28/08/2026
Your labs have just come back and your ferritin appears low so you’ve been booked in for the iron infusion before you’ve even left the room….
BUT you know your periods have been heavy for months. You also know that something’s off with your gut. Only neither of those things came up in the ten minutes you had together.
So now you’re staring at a referral for iron in your vein, and you don’t actually know if that’s the right next step or just the fastest one.
Here’s what you need to know before you take the next step 👇
Oral iron has a ceiling. Research on iron-depleted women found a sixfold increase in dose only produced a threefold increase in what was actually absorbed, because the gut’s regulator, hepcidin, caps how much gets through. That’s a real limitation, and it’s the actual argument against infusions in genuine non-responders.
Heavy bleeding drains iron faster than any infusion can keep up with, so if no one’s asked about your cycle, the infusion is a top up, not a fix.
Low ferritin isn’t always low iron. Inflammation can suppress it on its own, which is why it needs to be read alongside your full iron studies, not by itself.
Gut issues can also block iron absorption regardless of how much goes in, whether that’s low stomach acid, coeliac disease, or something disrupting your gut lining.
None of this means the infusion is wrong. It means it’s one piece, not the whole answer.
Comment ‘Bloods’ below and I’ll send you a guide for what labs you need to look into this further.
Rach 🤍