u/Jooles95

I’ve been dealing with what I now know is IDWA for around 10 years - since 2016, my ferritin has never been above 30, with rock-bottom being 11.

My symptoms are: fatigue, dizziness, bendy/fragile nails, excessive hair fall, anxiety, lots of headaches, brain fog, poor sleep. I’m not a good candidate for iron infusions due to an autoimmune condition, so oral supplements are my only option, and it has been HARD. Since I was diagnosed in July 2024, my ferritin has only risen from 14 to 28 as of February 2026 with uninterrupted supplementation.

I have now been on 75mg liquid iron polymaltose + vitamin C for six months and have recently added in 250mg of lactoferrin into the mix, but aside for less hair fall and fewer headaches, I honestly feel no difference. I’m due for blood tests in a few weeks and am trying to figure out whether I should prepare myself to see an abysmally low number once again, or if there is a chance that my levels are rising but I’m simply not seeing improvements yet.

For those who managed to recover from prolonged IDWA, at what ferritin levels did you start to feel less like a wreck again?

It’s 11pm, we need to get up for work at 5am, and yet NOBODY is sleeping in our house because the May Ball fireworks sound like a blooming war operation even with all the windows shut, which is its own issue on the hottest night of the year. Our dog is terrified and just peed herself from the stress, our cat is hiding, and I can hear the neighbour’s toddler WAILING through the wall because he’s scared of the noise.

I get tradition, but making such a racket for almost 30 minutes at a very anti-social hour is madness! And we’re in Girton, which is not even that close to the site; it must be so much worse closer to town!

That’s it, that’s my rant. I hope it pours with rain all night on every single May Ball going forward, EVER.

After being gaslit by doctors for years and waiting over nine months for a specialist appointment, I have finally found the cause of the monstrous periods that have made me iron deficient for the past decade: endometriosis.

The doctor I saw was lovely, and after I have an MRI next week she has recommended putting in an IUD (likely the Mirena coil) to help control the endometriosis and reduce my bleeding so I can finally get better.

Does anyone here whose iron deficiency and/or anaemia were caused by heavy periods have experience with the Mirena? I keep seeing either amazing or horrific stories about it online, so I would love to hear some first-hand accounts. Did it actually help with your bleeding, and did you manage to fix your iron deficiency after having it placed?

Y’all, please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like it’s one step forward and two steps back when going through supplementation!

After feeling horrible for years (exhaustion, nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath, hair loss, anxiety, poor sleep, constant headaches, mouth ulcers, brittle nails, digestive issues, weight gain), I found out that I had been in absolute iron deficiency (ferritin under 30, with the lowest point being a 9) for close to a decade with no doctors flagging low ferritin as the possible cause of my symptoms. It was luckily spotted by a new doctor in late 2024, and she started me on supplements.

It took over a year for me to find one (liquid iron polymaltose, 75mg/day) that I could absorb without being horribly sick, and I thought I was finally on track. I was getting my energy back, the brain fog had lifted, I was leaving the house multiple times a week and walking several km daily on my walking pad while in remote work meetings. I finally felt like me again! February through April was the best I’ve felt since the iron deficiency started in my late teens, it was amazing.

But I had a bit of a heavier period in April. No biggie, I bounced back within days, still feeling great. Then the May period was heavier again, and lasted eight days. Recovering was a bit more of a struggle, and I started leaving my walking pad in its place in the corner most days. Then, the June period hit, and it wasn’t even that bad, but I’m a wreck. I’m so tired, constantly nauseous and dizzy, my head pounds every time I move, and I genuinely want to cry because I don’t understand how I could lose so much progress in the span of a month.

My ferritin was 28 last time it was checked in January, and I was hoping it would be somewhere in the 40s-50s range by now, but the sudden return of my symptoms is making me think my levels must have dropped again for some reason.

Has anyone else been through this? How did you drag yourself back up after a setback? I would love to hear your stories and feel a little less hopeless tonight! ❤️

I just read The Alpha of Bleake Isle and The Alpha of Grave Hills by Kathryn Moon, and I absolutely *adored* how the MMCs were written - strong and masculine, but at the same time sweet, emotionally mature and completely smitten for their respective FMCs. It was so refreshing after years of problematic ‘alpha-hole’-type characters with almost no depth!

Now I really want to read more romances with similar vibes, but I’m really struggling to find any! Could you throw your best recommendations at me? Bonus points for spice and historical or high-fantasy settings (I’m not a fan of contemporary/urban fantasy).