Help: Hereditary Iron deficiency & chronic tiredness

Any help would be so appreciated. The past few years I've really struggled badly with my lack of energy. The first GP I approached years ago stuck me straight on anti-depressants, was not long after my miscarriage & I believe she jumped the gun. Next GP took me off anti-depressants saying he didn't feel it was depression related at all, but still no answers. My current GP has monitored my Iron levels closely & they started off borderline & slowly dropped, he doesn't have an answer either. My Mum also seems to have the same iron deficiency, also been ping ponged around on different anti-depressants, iron ejections etc. Her current GP took her off the injections/meds as he says the iron deficiency is only the symptom, not the base problem. :( my life was hell growing up with a seemingly bipolar mum, she had major highs & lows & it ruined our relationship to a degree. Has anyone else had a similar deficiency & found some answers?? Somedays I feel so deflated its a struggle to lift my arms :(, so many things I need to do & frustrating as hell that I can't find the energy!!

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...

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 :(

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.

you can take iron tablets but for *me* they would've taken too long to take affect. I've always had iron problems, however, they were made worse by my two pregnancies, I took Spatone (liquid iron supplement) during both pregnancies because my levels were low. my haematologist specialist thinks after DD2 my levels never really recovered and with breastfeeding and heavy periods they just got beyond supplement help.

I'm not sure about it being hereditary as my Mum passed away when I was 12 so was never able to find out, however, my Aunty on my dad's side suffered with severe anaemia so it could be "in the family" ?

eta: best thing is to get a referral to a Haematologist. They can run multiple tests and procedures (eg Endoscopy etc) to see if there are other issues causing the iron deficiency.

If you have an identified trend of low blood iron as well as ongoing fatigue, your GP really should be running more tests - full blood count, check for other nutrient levels, etc. There are a number of health issues that could be causing it, like coeliac disease or other malabsorption issues, so it is important that you get it checked out more thoroughly.

On the other hand, the iron may be borderline but not strongly indicated. Other issues that can cause the type of tiredness/fatigue/weakness that you're describing include - Vitamin D deficiency, deficiency in calcium/magnesium/potassium, chronic fatigue syndrome (which is an actual thing, despite what some doctors have thought in the past), underactive thyroid, diabetes, or even plain ol' lack of sleep or sleep disorders. I cannot stress how important the Vitamin D/magnesium/sleep connection is. And loads of people have sleep disorders without knowing it, so if you can't find any other answers and experience any kind of sleepiness with your fatigue/weakness, sleep is something you should get checked out too.

My Mum was the same and suicided at one of her very low iron stages. It's a really tough experience emotionally to go through low iron.

I would think that you and your mum (as with myself and my mum) have compromised gut flora and a leaky gut. Healing your gut on a grain free diet with a lot of healing foods- most importantly ferments- will help you. You can contact GAPS Australia for help finding someone to support you, or most good naturopaths or TCMs should be able to help.

Both mum & myself are problem sleepers, some nights I can sleep from 9pm-7am through & still wake up feeling like I haven't slept a wink. Mum is also Coeliac, I was blood tested years ago & it was non conclusive at that stage. I've had 2 full blood counts done last year, 6 months apart, all my levels are fine except my Iron/B12 levels which had dropped. Wow Meow! That's terrible but thanks for sharing that as it fits with my mum's depression/not depression struggle & mine as well. Both of us have back/muscle issues as well. It truly terrifies me that I'm walking the same path as mum, it's not an environment I want for my children & husband :(

I second what Marydean mentioned about vitamin D. my levels were so low that I'm now on a 50,000 iu dose tablet once a month.

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Both mum & myself are problem sleepers, some nights I can sleep from 9pm-7am through & still wake up feeling like I haven't slept a wink. Mum is also Coeliac, I was blood tested years ago & it was non conclusive at that stage. I've had 2 full blood counts done last year, 6 months apart, all my levels are fine except my Iron/B12 levels which had dropped. Wow Meow! That's terrible but thanks for sharing that as it fits with my mum's depression/not depression struggle & mine as well. Both of us have back/muscle issues as well. It truly terrifies me that I'm walking the same path as mum, it's not an environment I want for my children & husband :(

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OK - as someone who nearly had antidepressants pushed on me over the course of several years but finally insisted on getting a sleep study done and SURPRISE have a significant sleep disorder (narcolepsy) this is what I want you to know: depression (/bipolar) can cause sleep disturbances but likewise sleep disorders can cause depression. (Just read that last bit again). Talk to your doctor about getting your sleep checked out. Also, get your Vitamin D levels checked, and if they are low, start taking a supplement along with some magnesium & if you don't have much dairy in your diet, some calcium as well. Just take your iron supplement (with some vit C to increase absorption) at a different time. Vitamin D/magnesium/calcium are all needed in order for the correct sleep hormones in your brain to switch on, and without it, your daytime/nighttime circadian rhythms might be out of whack.

BTW - a full blood count will not screen for other fatigue related issues, the dr needs to order a number of different tests (and they take about 6-7 vials to do it) so you need to be asking specifically for tests relating to thyroid, vitamin d, blood nutrient levels, inflammatory markers, etc.

If mum is coeliac, she may be having some accidental glutination happening (ie when you eat something that looks like it *should* be gluten free but really it's got some tiny amount in the ingredients list). You could try going low- or no-gluten, and see whether you get any improvement, as it is possible to have gut damage without having the clinically required test results. If going gluten-free for several weeks improves how you're feelign, that may be a sign that you need to be screened again. Either way, anything you do to help improve your gut health (eg, GAPS or leaky gut diet, pro-biotics and pre-biotics) can't harm and is worth a try.

ETA - Meow, I'm so sorry to hear about your mum. So, so, sad :hug: