Week 5 after IV iron and I’m worse than before. Has anyone else experienced this?
I’m 33 years old and I strongly suspect I’ve been iron deficient my whole life.
A few months ago I started taking oral iron because my ferritin was very low. Instead of feeling better, I slowly started feeling worse.
Before all this, I was exercising regularly and living a fairly normal life. Over the following months, I went from that to spending more and more time in bed.
Then I had an iron infusion, and things got even worse.
I know hypophosphatemia after ferric carboxymaltose is a possibility, and I’m looking into that. But what confuses me is that my decline actually was before the infusion, when I was only taking oral iron.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVE IRON BACK TO A BODY THAT HAS BEEN IRON DEFICIENT FOR DECADES?
That’s the question I can’t stop thinking about.
If someone has been iron deficient for years, or even decades, the body must adapt somehow.
I’ve found studies showing changes in things like the nervous system, norepinephrine, mitochondria, hormones, and iron regulation itself.
So I’m wondering whether some people experience a difficult adjustment period when iron suddenly becomes available again.
Has anyone here gotten significantly worse after starting iron treatment, either oral or IV, before eventually improving?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who had very long-term iron deficiency.