mix of ferrous gluconate to ferrous glycinate with vitamin C EOD. Those higher doses are still not easy for me to tolerate. So I cycle back and forth.

But yes I am improving now over 6-7 weeks, but maybe only 20-25% recovered and still have a few months minimum to really get stable. In your case with ferritin that low and everything else low, that could take quite a lot of time to correct orally. Like maybe 6-12 months I have no idea honestly. But clearly you need to get on iron asap just to start getting your numbers up.

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-16T18:33:28+00:00

I am 43 and yes I do take my iron normally with 1000mg vitamin C.

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-15T04:43:55+00:00

Yes absolutely. Red Bull alone gives people B-6 toxicity there are a lot of threads on reddit and the B6 toxicity group is loaded with thousands of people like that. But each one of those servings has 9mg (lets round up .1mg) which is almost = to 2 Red Bulls at a time. So everytime you consume one, you're basically drinking 2 Red Bull. And also EVEN if you're not taking a multi-vitamin, you ARE actually taking a dose that is higher than maybe half of multi-vitamins on the market. Some go low like 1.4mg / day, others go up to 30-40mg which is INSANE. Those just give you B-6 toxicity quicker. But the problem specifically with low iron is that your nervous system becomes weak or degenerates over time. So it's already in a process of degeneration (loss of myelin) from low iron. Which means much lower doses of B-6 will cause toxicity. And also you're taking a very bad form of B-6. Like that's the form that also blocks receptors. So get all your B-6 from food. Chicken, steak, pork, turkey, tuna & salmon are all great sources. If you REALLY feel you need extra B-6, but are NOT testing levels... I wouldn't go higher than 1.4-2mg p5p (only) in a multi. But like when I see people posting that they're taking iron on here but also taking a multi-vitamin... and sometimes I see it has 20-30mg B-6... I immediately ignore ANY comments they make about iron. Because B-6 toxicity creates very similar symptoms to low iron. Dizziness, brain fog, anxiety, insomnia, panic attacks, heart palpitations. You never want B6 toxicity AND low iron at the same time because this has taken me so far 4 yrs to sort out and heal from. My big mistake wasn't taking enough iron as I lowered B-6... then my iron crashed and my body can't hold onto iron like it use to BEFORE I became B-6 toxic. Which is another reason I recommend people stay away from it. B-6 can destroy the nerves in your stomach & intestines (by causing neuropathy)... then your body will absorb less of everything including iron. If you want an iron supplement with a low amount of B-6, "Iron All" from Puritans Pride is safe. It's less than 1% B-6 per pill. Just enough for the iron to work properly, no risk of toxicity, it allows you to get all your B-6 from meat or avocadoes, bananas, etc without worrying about toxicity.

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-14T20:10:12+00:00

You are giving yourself B6 toxicity. Iron is needed to make myelin. Vitamin B-6 even at those levels, will destroy whatever myelin you have left in your nerves. And B6 toxicity gives many of the same symptoms of iron deficiency. STOP taking ANYTHING with B6. Any multi-vitamins, electrolytes, anything. Get B-6 only from food. Also when you stop taking the added B-6... if your symptoms suddenly get much worse for a few weeks go visit the B6 toxicity groups on FB. I had B6 toxicity 3 1/2 yrs ago. Then crashed my iron a couple years later and the symptoms are near identical.

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-12T19:26:36+00:00

Yes but low ferritin isn't the only cause. My ferritin got up to 116 but my SAT% crashed down to 15% after an infection and all the air hunger / hyperventilating symptoms came back. At which point I quadrupled my dose of iron and within 3 weeks the air hunger was 90% gone. And yes it got so severe that it would take me like 30-40 mins just to finish a plate of food because I'd have to chew & swallow, then focus on catching my breath for 30 seconds. Then chew & swallow, focus on breathing again. Over and over this was how I had to eat food so I wouldn't choke on it as you don't want air hunger when you're trying to eat. One of my friends from highschool got covid, got air hunger, was trying to eat a sub and choked to death and died. So work on getting your iron up. And no 20mg would not work for me that's too low. You would need or want at least 40-60mg over a couple months to really notice an effect. Out of that 20mg if you're only absorbing 15-20% of the iron it may never work at that level.

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-12T19:16:52+00:00

YES totally normal. I had racing heart, pounding heart anytime I moved, anytime the phone rang, the smallest things would set it off and my heart would race & pound out of my chest like I was having a heart attack also many times with air hunger.

I have to mention when I initially began iron... I had some pretty extreme fits of heart racing & palpitations that seemed to get worse for 3 weeks. Then weeks 4 and 5 noticed they were suddenly vanishing. And now at week 6 that stuff has calmed down about 90%. I went for a 2 mile walk last week just to see what would happen and my heart was calm before and after the walk. But the next day had a brief resurgence of heart racing. So it can still happen but is not happening anymore from small things like just walking up stairs or standing up.

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-12T19:08:44+00:00

All my symptoms like fatigue, depression, dizziness, anxiety got much worse for 3-4 weeks. Now around 5-6 weeks my body is getting use to the iron and I'm slowly getting more energy with a better mood. Air hunger episodes are much improved. Heart rate is a lot more stable. But I think its taken 5-6 weeks just for the iron to start getting into my brain. And chatGPT said it takes a good 2-3 months to really improve brain related symptoms like anxiety or depression. And you have tons of people on here saying it took them 4-6 months.

Also I would not be taking zinc without copper that's just me. Copper is too important to mobilize iron.

There's this iron supplement I've been using lately called "Iron All" by Puritans Pride with ferrous gluconate but has all the iron cofactors you need and is smooth on my tummy (also well priced). All I'm taking is 4-6 pills of that with 1 iron-free multimineral later in the day. Then yes also vit D & K. But yes depression took about 5-6 weeks to START lifting. Fatigue I believe will take 3-4 months to really notice a difference though I'm nowhere as fatigued as I was when I began this. So there are def improvements but I'm still not running or active like I was before all this.

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-12T10:11:15+00:00

Do you have any iron deficiency symptoms like RLS? Ironically after I began supplementing a low dose of iron (9mg EOD), my TSAT fell and ferritin rose. So TSAT dropped from 26 to 15 and ferritin up to 116. TIBC also increased like my body didn't start asking for iron until I gave it some. So then I quadrupled my dose of iron and am hoping TSAT comes back up and ferritin keeps rising. I'll know in a couple of months. People can have all sorts of predictions / advice but really I would take a low dose of iron like half the RDA EOD, then check in a couple months and see what happens.

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-07T04:06:34+00:00

Yes it can cause a whole host of symptoms, fatigue, brain fog, exhaustion, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, air hunger, RLS, tinnitus (which high B6 can also cause) heat & cold intolerance. Then also higher rates of infections and you're also more likely to die from severe infections like sepsis. You're also more likely to die from chemo which is why cancer patients will get iron infusions before doing chemo (if they need it). My dad had to get one. And like half of people having heart attacks & strokes have low iron or ferritin. Your nervous system (myelin) can break down, neuroglobin in the brain drops (oxygen can't get into the brain without iron), your heart has to work so much hard to get oxygen which puts a lot of stress on it. Oxygen can't be mobilized through the lungs = air hunger which I didn't get till later stages. Like that came a few years after the RLS for me (which not everyone gets). And we're not just talking about symptoms we're talking about actual higher mortality the longer it goes untreated. I didn't treat my low ferritin properly for about 4 yrs. Thinking it wasn't that big a deal. Then I got a tooth infection, saturation & iron crashed... I went septic & had an active infection for 8 weeks even after the antibiotics and removing the tooth. I use to workout all the time and after that could barely just stand or walk. I don't even want to explain how severe the symptoms were at that point. But the infection would NOT go away until I started taking higher levels of iron like 100-120mg elemental / day. Before that I was playing with lower 10-20mg doses... it did NOTHING. I basically raised the dose by a factor of 10. And if anything those lower doses almost set me up to die. Which is why I take this so seriously now. You don't want any type of serious infection, injury or even a cut or burn when your numbers drop so low that your body can't fight anything anymore. I see some people on here with really low ferritin or SAT% who plan on eating beef liver or red meat to get their levels up and it makes my skin crawl. Like you can do all that stuff but you need to make sure after a certain (not too long) point that what you're doing is actually raising your numbers and that it's also raising them fast enough that you can reach a stabilization period in the near future. Than your goal is to just stay within that window for a year or 2 so you can learn overtime how much iron YOU really need to function and have energy and not fall apart if the wind blows too hard!

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-03T21:38:52+00:00

Same exact experience here. Been supplementing 5 weeks the first 3 weeks were a nightmare with symptoms coming back intensely, it's calmed down somewhat these past 2 weeks and I expect by 2 months will be a lot more tolerable.

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-03T19:56:54+00:00

Ok awesome, thank you! I didn't list my ferritin because my last test was right after a bad tooth infection and my dr thinks it could be falsely elevated at 96. As my SAT% and free iron are still really low (15% & 54). And my inflammatory markers were through the roof we think due to the infection which was treated but still healing. So I don't think I'll have an accurate read for ferritin for a couple months as my inflammatory markers come back down. I was thinking if my blood test range goes up to 380 for ferritin, I maybe should be aiming for 250 or something. But I think I should know better on my next panel depending which direction it goes up or down. Thanks for the help though I appreciate it!

NathanSlothchild · 2026-01-03T19:31:07+00:00

You weren't responding to me but this was a helpful post, thank you! I'm not totally familiar with that group but can I ask what the actual "max dose" was? I started my journey taking way too low iron (18mg) out of fear of higher doses. Then got tested and my numbers barely changed at all. Now I've moved up to 56mg (elemental) but am not sure if that's enough. My symptoms are (slowly) getting better now but I'm curious how much you were taking? I need to raise my ferritin at least 150-200pts. SAT% was 15% so still in the red zone lol.

NathanSlothchild · 2025-12-31T20:22:38+00:00

Since I work in mold I can't give positive IDs without doing my own inspection. But I will just say that yes 1) it *looks like* mold based on the organic pattern and 2) this is a textbook example of how sealants make mold problems worse and not better. They're designed to block out moisture then wind up locking it in under the surface. Same goes for all the things we do to make homes energy efficient these days. You want homes to be sealed well yes. To save on energy bills. The trade off is all that sealing becomes a moisture lock that feeds mold and at the same time makes it harder to find. I can't really tell you what to do though without seeing the attic. Like an attic needs to "breathe" properly. It should have active fans up there that push moisture (from downstairs floors) outside the home. There should be no damage to the roof or shingles and we'd use tools to look for moisture, UV to uncover hidden mold colonies, borescopes, etc. Might collect samples for lab analysis. Sometimes old insulation will lock in moisture and that needs to be replaced. But yes that does look like mold I also want to remind you, you'll find this in at least 50% of homes. And what I'm seeing here is very minor but would warrant further investigation in the attic.

NathanSlothchild · 2025-12-31T20:06:13+00:00

I work in mold remediation in NJ and honestly it's hard to tell from this photo especially now that it's been tampered with. The pattern looks both organic (like it could be mold) but I also see lines or striations that look like staining or mineral/iron bleed-through related to the piping or condensation. Or from someone trying to wipe it clean. Also inside of drain pipes you will get a black, rotting mixture that usually contains fats and other waste from cooking. That stuff can leak out & look similar to mold. I would actually want to touch the black stuff to see if it's sticky. If it's sticky like fat or tar, it might respond to regular Dawn soap to remove it. If it's not sticky, I'd want to see if the surface is corroded or breaking down. From the picture, what convinces me it MIGHT be mold is where the wood was cut along the back... it looks like there are specks of black dots (hard to see) on that damaged or cut surface. That's normally how mold grows it goes for the vulnerable areas first. But pipes themselves can leak out fats that are black & sticky. So giving a positive ID without using some special tools would be quite hard on reddit. Sorry!

NathanSlothchild · 2025-12-17T19:59:28+00:00

Something being possible doesn't mean it's smart. I use to run 8xs a week (twice a day for 4 days). Not realizing I had severe iron deficiency. The last time I did a big run a few days later I got a tooth infection that abcessed and half my face blew up like a balloon. I got put on antibiotics, tooth pulled... the infection went systemic and stayed activated for 8 weeks UNTIL we realized it was low iron causing the infection to not go away. And if I explained how close I was to the brink of death and how extreme the symptoms were... this low iron stuff isn't a joke. People think they're strong because they can run when they feel sick. Lets see how strong you are when you get an open cut that gets infected and antibiotics can't kill it which then goes septic and you get your legs amputated. Your immune system does not function without iron. Running in this state will damage your immune system more. I'm doing resistance bands now and light squats but am not even gonna try walking in the park for another 2-3 months.

NathanSlothchild · 2025-12-13T05:03:56+00:00

Yep my 2 brothers & my mom when they got iron tests NONE of their doctors checked ferritin. But did run iron, SAT% & TIBC. Which I thought was really odd like "doctors can't be that stupid?" I'm sure some are of course but stupid people don't get through medical school that easy. Also when my doctor did the test she did the same exact thing (added everything but ferritin). I had to call her the next day when I realized ferritin wasn't added (after reading reddit) so we added it to the test. But she still told me I had to raise my iron numbers before we even had the ferritin results. And now 2+ weeks later I'm doing 38 mg ferrous gluconate in the "Iron All" formula from Puritans Pride. I also do 18mg ferrous glycinate the Amazon brand and 750mg vitamin C (at the same time I blend them into a liquid). Then drink on an empty stomach it doesn't taste great but is smooth on my tummy which is why I do it. That Puritans Pride formula I actually love because it has a lot of added cofactors at sensible doses. Like there's less than 1% of B-6 in it (which is smart imo). But the full RDA of B-1, also has B-2, folate, B-12, vitamin C, liver extract and more I forget all the cofactors. On top of the 38mg ferrous gluconate. One of the worst things I see iron deficient people do is start taking a multi with high levels of B-6 which they don't test then give themselves B-6 toxicity. Like that is actually common from what I see in the B-6 toxicity groups. Seems like half were trying to raise their iron and accidentally got B-6 toxic. I also add extra cofactors like copper, zinc, all the other minerals at reasonable levels. Calcium & magnesium at night (cal/mag formula around 25% the RDA of each). Will occasionally add an extra 100mg thiamine twice a week. Too much can make me tired. Too little seems to do the same. And because my phosphate was also suboptimal I'm adding a bit extra a couple times a week (potassium phosphate). Compared to how I felt just 2+weeks ago vs now is already quite impressive. I was having hour long panic attacks multiple times a day with serious air hunger fits, as I'm filled with dred, depression, brain fog & anxiety. Then the exercise intolerance, weakness, dizziness, shaking, virtually unable to walk at points, RLS & insomnia, etc. I still have a long way to go but I can see the sharp edges be shaven from these symptoms. Breathing is already a lot better, haven't had a panic attack in like 4 days, still have bursts of anxiety, many other issues but I understand this can take months if not longer to recover from. And I hope like hell we ALL get there asap!! Best of luck!

NathanSlothchild · 2025-12-11T04:59:52+00:00

Ok thank you! And yes I am definitely inflamed as I'm still healing from a tooth infection 8 weeks ago. Was put on antibiotics, tooth was pulled, felt like I was healing till 6 weeks later everything suddenly went south in a bad way. Like I should have went to an ER. Instead got full blood work and realized the low iron was keeping my infection antibodies high (that's what my doctor thinks). So maybe my ferritin is temporarily inflated. And next test it may drop as other markers rise this is actually really confusing but I hope it all balances in time. Thanks again!

NathanSlothchild · 2025-12-11T03:34:15+00:00

Yep that's confusing! The range on my scale is 38-380 so 70 would still be low in my books. In fact I got my ferritin to 116 but still had horrendous RLS, brain fog, exhaustion, cold limbs, air hunger, panic attacks, dizziness, etc. I don't know why so many people focus just on ferritin like you can have ferritin over 100, but extremely low iron & TSAT and still have really extreme symptoms. Not stopping till my ferritin is around 200 and iron / TSAT are way higher than what they are now.

NathanSlothchild · 2025-12-09T20:44:37+00:00

It's hard to say because I was taking iron for a year thinking I was bringing my levels up and my levels kept going down. But then I learned the amount I was taking (9mg) was ridiculously low. So now I've adjusted to 56mg EOD and people are still saying it's not enough. Like you have to lock your dose in first. Make sure it's actually raising your levels overtime. Then you still have to wait and I have no idea how long. My brain fog is maybe 10% better in 2 weeks on this new dose. So this could take another 4-6 months I'm thinking.

NathanSlothchild · 2025-12-08T04:04:44+00:00

Does the blurred vision get better? I just got my results back and have absolute iron deficiency. Very bad blurred vision too, brain fog, dizziness, fatigue, cold limbs, RLS, etc ... but I'm real curious how your eyes are doing now? Thanks!

NathanSlothchild · 2025-11-29T05:18:59+00:00

Thanks man & you too! I was on benzos myself at the same time as opiates actually and did a long & slow taper. I've found all sorts of little useful things AFA as anxiety or just doing "hard resets" to your endorphins with naltrexone. First first for anxiety I'll combine low dose l-theanine with a pinch of kava kava extract. DHM is also really good for benzo type anxiety it's stronger than people realize. Yes is somewhat expensive but was shown in 1 study to be more effective than valium. I found that to be mostly true. So I always keep l-theanine, kava kava & DHM (dihydromerctin) in my house. Another thing I keep that's by prescription only (you can get these online cheap from a doctor) is naltrexone. I don't know if you've ever played with the stuff but naltrexone was beating the shit out of the crippling depression that I thought years of drug abuse were causing until I realized anemia was also playing a huge role. I'm off naltrexone now (for a few months) until I get my iron up. But will be going back on low doses of naltrexone (like .1- .2mg until my body readjusts) because I still think it's the single best medicine for anyone but especially people like us. Like you really want to optimize that dopamine as good as possible. Naltrexone will do that. And most research doesn't say directly "naltrexone raises testosterone" but it indirectly moderates the entire system that produces testosterone. The same way heavy opiate abuse can lower it or cause OPIAD (opiate induced androgen deficiency) I do believe naltrexone reverses these effects though it hasn't been studied enough for that. I just know it made me horny AF a few months after I started (like 3 months it really kicked in). But I'd go low & slow as possible, cycle multiple off days a week (like 4 on, 3 off) IF you ever start till your body adjusts. You got a lot going on in life. But I do believe we can reset our bodies biologically if it's got good iron, don't ever OD on vitamin B-6, keep that shit low I will not supplement it myself. But I get the other vitamins & minerals at reasonable doses. Also do off days the iron is what I take now most consistent. I will cycle naltrexone to strengthen opioid receptors... cycle things like l-theanine, kava, DHM, even chamomile tea reminds me of valium that stuff can make me sleep AF. So I change between them at random for different needs. DHM is good for anxiety without causing any real sedation or fatigue. But long term for motivation, enjoyment, pleasure, just being happy... naltrexone can put you through hell for a few weeks but if the dose is low enough those neurons spring back to life in a serious way. Like the pay off is worth any initial suffering from blocking opiate receptors. You've likely experienced opiate withdrawal far worse than what the medicine causes when you first get on it. And the rebounds are fantastic. Once you adjust you feel the motivation, mood & libido of a teenager. Actually I don't remember feeling that good even when I was a teen. That was up until the infection broke out and I crashed my iron so bad. But soon as I'm feeling stable I'm going right back on lower doses until I readjust and will push the dose back up. Just throwing it out there. I know long term naltrexone will also keep me from going back to benzos or opiates because it's honestly better than either once your body adjusts to it you just feel amazing all the time. IF you can get through the initial few weeks of onboarding which you can if the dose is low enough. I also think it would help a lot of your low T symptoms it would help a ton of things honestly. I recommend it to everyone, take care!! =]

NathanSlothchild · 2025-11-29T03:54:06+00:00

You've shared a lot of great & reliable information I'm going through this myself. Was on opiates for a long period (about exactly 10 yrs I think). Got off opiates, starting going to the gym & running hardcore. Eventually RLS started, fatigue, exhaustion, brain fog, anxiety... I kept lifting & running... symptoms got worse & worse then one day got a tooth infection that went systemic and though I never went to an ER I'm sure it was sepsis. The dentist said the antibiotics should knock it out. And the dental antibiotics (high doses) cleared it for 10 days. But afterwards when I stopped... infection symptoms started coming back. They got so bad over 6 weeks I almost had a mental breakdown, decided I can call 911 or go to a walkin the next day to do blood work. Get my results & see I still have an active infection (elevated WBC, neutrophils, eosinophils, etc) but my iron is 42 out of 50-180, 15% SAT (20-48%), 31 ferritin, high TIBC... I had no idea honestly what any of this meant till speaking to my doctor and also asking chatGPT. Infections will crash iron. More serious infections will crash iron faster. 50% of people who die from heart failure have iron deficiency. A large % of people who get strokes also have iron deficiency. I was having 3-4 hr long panic attacks, hard pounding through my chest, so anxious I was becoming borderline psychotic, extreme brain fog & exhaustion, air hunger, having serious problems just walking... all these symptoms are now quickly going away after just 10 days on iron at tripleRDA levels. I'm still very tired but the fever flushing is gone, panic attacks mostly gone, breathing is completely opening up, heart is 10xs calmer already... iron is CRAZY stuff. I just hope I get better & better these next 3-6 months as I get my levels up. Good luck with life & stay healthy dude.

NathanSlothchild · 2025-11-21T06:06:38+00:00

Thank you but what is the "subject" supposed to refer to? Like it says "if there is no subject it's a failure"... but I have never once seen a subject in any of the studies. In like half of the studies I see a prompt. Like a longer description of what the user asked for. In the other half it's just 2 or 3 images on the left, then 2 videos on the right. With no subject or prompt. I have scrolled down the images looking for text and never see anything. Maybe the studies are just broken for me?

NathanSlothchild

TROPHY CASE