u/Beneficial_Tea6587

I’m 36F and recently found out I have iron deficiency anemia. My hemoglobin is 10.9, ferritin 12, iron saturation 7%, with a normal MCV.
I honestly feel completely normal. No rectal bleeding, unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain, new bowel changes, persistent nausea/vomiting, appetite changes, etc. No family history of colon cancer.

Getting a scope in October and am very scared. Anyone else do this??

I’m 36F and recently found out I have iron deficiency anemia. My hemoglobin is 10.9, ferritin 12, iron saturation 7%, with a normal MCV.
I honestly feel completely normal. No rectal bleeding, unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain, new bowel changes, persistent nausea/vomiting, appetite changes, etc. No family history of colon cancer.

I’m premenopausal and have had 3 pregnancies (2 C-sections). My diet has also been pretty terrible from an iron standpoint for years. I eat very little red meat or other iron-rich foods, and after each pregnancy I crash dieted pretty severely to lose about 30 lbs, so I know nutritional/menstrual iron depletion is a very plausible explanation.

I saw GI today. The NP said the likelihood of cancer was “very low” and initially seemed inclined to have me take iron and see how my numbers respond. I have pretty significant health anxiety, though, so I asked if we could go ahead with an endoscopy + colonoscopy, and she agreed. Unfortunately, I have to wait a little over two months.

I’d especially love to hear from premenopausal women around my age who had IDA without other GI symptoms and were scoped. What did they find? Was everything normal? Did they ever figure out what caused your iron deficiency?

Trying not to spend the next two months convinced I’m the rare exception!