I had my 3 month labs done a couple of weeks ago. Everything came back looking good with the exception of my ferritin level. It was 20 ng/mL. My doc said to just take a low dose Iron supplement. He didn't seem very concerned. My research on the internet causes me to think it's a lot lower than it should be.

Just curious what others have seen in their labs? I'm wondering if this is really low and partly to blame for the fatigue I have been feeling?

If you take an iron supplement, which one works well for you?

Any advice or personal experience regarding ferritin/iron you can share will be appreciated!

My ferritin was 7 at my six-month labs because I resumed giving blood after surgery. My doc said I can't eat enough to replace the iron from food, so I can only give blood twice a year and have to take a supplement. I took carbonyl iron (tender iron) for a while as it's gentler on my stomach but my ferritin only went to 22 after being on it six months. I switched to Bifera which is part heme iron and better absorbed than carbonyl or gluconate and I hope my next labs are better. I feel better than I did when it was at 7 for sure. If the Bifera doesn't raise the level enough, I'll switch to Proferrin, which is all heme iron. Taking iron with vitamin C helps absorption, too.

I haven't had blood taken post-sleeve, but I had low ferritin levels after another surgery. Went as low as 4. Doctor put me on 325mg 3x/day of just the regular iron supplement you can get at the drug store. All my iron-related levels are up as long as I keep taking the supplements.