Visited the doctor this afternoon on campus. Honestly, I went in with low expectations, and they were more or less met.
I sent a PDF of my bloodwork to him. First thing he said: “Wow, this is fantastic. Especially your cholesterol. Your HDL is higher than your LDL.” Then noted that my ferritin is “in range,” though acknowledged that it is on the very low side of it. He didn’t deny what I’m feeling, but he didn’t seem extremely worried. Mind you, the American Society of Hematology considers a ferritin level under 30 ng/mL to clinically be an “absolute iron deficiency.”
He agreed that increasing my mileage likely triggered the hair loss given that I didn’t experience any kind of trauma since that started last year. He didn’t think that my hair looked very thin today, but I know myself. He didn’t dismiss my feelings but thought that some other stressors in fall semester could be making me feel this way and not so much my iron.
Interestingly, at the end he checked my eyelids and palms and noted that their paleness matched that of someone who is anemic, even though my hemoglobin, HCV, etc. are all in range. Though he said it could just be my skin tone. 
He at least thought that my condition warranted further investigation, so I did an iron and TIBC test immediately after. Always good to have more information.
He didn’t seem opposed at all to iron supplementation and didn’t think I could really overdose on iron within reason. He didn’t feel that warranted specific guidelines. So, as expected, I think I’m going to have to deal with this more or less by myself.
I wish I could find an outlet similar to running though. Walking doesn’t do the trick as much. But yeah, I’m just going to take it easy with exercise for several weeks and see where supplementation takes me. Certainly frustrating, but it is what it is. I’ll lift a few times and run 2-4 times per week at much lower overall mileage while my body (hopefully) responds positively.
Lots of rambling lately. But as a lot of people here know, it’s difficult when you have to unwillingly scale back your training because it is such an important hobby for all of us.
Trying to focus on the positive: I have more time to work (am getting close to finally having enough data for a first-author paper, and the other project is moving along too). I’ll have more free time for my other hobbies. Plus, I’m going to the Caucasus in less than two months. By that point it will be over a year since I’ve Gone On Vacation. Booked my flights last night. Lots of anxiety during that process, which didn’t help my symptoms. But I’m so excited (and of course a little nervous).
I end this post with “my” dog in his new handmade wool sweater 
