Anonymous wrote:What symptoms did your kids have with low iron? Active tween daughter (pre puberty) has had issues for years with intermittent aches in legs, as well as easy bruising in legs (less now but constant when younger). Ped ran iron panel but said ferritin level of 22 was normal. As I’m reading up on my own, this seems really low and could be related? Just started DD on oral iron but obviously it will take some time to see if this is the culprit, so curious how symptoms manifested in your kids. Thanks.

Easy bruising of legs is another celiac symptom. Get celiac blood test. Cheap and easy.

Anonymous wrote:Did the doctor run any bloodwork tests besides iron?

Yes, see a GI. Ask for celiac screen.

This. Low iron can be a symptom of celiac. It is a cheap blood test.

Get Proferrin. This is heme iron. My score ferritin score was 12. It took a couple of months of Proferrin to feel good.

Anonymous wrote:You need to figure out why his iron/ferritin is low, especially if he’s not vegetarian.

+1

My ferritin level is 7 and after several tests I still don’t know why. Always exhausted.

Anonymous wrote:Would recommend figuring out why iron and ferritin are low in a male.

See GI

I has low iron and I am male. MD said it happens in both males and females. Has more to do with diet usually rather than anything else.

What symptoms did your kids have with low iron? Active tween daughter (pre puberty) has had issues for years with intermittent aches in legs, as well as easy bruising in legs (less now but constant when younger). Ped ran iron panel but said ferritin level of 22 was normal. As I’m reading up on my own, this seems really low and could be related? Just started DD on oral iron but obviously it will take some time to see if this is the culprit, so curious how symptoms manifested in your kids. Thanks.

My daughter had low iron, got a blood transfusion and her running times greatly improved. I would take him to hematologist.

Colleagues was a competitive runner and got anemia from overrunning—damaged marrow/red blood making cells in her leg bones.

You need to figure out why his iron/ferritin is low, especially if he’s not vegetarian.

Anonymous wrote:Would recommend figuring out why iron and ferritin are low in a male.

See GI

Doctors know that men can have periods.

Did the doctor run any bloodwork tests besides iron?

Yes, see a GI. Ask for celiac screen.

Would recommend figuring out why iron and ferritin are low in a male.

See GI

My kid had low iron, so she started taking the over-the-counter iron every morning. What a change! She is no longer tired and is not getting sick every week.

DD's doctor prescribed Integra, a high dose iron supplement. But by the time we got it, DD's iron level had gone from low 20s to mid 50s just by using over the counter iron supplement. So doctor said don't use the Integra. Now Fe level is low 90s with the over the counter supplements.

This seems to mean that it's possible to get Fe up using OTC. If that doesn't work for your kid over the course of a few months then maybe there's an issue with iron retention and more aggressive supplements/infusions might be warranted.

hi all, my DS is 18 and a pretty solid x-country and track runner who will be competing in college next year. His performance tailed off a bit at the end of cross country and carried over into indoor track - we thought combination of senioritis and some burn out. Just had iron tested and Ferritin is in low 20s, which seems to explain a lot. Started the slow fe supplements every other day with vitamin c for absorption, and introduced diet changes. Question is at that low level of ferritin, would he be better off with an iron infusion to expedite the process - which seems pretty lengthy (with supplements etc). Doctor doesn’t seem too concerned, but 100% this impacted his performance - which we don’t minimize as there is a significant athletic scholarship attached to his performance, this isn’t just a hobby thx all