My Slow Death - or so it seems

It's been rough for me these past few weeks and I'm mostly to blame. Since Chloe's birth two months ago, I've never felt like my body and mind have gotten back to what I call normal. Obviously, the extra weight will go away in time but the concern I have is about my heart. Since I've lost so much blood (two liters just about) I've become dangerously close to a cascade of health problems related to iron-defiency. According to doc a day past surgery, the length of time to get my lost blood replaced was very critical and that problems would arise in my heart, brain, and other organs of the body the longer I waited ~ and I waited long. I was too scared to have the procedure done and had hoped to get the blood from a relative but was denied that request since my need for blood was an emergency case. The hospital gave me 2 units of blood to reach a level 8 of 10 (just enough for my body to survive), where pre-procedure I was a 6 going down to 5 (and 6 was a pretty risky level).

So anyways, two months later I'm getting heart palpitations, fatigue, and feelings of depression daily. Iron deficiency? Low thyroid levels? According to an online source, what many people don't know about iron is that it plays a key role not only in the body's oxygen transport and delivery system, but also in the regulation of metabolism. Iron is needed to synthesize vital substances such as the brain chemical, dopamine, DNA and white blood cells. Thus iron deficiency can do much more harm than merely causing anemia; it can have widespread effects — from damaging a person's ability to think to weakening their resistance to infection. This explains my frequent brain farts and poor judgment.

I'll have to take iron supplements between 6 months to a year to bring my body back to that healthy level. I most definitely will ask for a blood test to check for my ferritin concentration at this week's appointment. I can't stand feeling like I'm going to have heart failure and irreversible brain damage at the age of 32 and die tomorrow.

These are some symptoms of Iron Deficiency:
general lethargy [check]
unusual fatigue after exercise [haven't exercised yet]
pica (compulsive eating of non-food items)
pagophagia (compulsive eating of ice) [double check - I'm surprised by this symptom]

These are some signs of iron deficiency:
paleness of the skin or eyes
intestinal problems
cognitive problems such as impaired learning ability [check]
and spoon nails (thin and concave fingernails)