{"id":84081,"date":"2025-08-22T03:13:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T03:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/84081\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T03:13:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T03:13:09","slug":"common-but-under-diagnosed-deficiency-that-makes-you-tired-all-the-time-and-why-your-reflux-pills-could-be-to-blame-revealed-by-top-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/84081\/","title":{"rendered":"Common but under-diagnosed deficiency that makes you tired all the time – and why your reflux pills could be to blame, revealed by top doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feeling exhausted every day became the norm for Brigitte Siefken, so much so that she\u2019d have to go back to bed after breakfast or nap in the afternoon just to function.<\/p>\n

\u2018It wasn\u2019t just the tiredness and fatigue,\u2019 recalls<\/a> Brigitte, 55, a finance assistant, who is single and lives in Nottingham<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018I also had pins and needles in my hands that came and went, and aching joint pains in my hips and ankles.<\/p>\n

\u2018At night I couldn\u2019t sleep as I had restless legs with cramping pains and the constant urge to move them. I used to teach modern languages and had a good brain that was very sharp, but I was struggling now to make decisions and remember things.\u2019<\/p>\n

Brigitte also noticed that her complexion was pale and strands of hair fell out more than usual when she brushed it – and she felt breathless and dizzy when she walked up the stairs.<\/p>\n

A blood test by her GP revealed she had iron deficiency anaemia, (IDA) – meaning her iron stores were far too low \u2013 a common complaint among women especially, but the surprise in Brigitte\u2019s case was why.<\/p>\n

The body needs iron to make haemoglobin, the red pigment in blood that carries oxygen around the body and that is also uses to convert nutrients into energy.<\/p>\n

Too little iron leads to low haemoglobin – and not enough oxygen being carried around the body, leading to a host of symptoms from tiredness and breathlessness to hair loss (due to insufficient oxygen reaching the hair follicles), brain fog, depression, heart palpitations, restless legs and even \u2018pica\u2019 (compulsive cravings for substances that have no nutritional value such as ice cubes or coal).<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A blood test by Brigitte’s GP revealed she had iron deficiency anaemia, (IDA) – meaning her iron stores were far too low<\/p>\n

Iron deficiency anaemia affects 16 per cent of women in the UK and three per cent of men – four million people, says Toby Richards, a professor of surgery at the University of East London, and director of the private Iron Clinic in London.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s the most common mineral or vitamin deficiency,\u2019 says Professor Richards.<\/p>\n

\u2018Many people are unaware of what is causing them to feel so tired. Sometimes they just put it down to the stresses of work and family life and accept it as one of those things.\u2019<\/p>\n

While a diet low in iron-rich foods can contribute, the most common cause of iron deficiency in women is usually period blood loss and pregnancy, explains Professor Richards \u2013 but that wasn\u2019t the case for Brigitte.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d never had heavy periods,\u2019 she says, \u2018but I did have a long history of gut complaints \u2013 namely chronic acid reflux, which started 15 years before.\u2019<\/p>\n

The reflux had made Brigitte constantly nauseous and meant she often needed to sleep upright at night to stop acid leaking into her oesophagus \u2013 and her doctor had prescribed a type of drug called a proton pump inhibitor (PPIs) which stop production of acid in the stomach.<\/p>\n

PPIs such as omeprazole, lansoprazole and esomeprazole (which Brigitte was taking), are some of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the UK, with an estimated 8million on them but studies have shown that long term use – over several years – may cause iron deficiency, as stomach acid helps make iron soluble and more easily absorbable.<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s a lot of people who could become iron deficient as a result and are not aware of the link with anaemia,\u2019 says Professor Richards.<\/p>\n

\"Iron <\/p>\n

Iron deficiency anaemia affects 16 per cent of women in the UK and three per cent of men – four million people, says Toby Richards, a professor of surgery at the University of East London, and director of the private Iron Clinic in London<\/p>\n

A study published in the journal Blood in 2019 concluded that iron deficiency anaemia due to PPI use was \u2018very likely much more common than recognised\u2019 and should be considered in patients with unexplained iron deficiency anaemia without other risk factors.<\/p>\n

Iron deficiency anaemia can be diagnosed with a blood test from the GP \u2018but not everyone will get a blood test when they say they are fatigued, as GPs see a lot of tired people\u2019, says Professor Richard.<\/p>\n

\u2018If they do, it\u2019s usually a full blood count [which measures haemoglobin], but what you really need is a specific test to measure ferritin levels [the protein that stores iron] as this is a key marker for iron levels.<\/p>\n

\u2018Low levels of ferritin are like the petrol warning light coming on when your tank is nearly empty, so you can experience symptoms of iron deficiency.\u2019<\/p>\n

Professor Richards says those requiring high doses or long term PPI use, lasting years rather than weeks or months \u2018should have a regular ferritin test every one to two years\u2019.<\/p>\n

However in practice this seems unlikely to happen – confirmed by research from Oxford University, published in the British Journal of General Practice last year<\/a>, based on the health records of 14 million people: this concluded that iron deficiency anaemia testing and follow up in the UK was \u2018suboptimal\u2019.<\/p>\n

The risk is that untreated, a lack of iron can lead to impaired immunity, an abnormally fast heartbeat and heart failure as the heart has to beat faster to try and circulate enough oxygen around the body. And detecting it is vital, as in men especially IDA can be a red flag of a serious underlying problem.<\/p>\n

\u2018In men of any age, I\u2019d always be worried if they have anaemia as it usually means they are losing blood from the gastric tract possibly due to inflammation, an ulcer or even cancer,\u2019 says Professor Peter Whorwell, a consultant gastroenterologist at Manchester NHS Foundation Trust.<\/p>\n

As many as 8.3 per cent of patients with unexplained IDA had cancers of the gastro intestinal tract, according to a 2022 study published in Frontiers in Gastroenterology.<\/p>\n

One of the most common gastric causes of anaemia is coeliac disease (an autoimmune condition where the body makes antibodies to gluten), according to Professor Whorwell. The antibodies damage the finger-like villi lining the gut, reducing the absorption of minerals, including iron.<\/p>\n

Like Brigitte, Derek Roberts, 38, was poleaxed with tiredness and fatigue and diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia, but it took three years for doctors to discover this was due to undiagnosed coeliac disease.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d had a bereavement, our baby daughter had died in 2013 at just five weeks old, so I put my exhaustion down to grief,\u2019 says Derek, a social media manager who lives in Airdrie, near Glasgow in Scotland, with his wife Jen, 40, an early years practitioner, and their two children aged 11 and six.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was constantly tired, my legs felt so heavy, I\u2019d wake up exhausted and struggle to walk up the stairs as I was so breathless.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was working as a retail manager at the time and had brain fog so bad that I struggled to make any decisions at work so colleagues would ask if I was all right.\u2019<\/p>\n

After a few months Derek went to see his doctor and a blood test showed he was anaemic, and he was prescribed iron tablets – but they did him little good.<\/p>\n

\u2018My GP was puzzled why I wasn\u2019t getting any better and stopped the iron tablets and prescribed folic acid supplements in case I had a deficiency, but they made no difference either.\u2019<\/p>\n

This went on for three years. It wasn\u2019t until Derek also developed gut symptoms, including diarrhoea and bloating, that a locum GP ordered a blood test for coeliac disease. The test was positive and confirmed by a biopsy a few months later. Derek switched to a gluten-free diet and his iron deficiency symptoms gradually disappeared and he says his \u2018brain started working again\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d never heard of coeliac disease, so it was a total surprise to find out this was causing my fatigue and making me anaemic,\u2019 says Derek, whose father and sister have also subsequently been diagnosed with it.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was unusual in that I had the fatigue symptoms before the gut symptoms, but a simple blood test could have saved me three years of living with anaemia.\u2019<\/p>\n

Professor Richards says some patients who suspect their symptoms are due to iron deficiency often try to self-medicate by buying iron supplements over the counter, but these are typically 15mg doses when the optimum dose needed is 300mg.<\/p>\n

\u2018These products are okay for maintaining iron levels but not for treating iron deficiency,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

After Brigitte\u2019s original diagnosis in 2018 she was given iron supplements which were of little use.<\/p>\n

\u2018I had no energy. I felt like my tank was emptying and only topping up my sleep would help get me through the day,\u2019 says Brigitte.<\/p>\n

She was then given an intravenous iron infusion which slowly improved her energy levels before they dropped again a couple of months later.<\/p>\n

Brigitte has had four IV iron infusions on the NHS over the past five years, but this year she paid \u00a3790 to have it done privately.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was told by the NHS that, although my ferritin levels were low, until I actually became anaemic I couldn\u2019t have an IV iron infusion \u2013 effectively, I had to get worse before I could be treated even though I had symptoms,\u2019 says Brigitte.<\/p>\n

\u2018My hope is that my story may cause medics to reflect on the long-term impact of PPIs and major gastric surgeries on patients, so that they are perhaps able help us better manage our challenges,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

\u2018With the right support, there is no need to live as iron deficient as some of us do.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feeling exhausted every day became the norm for Brigitte Siefken, so much so that she\u2019d have to go…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[97,59,102,18306,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-84081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-nottingham","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}