u/CrewNo439

I am a “healthy” 41 yr old female and recently went to my Kaiser PCP complaining of extreme exhaustion, low energy, low mood, brain fog, poor concentration, poor memory, dizziness upon standing, getting sick often, abnormally dry lips, night waking, poor exercise recovery, inability to function throughout normal daily tasks.. While some symptoms have been ongoing but worsening recently, others seemed to be come out of nowhere. The way I was feeling was absolutely alarming. I thought I must be experiencing perimenopause since that’s all the algorithm is feeding me. But I had my hormones tested through an outside provider and they were normal. After pushing for more answers, my PCP agreed to run additional labs and the only thing that came back obviously out of range was my ferritin. Despite it being 12, my doctor said it was “fine.” That’s it. Nothing else. No other course of action to discuss my symptoms or plan to do any other bloodwork to determine why I feel like shit. Prior to this, I had no indication of iron levels, never ever considered it as a cause of my symptoms. But now it seemed like an obvious connection… right? I pushed back on the ferritin number since it was clearly out of range and my doc told me they often see this in “menstruating females” and suggested I see a psychiatrist. Yep, you read that right. Me demanding answers about my symptoms and ferritin levels prompted my doc told refer me to a psychiatrist. I was dumbfounded, and offended to be honest. Did this imply she thought I was making up feeling like shit? I’ve since done quite a bit of research on non-anemic low ferritin and feel pretty certain it’s connected to my symptoms. I’ve been reading so many similar stories, it is shocking how many people are being ignored and overlooked and not taken seriously. It’s so frustrating. I’m just beginning this journey so I don’t fully know what to do beyond trying to supplement. Looking for validation, encouragement, and support from those who have seen their way through this.