low ferritin and high overload - it's possible

[Guest guest]

Hi...

Not sure who was asking about too much iron and ferritn levels? I

hope this will help someone.

My doc will not do a ferritin test alone. He insists on a CBC to see

where the hemoglobin and hematocrit are at in addition to iron. He

does a full iron panel w/ferritin. So, as a caution ferritin alone

testing is probably not a good way to diagnose iron deficiency -

You could do more harm than good.

BTW, my sisters have high normal iron/ferritin and give blood every

few months to keep it in check. However, I really do have low iron

and ferritn. The point is both high and low can cause extreme

problems.

Here is a site I found a few years back when I started noticing the

Thyroid boards were pushing testimg Ferritin for low iron in

Hashi's. I e-mailed the doc and he sent me quite a bit of info on

thyroid people having too much iron. Here is the email I kept.

....This is a letter I received back in 2004...

{{{Becca,

The thyroid is very reactive to excess iron. The test for thyroid,

TSH, is not very sensitive. That is that this test will allow

malfunction in the gland before the test reports a problem.

Ferritin should never be used as a gauge of when to supplement with

iron. Ferritin is a measure of storage iron or a backup supply of

iron. You assay anemia with either hemoglobin or hematocrit, they

are initialized HGB and HCT on lab reports respectively. Anything

less than 10-12 in hemoglobin is considered anemia. For hematocrit,

a normal range is 42-44% for adult females and adult males is 45-

47%. This particular lab value may vary from day to day and

vegetarians will experience a slightly lesser hematocrit as a trend.

Where anemia is discovered the patient should supplement with a

complex of B vitamins.

Loss of energy is one of the first signs of iron overload. This due

to iron storing in the thyroid. Anyone with thyroid malfunction

should be screened immediately for iron overload. The proper

screening tests are transferrin saturation (TS) and serum ferritin

(SF). Anything above 44% in saturation is diagnostic for

hemochromatosis.

The good news is that finding out that your thyroid problems are

based on excess iron brings to you another treatment approach.

Proper treatment can reverse all symptoms, including thyroid, and

return the patient to a normal lifespan. Although we cannot promise

everything to everybody, this has been the remarkable trend.

Iron Overload or hemochromatosis is eventually fatal if not detected

or not treated. For further study of the subject, see our web site

for anemia and diagnosing hemochromatosis. www.ironoverload.org

Steve Barfield Iron Overload Diseases Assn.

Note: Transferrin Saturation is listed as % of Saturation on most lab

sheets. To find the TS or percentage of Saturation you divide the

TIBC into SI. Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) and the Serum Iron

(SI). Ferritin on lab sheets is the Serum ferritin.}}}

--------------------------------

More info..

I think these links still work---

Also Shomon has a good article on iron at:

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/hemachromatosis-iron.htm

Dr Mercola has a informative article on his website as well at:

http://www.mercola.com/2002/dec/18/iron_diagnosis.htm

HTH,

Bj