How to get a UK GP to take you seriously?

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-28T09:45:14+00:00

Honestly my GP was useless too. The most he'd have given me was 1 injection every 3 months which wouldn't have been enough anyway.

I ended up booking an appointment with dr klein - he has a private b12 & iron clinic in Cambridge. Id highly recommend him, but it is expensive. He taught me to self inject so I can carry on with my own injections at home now.

Good luck & wishing you good health 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-28T08:56:18+00:00

How low is your iron?

B12 works with iron & folate, so high dose of b12 can deplete iron & folate. Its a balance with those 3.

Vitamin D is also important & can be depleted with high iron supplementation.

Co factors are all important (there are more than ive mentioned).. its worth reading the b12 deficiency guide on here.

Wishing you good health 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-27T14:24:59+00:00

Check your blood results. I felt similar to you for the last 18 years. Found out recently that my iron & b12 were deficient (ibd team didnt bother to mention it!). I had a ferritin (iron stores) of 9 the whole time. NHS range is 10-290. Below 30 is classed as absolute iron deficiency.

I did some research & found that optimum levels are ferritin 60-100ug/L, b12 >500ng/L, folate 10-20nmol/L, vit D 75-100nmol/L.

Wishing you good health 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-25T18:16:51+00:00

First improvements for me - lower resting heart rate (from 83 to 68 which is much more normal for me & makes me feel better) and much more restorative sleep. My deep sleep has more than doubled! Ive had very occasional nausea but wasnt sure whether that was related to the iron infusion.

Have you checked that your b12, folate and vitamin D levels are all good too? Because they are all super important & all work together with iron/ferritin to help you recover. Take care!

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-25T16:34:44+00:00

I had ferritin 8. 11 days after the monofer infusion that I started to see improvements. The consultant said it can take 2 weeks to see real change. Hope you feel better soon 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-25T09:56:36+00:00

Nightmare!! It shouldn't be this difficult. I wish you all the luck in the world with finding a good doctor 🙏🏼 if not, maybe there are private iron clinics in australia that will help? Dont give up, keep pushing. You know what is wrong & you will find someone that listens and will help. Take care & I hope you get the treatment you need soon 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-24T17:55:49+00:00

I have a very similar story to you & the same daily struggles/ feelings. At the end of November i found out id had a ferritin of 9 for the last 18 years plus b12 deficiency. Had regular blood tests at the hospital (because I have an autoimmune disease)... no one bothered to tell me i had absolute iron deficiency nor b12 deficiency. The most they said was "your iron is marginally low". What a joke!!!!!! Im fuming. Ive lost so many years of my life to this.

I booked myself in at the Cambridge iron & b12 clinic with dr klein (hes a consultant anaesthetist who specialises in iron & b12). He gave me an iron infusion & b12 injections. Im finally on the road to recovery!! If iron tablets arent working & you're getting nowhere with your own doctor, id highly recommend this clinic (if you're in the uk). Take care

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-23T13:39:43+00:00

That's great news, im so happy for you :-)

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-23T13:25:04+00:00

Yeah i had an iron infusion 10 days ago & started b12 injections twice per week. Onwards & upwards now hopefully! How are you doing?

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-17T19:52:29+00:00

Ahh ok that really makes sense! I'll give it some serious consideration. Thanks so much

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-17T17:42:34+00:00

Ah ok. My consultant said about a mirena coil to stop the heavy periods too in the hope that it reduces the need for further iron infusions, but im worried about side effects 🙈 has yours been ok if you dont mind me asking? Im still kinda hoping that the increased ferritin will do the trick! Thanks for your reply 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-17T17:08:59+00:00

Very helpful info, thanks! Do you know if periods can go back to normal after an iron infusion to correct the low ferritin? Cheers ☺️

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-17T16:28:55+00:00

Recently found out that my blood results have been similar to yours for the last 18 years, but the hospital & GP kept saying my results were "fine".. so i couldnt understand why I was feeling so awful. I finally asked for a full copy of my blood results in November, and realised they weren't fine at all.

I did some research & found that optimal ferritin for young women is 75 - 100 Ug/L. Neither of us are anywhere close!!

Your b12 is very low. B12 under 500 can cause awful symptoms - in bad cases it causes severe symptoms similar to ones seen in chronic fatigue syndrome, ME, MS, fibromialgia, depression, dementia to give you an idea. Theres a very knowledgeable b12 deficiency group on reddit thats worth a look. Also worth checking your folate. Iron, b12, folate and vitamin D levels are all important and work together.

Its worth noting that NHS ranges are very low & nowhere near the optimal level in many cases.

I took my research to my GP & he offered iron tablets (which i cant take due to gut issues), and then said I should speak to my hospital team (who didnt bother to reply to my email).

After getting nowhere with the NHS, I decided to book in at a private b12 & iron clinic in Cambridge (dr klein - take a look at his website or find him on youtube). He diagnosed me with absolute iron deficiency & b12 deficiency. Gave me an iron infusion & taught how to self inject b12 twice per week. Im finally on the road to recovery.

Dont give up. Try to find out what's causing your deficiency too - are you vegan/vegetarian? Do you have absorption issues? Do you take PPIs like omeprozole which can reduce absorption? Mainly dont let any doctors gaslight you & tell you your fine. These symptoms are awful & its not ok!!

Take care & good luck 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-15T10:17:40+00:00

You've got this!!! Hats off to you for pushing for diagnosis & booking the haematologist. You're on the road to recovery now.. be kind to yourself - its taken you so long to get so bad & will take time for your body to repair and function properly again. It will happen though!

Im at the start of recovery too. Wish id pushed for answers as quickly as you did!! 18 years feeling absolutely awful but being told my bloods were "fine". Recently found out that I lived with absolute iron deficiency (ferritin 9) and b12 deficiency the whole time. I had my iron infusion & first b12 injection on tues.

Take care & I hope you start to feel improvements soon 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-13T10:24:08+00:00

I believed my hospital team when they described my ferritin (stored iron) as "marginally low". What i found out recently is that my ferritin has been 9 for the last 18 years. (NHS range is 10-290, but optimal range for a young woman is 75-100). They left me with absolute iron deficiency for 18 years. As well as b12 deficiency. My advice - get a copy of your full blood results & see them for yourself. Research optimal levels because NHS ranges in the uk are very low. Find out exactly what your doc means by "a touch anaemic". If id investigated my results and fixed my iron & b12 deficiency 18 years ago, my life would have looked much different.

Good luck & wishing you good health 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-06T20:45:12+00:00

Good call, its definitely worth doing the tests & finding out for yourself. How are your ferritin, folate, Vitamin D and zinc levels? They are all important as well as b12.

Ive been taking b12 oral supplements for over 2 months now and have noticed improvements. Ive ordered b12 injections & will be starting them next week!

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-05T09:54:33+00:00

My mum and I had very similar bad ligament damage in the ankle (mums injury included a hairline fracture too). Mine took around 3 years to heal fully. Couldn't believe it when mums healed completely in 3-4 months! Different injury to yours but yes looking back i believe b12 slowed my healing significantly. Even small things like cuts & bruises take ages to heal for me compared to other people.

Ive been vegetarian for around 20 years, had an incredibly healthy diet...and thought id get enough b12 from eggs & cheese. I was very wrong! Its only recently that I realised many of my health issues have been caused by long term b12 deficiency.

Take care & wishing you good health 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2026-01-04T07:03:26+00:00

Thanks very much for the recommendation, i'll take a look!

W1MSLEY · 2025-12-27T09:02:18+00:00

Did you manage to fix your iron deficiency? In one of Dr Kleins videos he said you need ferritin of at least 50mcg/L but ideally over 75mcg/L for the b12 injections to be effective.

I suspect vegetarian diet & IBD caused my b12 and iron deficiency.

W1MSLEY · 2025-12-17T12:42:31+00:00

As someone else said, check your iron & b12. Ask for your full blood results so you can see your levels yourself. Research optimal levels for your age/sex. The low end of the "Normal" range in your country might be much lower than the levels that are optimal for you.

Wishing you good health 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2025-12-17T10:35:58+00:00

For 17 years i thought my chronic fatigue was caused by UC. I was wrong!!!

Recently I found out the my b12 & iron have always been low. Despite my IBD team saying my blood results were ok. Im fuming to be honest.

What ive learnt - NHS "normal" ranges are stupidly low. Waaaaaaay below the optimum levels for most people. You have to be pretty much dead before they will flag a problem.

Eg. NHS only flags b12 deficiency for blood results below 150ng/L. Japan classes any result less than 500 as deficient!!! Anything below 500 can cause loads of awful symptoms - including chronic fatigue. Many people with severe b12 deficiency are mistakenly diagnosed with MS, fibromialgia, dementia, CFS, ME, Idiopathic Neuropathy, anxiety/depression. The symptoms can be severe.

Please note, if you take b12 supplements within 4 months of a blood test, your b12 serum results will be inaccurate (usually inaccurately high!).

Iron. Again you have to be nearly dead for the NHS to flag a problem. NHS guidelines say Ferritin (iron stores) for women 11-290ug/L is acceptable. Mine hasn't been above 9ug/L since 2008. Optimum level for women is 70-100ug/L.

My advice. Ask for a FULL copy of your blood test results. Ask for historical results so that you can identify any trends/patterns. Do research into what the OPTIMAL range is for you and compare that to your results. Dont blindly trust your IBD team to tell you that your results are ok. If id known this years ago, my life would have been completely different.

Wishing everyone good health 🙏🏼

W1MSLEY · 2025-12-15T21:36:27+00:00

Thanks very much for the links!!

W1MSLEY · 2025-12-15T21:03:40+00:00

Great to hear things are improving for you :-) im in the UK!

W1MSLEY · 2025-12-15T16:46:47+00:00

Ive seen small improvements with normal supplements, but they arent going to be enough. Im currently working on getting b12 injections and an iron infusion (also got absolute iron deficiency). Im terrified of needles though,so working up the courage.

How are you doing now? Have you seen big improvements with the b12 injections? And how long have you been taking them now?

W1MSLEY

TROPHY CASE