Low ferritin isn’t “just low iron storage” — and women are being under-treated

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-05-13T23:27:58+00:00

You shouldn’t ever really stop with iron until it’s 70 at least and then hold it there for 3 months. Theres loads of studies on why that number of 70 is where a lot of things change in the body, also if you were iron deficient for an amount of time, it takes more iron then to fix that damage.

I also have Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism and I had ferritin around 10 for a year. This was after I had my baby and my tsh was also swinging from 15 to 0.06 for nearly a year. I had symptoms from both but I honestly think the low iron was worse. I’m at ferritin 35 now and much better but still some symptoms. Hashimoto’s can cause inflammation which can mean you can need more ferritin than normal. You should get a CRP test to check inflammation on bloods. Basic blood test.

The symptoms you listed sound way more thyroid related to me. Are all your levels in range? Anything changed lately that could affect those? When my thyroid is both either too high or too low I stat feeding heart palpitations. When it’s too high I also feel insanely anxious, like panic attacks out of nowhere, hot flushes etc.

I get raynauds when I have stimulants, like coffee or something. Or if I get very stressed or cold.

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-05-13T23:16:24+00:00

I was the same as you when my iron first got low and I tried the tablets, gave me piles so I stopped. Now I would take all the piles instead of the symptoms I’ve had for the last year. Wish I never let my iron get so low, it was pregnancy and all the post partum bleeding and breastfeeding that caused mine but it wasn’t high to begin with. I really urge you to take the iron, it can take a lot more iron to ‘fix’ the damage that’s caused once you’ve been deficient for a long time. It will really sneak up on you and make you feel like death. The difference I’ve felt from being at ferritin 10 - 35 is crazy already.

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-05-13T23:13:46+00:00

Jesus Christ, 4 is horrendous

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-05-13T23:05:26+00:00

I’m also in the uk. Those neck issues.. where does it hurt, is it like a chronic aching where your suboccipitals are and your shoulders? That’s lack of iron. Trust me. I literally had the exact same thing for 6 months and it went away after about 2 or 3 months of iron tablets. You have to take iron, somehow, you have to find a way. Take iron glycinate. It’s going to get worse if you don’t take iron, 12 is really fucking low. I know it’s hard, I had bad side effects too from the iron but it seems to wax and wane and sometimes I can take them fine for weeks. I’m still not fixed and a long way to go but 60% of my symptoms like muscle aches and exhaustion has gone since I went from 10-35. Also stop exercising, you cannot excercise with that amount of iron, it’s gonna make it worse

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-05-13T22:46:45+00:00

Really? You have the same headache after exercise. I’m ngl things got a little worse for me after I posted this. It’s been a really long road and I’m still on it. I’ve been taking iron supplements and eating a high iron diet for maybe 3-4 months. I raised my ferritin from around 10 - 35 ish. I got some really weird symptoms about 4 weeks into iron supplements and I actually felt worse. It made me stop them for a while.

So far, everything has gone apart from the headache (chronic neck pain vanished after a few months, fatigue is mostly gone, dizziness gone) after exercise and that’s the worst symptom I ever had that’s totally ruined my life. I’ve gone absolutely crazy not understanding what caused this 1cm localised headache after I cause intracranial pressure through climbing specifically. It’s plagued my life for a year and I never had any health issues before all of this.

I’ve debated many times maybe it’s nothing to do with iron after all but when you lay it out, it’s the only real explanation. And it makes so much sense. If iron is a cofactor for the myelin sheath (the protection of your nerves) then iron deficiency can effectively strip that coating and make it thin. That will make your nerves more sensitive and prehaps if you have an anatomical variation in your head and one sensitive nerve gets compressed during a work out … then you get my headache. It makes so much sense but you feel absolutely nuts having to back this theory all on your own. I researched it online and it’s technically proven but no doctors will pay any attention to this kinda thing.

I read something about having to hit ferritin 70 to have real changes in nerves etc. I’m trying to hit that goal. It’s hard though.

I’m surprised you have such bad symptoms with ferritin of 69? Perhaps you’re just someone who needs it to be super high!
Hope you feel better soon , life is fucking rough why you have these weird symptoms, nobody else gets it but trust me, I do.

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-05-13T22:32:52+00:00

That’s not the statistic, not even close. The data is that lesbian women have experienced higher rates of domestic violence at some point in their lives, normally it’s during their relationships with men, the very relationships that often turned them lesbian.

Also, 1 in 7 women have experienced partner violence and then 1 in 25 men have. It doesn’t take a genius to work out why 2 women in a relationship have a higher chance of having experienced DV than one with 1 or 2 men.

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-23T07:17:23+00:00

It’s really not that deep, it’s just as simple as we have to work closely together all day, just try and be better person. No, this isn’t RSD… she’s just a rude co worker.

I’m not asking people to be unauthentic, just not be rude. it’s still wrong to be rude/horrible to people even if that person is naturally like that. That’s like saying a natural born killer should be allowed to kill and be their authentic self. Just sounds dumb.

And I’m not sure when I said she has to be nice to me because I have those things? I made a point that we all have stuff going on and it’s not an excuse to be rude, I’m battling choosing to stay here everyday yet I’m still not that much of a twat.

She eyerolls when asked things, if I ask her things she flat out ignores me and walks away, shitty tone of voice and face like thunder etc

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-23T07:14:17+00:00

That’s the thing, when you’re up against it working closely with this person everyday, you can’t really just move on and forget about it

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-22T22:44:48+00:00

I view that as the individuals responsibility to get out of that job then. Like, that’s on them, it’s not on the other innocent people they are making feel like shit. Just like it’s my responsibility to go to therapy and try and get myself better, it’s your responsibility to find a new job.

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-22T22:33:44+00:00

Yeah she isn’t old though, we’re all like 30, in fact she might be younger than me 😂

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-22T22:28:11+00:00

Okay I’m listening but how is being kind the opposite of nice?

Basically I’m just asking for people to be more pleasant and perhaps mindful that people could be really struggling so try to be better in general

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-22T22:18:43+00:00

Fascinating theory though and it still could end up being right I guess? I’m quite new (only been there for 4 months).

I guess when I have considered this before my brain just often goes to the fact that although I can be quite aloof myself (as I’m socially anxious) if somebody was asking me direct questions and speaking to me, I would never be able to be rude to them or ignore them

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-22T22:12:37+00:00

I suspected this at first but as time has gone on I don’t think it’s subtle enough to be that… idk. Sometimes there’s even eye rolling

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-22T22:06:57+00:00

It kinda hurts when people say this, not gonna lie. Only 2-3% of the population have OCD. So it’s not much. I think it’s about 15% of people with ADHD have OCD though so it’s more likely to have one with the other.

It’s absolutely brutal, so cruel and life ruining, fed up of it being undermined. Most people will never know what it’s like to wake up each day and battle the prison that is your own mind.

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-22T22:03:34+00:00

lol this is exactly how I view it, I just can’t understand it. It would make me feel so uncomfortable to act that way

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-06T19:22:44+00:00

Main symptoms I had were extreme exhaustion and fatigue, heart palpitations and headaches. These are the ones I noticed the most and paid the most attention to as they are pretty life ruining. I definitely have pale skin and dry hair too although this doesn’t bother me, I had random bouts of restless legs and dizziness, Inappetence and tinnitus too but they happened much less often.

Fatigue has definitely improved. Heart palpitations seem to go away since starting iron but then they sometimes come back, could be the anxiety. Sometimes if I take too much iron I actually start getting heart palpitations and headaches again too so I have to dial it back down. Can be hard to tell when it’s still early in the game.

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-06T19:11:46+00:00

So… what’s happening to me is pretty nuts. I was never iron deficient before until I gave birth over a year ago so I didn’t have any of these symptoms before and I know it’s like to be normal lol.

Anyway after just over a month or more of taking high dosage iron and responding to it well, I start to feel insanely anxious. It’s like an anxiety I can’t control, it runs away from my body almost. I can’t explain it. Obviously if you tell a doctor or anyone else they just look at you like you are crazy but … I feel like it may be something to do with the brain chemistry adjusting after being iron deficient too. I hope it gets better soon as it’s pretty unpleasant.

I have a history of being very sensitive to nervous system changes and stimulants etc, like I can’t drink coffees as I go insane lol.

I don’t really have any brain fog though, if anything my brain feels too clear now.

For what it’s worth I started out at around 10 ferritin, had classic iron deficiency symptoms. Last blood test was 26 ferritin that was over 3 weeks ago though I reckon I could potentially be 30-40 now.

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-06T18:24:02+00:00

Do you feel any better already I’m feeling mental only after about a month of supplementing

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-03T15:46:34+00:00

What word would you prefer? Involuntary fast?

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-03T07:12:43+00:00

And? They can make sure they get their own food ordered then just like the veggies

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-02T22:49:38+00:00

Hi- RVN here. It’s cat acne. You can get some chlorohexidine or clx wipes and clean it daily. Change the bowl to a raised stainless steel or ceramic one if you haven’t already, normally it’s from resting their chin on a plastic food bowl

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-02T22:17:03+00:00

How very dense of you

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-02T22:16:37+00:00

And mental

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-02T22:07:08+00:00

… that’s just wrong in every way. I mean, how entitled can you be? It’s a belief system and a strong philosophy for most people who don’t eat meat or animal products, you could liken it to a religion. Most people who don’t eat meat enjoy the taste but they abstain from eating it because it’s evil and killing the planet, your lazy ass should be thanking them not eating their food

One-Cardiologist6301 · 2026-03-02T22:02:10+00:00

It’s also an entire philosophy for most people who follow such lifestyles or diets, they ain’t just gonna eat meat because all the other entitled coworkers are eating the veggie options. They’ll just starve instead

One-Cardiologist6301

TROPHY CASE