I know that these posts come up a lot, but this situation seems different.
I am a college male, had been running poorly for nearly a month, so i got my blood work done. Results came back as follows:
RBC - 4.32
hemoglobin - 13.7
hematocrit - 39%
ferritin 23
The people at the health center here told me that all the levels are low, except the ferritin which is at the bottom of the acceptable range. However, they still suggested that I take iron supplements and that that would likely fix the problem. Is this accurate or should I be looking into other causes?
Also, are these levels low enough that they are a viable cause for my decreased performance?
I wasn't going to ask on this forum, except I am sure there are people who have much more experience with iron and anemia issues in runners than the nurses at my school's health center do.