What I Found in My Clients' Tests After Long COVID — And Why It Changes Everything — Finding #1: The Energy Crisis at the Cell Level

In one long COVID/POTS case &#8212; completely normal on standard bloodwork, no active inflammation, autoimmune panel negative &#8212; I found ferritin at 25.1. Let me explain why that number matters even though it &#8220;looks normal.&#8221; Ferritin is how your body stores iron. But iron is not just for making red blood cells. Iron is a critical component of Complex IV &#8212; one of the key enzymes your mitochondria use to generate ATP, which is your cellular energy currency. When iron gets low enough, your body makes a ruthless decision: it protects your red blood cells (so you don&#8217;t look anemic on a blood test) by quietly pulling iron away from everything else &#8212; including the enzymes that produce energy, dopamine, and serotonin. So the hemoglobin looks fine. The CBC looks fine. But the energy machinery inside the cell is running on fumes. This is exactly why this client had crushing fatigue, brain fog, and mood collapse &#8212; and was told everything was normal. It wasn&#8217;t. Her mitochondria were iron-starved while her doctor was looking at the wrong number. Within two weeks of correcting iron, fatigue and brain fog significantly improved. That&#8217;s not a placebo. That&#8217;s a mechanism confirming itself in real time.