Is a ferritin level of 50 high enough?

This is something I continue to be confused about. Is a ferritin level of 50 really high enough to avoid symptoms?

Both my ferritin and iron levels are between 50-55, and I feel like garbage. Fatigue, brittle nails, enough hair loss that my shower drain regularly gets clogged and has to be cleaned out (ugh!), eye floaters, neuropathy in my feet and sometimes my hands, frequent muscle aches, occasional giddy feelings and/or feeling weirdly weak...

I take B12 every day and have done so for, gosh...2 years now, I think. So it's not B12!

What intrigued me is that last week I had my period, and the very first day it started my heart began racing, which quickly led to shortness of breath. My period ended on Monday/Tuesday, and I feel totally wiped out. Exhausted (like I'm getting over a flu bug),heart pounding, air hunger (I'm constantly yawning and sighing)... I just started taking Floradix along with one Solgar Gentle Iron tablet, and I already feel a tiny bit better today.

So it certainly seems like my ferritin/iron is too low, but some websites say anything at 50 or higher is perfectly fine. Is that right? Or am I borderline enough at a level of 50 to be experiencing these problems? My mom recently had her levels tested and she was over 100. I'm wondering if I should try to increase my levels that high as well. Tweet