LOW IRON SYMPTOMS AND A MIGRAINE CONNECTION

Its been a long time since I've posted but I've decided to go through my "drafts" and post on at least one topic. I picked this one because I am having some luck with raising my iron levels.

When I first switched endocrinologists it was because I was not really feeling better even though my old endocrinologist was getting my thyroid issues under control. I was still often feeling tired and my migraines were getting worse instead of better. My new endocrinologist had more experience and ran some blood tests for a variety of things. It was then that he discovered that my iron was low. It is important to point out that the only thing that came up out of range on my blood test results was the % iron saturation. It was slightly low. Other than that, everything seemingly looked fine. My endocrinologist however, did not think everything looked fine. Since then, I've learned that one of the important numbers he looks at is the Ferritin level (storage iron). Although the range is 10 to 282, my doctor has told me he likes to see it between 60 and 80. Mine was 17 and although I was never considered anemic, I was suffering from the symptoms. When I walked up even one set of stairs I was so out of breath that I could not talk. While gardening I had to bring a lawn chair for my frequent rests, it eventually got to the point where I was shoveling from a sitting position. I had developed a few vertical lines in my fingernails and didn't know why (a symptom of low iron). My heart would often pound for no apparent reason.

I find it interesting that I had so many symptoms when my blood tests were "fine". Fortunately, I was seeing a doctor who knew better. He told me to start taking a supplement called Slo-Fe. I took one a day and my iron level went up to around 40. It seemed to stabilize at that number and I was still having symptoms so I began to take 2 pills. It didn't seem to want to go up anymore so I started to try to take 3 pills a day but it was difficult because when I did, it tended to upset my stomach, making me more prone to heartburn. I also started to try to pay attention to eating foods that were high in iron. I bought a cast iron frying pan and cooked myself scrambled eggs in it. I ate liver cooked in my new frying pan, liver is something that I do not hate but I do not love it either. Some other things I ate that were high in iron were raisins, peanut butter and spinach. I'm not a big meat eater but tried to make sure I had either meat or eggs everyday. I learned that iron from meat or eggs is called heme iron and other iron is called non heme iron. If you eat non heme iron with heme iron it is more readily absorbed. I tried to take my iron pills when I ate meat. Eventually, my level went up to almost 60 but still I felt some symptoms.

My last blood test showed that my level is up to 87. Hooray, but I'm still taking at least one iron pill a day and trying to pay attention to what I eat. I don't want to slack off and have it go back down. I obviously am a long way from overdosing on iron so I don't have to worry about that!

Are my symptoms gone? Its hard to tell because the symptoms of hypothyroidism are often similar. Recently, I have had to increase my dose of thyroid hormone and had been having some symptoms. I was feeling very tired, a bit out of breath, had more headaches (not migraine) and had some heart palpitations. I'm assuming since my thyroid numbers were off and my iron numbers were better than ever, these symptoms were due to the thyroid. The lines in my fingernails are still there but it may take time for them to grow out.

An important point is that I am beginning to think that there is a significant connection between my low iron and my migraine headaches. As my iron level has increased, the migraines have decreased. This may be a coincidence but I can definitely see a correlation between them. My problem began in 2006 when my periods became a bit heavier and more frequent. More than likely this was due to my undiagnosed hypothyroidism. At that time I was getting a migraine with almost every period. I would assume that my iron would be lowest at the time of my period. In the fall of 2007 I began to have more and more symptoms of low iron but thought this was due to my hypothyroidism. In reality, my heavier periods were slowly but surely depleting my iron levels. Through the rest of 2007 and first half of 2008 I felt worse and worse and it was during this time I had the most migraines. Finally in June of 2008 I switched to my new endocrinologist and he discovered the iron problem. It's taken over a year to raise my iron level but as it has increased, my migraines have decreased.

My neurologist has told me that migraines can be episodic so it is possible that I will have another bad episode even with my increased iron level. Only time will tell. One thing that this entire phase has taught me is patience. I have some fear that I will suddenly be plunged into another period just as bad as the 2007/2008 time but I also have hope that maintaining my iron level will be the key to healthy living. Chances are it will not be as simple as that but I will definitely pay attention. My neurologist has told me that most times they are unable to find the exact cause of migraines but can only treat the headache. I've always been a person who asks "why". I would love to know why I suddenly started to get all these migraines.