Help: Hereditary Iron deficiency & chronic tiredness

[~Gee_Whizzy~]

I had severe iron deficiency 4 months ago requiring a 7.5hr iron infusion in hospital. my best advice to you would be to get a referral to a haematologist. there can be many underlying conditions that could cause low iron apart from the "obvious" stuff eg heavy periods, not enough red meat or other iron rich foods etc...

[lissy]

I probably have issues with both of those things Gee, have always had a very heavy period & I find it hard to eat a lot of red meat, I prefer chicken. Is iron deficiency as easy as taking an iron tablet? Can I ask what caused your deficiency? Was it something you'd been struggling with or it came on for no apparent reason? What were the symptoms? I just feel it's too big a coincidence that both my mum & I have this issue. And I don't want it to affect my relationship with my son, I don't want to be a tired, crabby mum all the time who snaps at him for no reason

[onthefly]

Could be a gut problem of some sort, or some other reason that you're not absorbing the iron you eat? I think you probably need to get a referral to some sort of specialist.