I reached this discussion today after searching for any connection between COVID vaccines and iron-deficiency anemia. Thanks for what you're doing!

I'm a 66-year-old male who experienced my first-ever struggle with severe iron-deficiency anemia after two doses of Moderna's MRNA COVID vaccine last year. I first experienced symptoms of fatigue on the day of my 2nd dose on 4/1/21.

After this, I had symptoms of non-aerobic tachycardia, edema, and severe fatigue. There were also brief episodes of AFIB from which I previously suffered before heart ablation resolved the issue nearly 2 years earlier. Medical attention was directed at the tachycardia, but no clear causes were identified by my cardiologist or electrophysiologist. I searched the VAERS database for reports of tachycardia and reported the same.

I received a Moderna COVID vaccine booster on 10/1/21, almost 5 months before the iron-deficiency anemia was finally diagnosed on 2/24/22. My HGB value was 5.1 g/dl. I was admitted to hospital for blood transfusions and testing. No blood loss was identified by fecal occult blood test, nor by the colonoscopy and ESG which followed.

After consulting with a hematologist, I waved off a capsule endoscopy to give iron-infusion therapy time to work. It has. After 5 infusions over 3 weeks in March/April of 2022, my HGB is above 15 g/dl for the last 3 months with normal iron levels. The symptoms of tachycardia, brief AFIB, edema, and fatigue are gone. I'm scheduled at the hematology lab tomorrow and will follow-up with the hematologist next week.

I hope this helps others who have experienced the symptoms of anemia I've described, regardless of any connection to the COVID vaccines. One other symptom that I did not realize was indicative of anemia: for the first time ever, I compulsively chewed crushed ice for nearly a year. This was not good for my teeth or bladder which is currently a bit distended. I'm pretty sure I was ingesting at least 2 gallons of water per day from ice alone!

Good luck and be well!