Guest guest Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 I just got my ferritin test back and was so diappointed. It was 51 now 53 one year later. No wonder I dont feel good. Im taking Iron 18.....ferrous fumarate 18 mg 2 times a day. I need more iron. What is the best item to improve iron? Im going shopping today and woould like to know what to get! Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Kim, Did you get a CBC also? Was your hemoglobin count out of line? A 51 for ferritin is not really that bad. You probably wouldn't notice any effects until it drops really low, like under 20, even then some people don't notice it, it would depend on what your other counts looked like. Do you supplement B vitamins also and Vit C? Like a greens formula? That will also help to build up your iron stores. Vit C taken with iron helps you absorb the iron better. If you're menopausal or getting closer to that time frame, you need to be careful about supplementing iron without proper testing. Linn > > I just got my ferritin test back and was so diappointed. It was 51 > now 53 one year later. No wonder I dont feel good. > Im taking Iron 18.....ferrous fumarate 18 mg 2 times a day. I need more > iron. What is the best item to improve iron? Im going shopping today > and woould like to know what to get! > > Kim > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 I thought iron was suppose to be around 90? Im menopausal, taking all sex hormones, vit c, not to tolerable, 1000 mg. Im on 1/4 tab of florinel and my adolsterone came back 5. I cant seem to take more, I swell up with fluid. I havent had a cbc done for awhile but I m just running out of money and my husband is complaining. Tell me why I thought 90... thank you, Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 50 isn't hoirrif for Ferritin, butI would double the amount you are taking and retest in a couple months. -- Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Does anyone have a good link explaining the connection between low ferritin and adrenal/thyroid problems? I am trying to understand all of this. Thanks, Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 It is thought here that ferritin of 70 to 90 is best, but I read one book that stated 50 was ideal ferritin. The doctors who wrote that book have their patients with ferritin of 90 donate blood to bring it down. I don't know that 90 is high enough to require that, but be aware some think it is too high. My ferritin is way over 90, and too high. The only way to lower ferritin is to get rid of blood. Since they still won't let me donate, I'm stuck with high ferritin until I get another doctor. Phooey. Any woman who still has cycles and needs to supplement iron to bring ferritin up should be aware that continuing to supplement iron after periods stop might lead to overly high ferritin. I've read high ferritin interferes with thyroid hormones too. If you want to raise ferritin, go slowly, test often, and check symptoms. How well thyroid is utilized and how well you feel is the key. Remember that once you stop having periods there is no way to get rid of extra iron. Too high iron levels are associated with heart disease and heart attacks, if I remember correctly. Iron levels raising after menopause is one reason women's heart risks begin to equal men's after ceasing to menstruate. My guess would be if you are at 50 now, and have stopped cycling, your ferritin will slowly raise without help. But I could be wrong. sol Kim wrote: > I thought iron was suppose to be around 90? Im menopausal, taking > all sex hormones, vit c, not to tolerable, 1000 mg. Im on 1/4 tab of > florinel and my adolsterone came back 5. I cant seem to take more, I > swell up with fluid. I havent had a cbc done for awhile but I m just > running out of money and my husband is complaining. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Wow, that was interesting! Thank you so much fo that input. I am going to be 50 in May and am in Meopause ! Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 There's a lot of info around that says ferritin should be 80-90, depending on the source, but the range for normal is huge. Low normal is 9. Most doctors would not tell you to supplement at 30 or higher. It would depend on what some of your other blood counts were, especially if you're menopausal. Once you quit having periods, the heart disease risk increases, Sol was correct, it's due to not having the blood loss every month. Women who have hysterectomies also have increased heart risk and it should be recommended to them to donate blood once in a while, but most often it's not. There are many reasons for ferritin to drop, but before supplementing iron, especially in menopausal women, other tests should be advised. While supplementing iron, periodic testing every couple of months should be done. Higher ferritin counts are definitely not good. Linn > > I thought iron was suppose to be around 90? Im menopausal, taking > all sex hormones, vit c, not to tolerable, 1000 mg. Im on 1/4 tab of > florinel and my adolsterone came back 5. I cant seem to take more, I > swell up with fluid. I havent had a cbc done for awhile but I m just > running out of money and my husband is complaining. > > Tell me why I thought 90... > thank you, > Kim > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 I've also wondered about those ferritin levels that are pushed on STTM and realthryroidhelp. I too have read that taking iron supplementation is very risky and some articles say never to supplement with iron. Will try to find them. Too high iron can make the blood thicker and cause platelets to clump. Not a good thing. As a menstruating woman I was always anemic. After meno my ferritin is at 70, and I occasionally give blood to avoid it going to high. It's also a hassle sometimes to find vitamins, foods that are not iron fortified. And yes, I have also read the theory on why women's risk of heart disease raises after meno, and some feel it has nothing to do with the estrogen factor, and everything to do with the thicker blood. I'll try to find those articles/studies to back this up. Naffy > > I thought iron was suppose to be around 90? Im menopausal, taking > > all sex hormones, vit c, not to tolerable, 1000 mg. Im on 1/4 tab of > > florinel and my adolsterone came back 5. I cant seem to take more, I > > swell up with fluid. I havent had a cbc done for awhile but I m just > > running out of money and my husband is complaining. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Quote:Too high iron can make the blood thicker and cause platelets to clump. Not a good thing. Then might this possibly cause miscarriages??? I have had several in the past 8 months and was taking 150mg of iron. I was looking into clotting issues causing miscarriages, and this makes sense to me. Kim > > > I thought iron was suppose to be around 90? Im menopausal, > taking > > > all sex hormones, vit c, not to tolerable, 1000 mg. Im on 1/4 > tab of > > > florinel and my adolsterone came back 5. I cant seem to take > more, I > > > swell up with fluid. I havent had a cbc done for awhile but I m > just > > > running out of money and my husband is complaining. > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Hi, just a thought here, in my experience as someone with iron overload, I need to keep ferritin down, but it's important to get a full fasting iron panel to work out what your transferrin saturation is as well. With regard to the numbers for ferritin, it is usually suggested to get it between 70-90 for someone who was low to begin with, someone who for whatever reason doesn't store iron, or doesn't absorb iron very well. For those of us who do absorb it well (or too well), then it is better to look at between say 30 - 50. It's not a case of one number fits all, as those who are supplementing need to cover in between testing, and the likelihood that the supplementing is skewing the testing... in which case, a fluctation up to 90 might not be so bad - if it is temporary if that makes sense, but going above that warrants stopping supps. Aiming to keep it stable over 55 for those who are low and can supplement can make all the difference with utilisation of other supps. Watching transferrin saturation and making sure it doesn't get too high is important too, sometimes more important than ferritin reading. There is a mechanism that the body uses in times of infection called " acute phase reaction " and ferritin is an " acute phase reactant " . As such, in the presence of viri or bacteria in teh blood, the body will store away iron in the liver, as bacteria thrive on iron rich blood, this will temporarily spike serum ferritin tests, and reduce serum iron testing, and can confuse people, therefore, if one is trying to maintain an iron level using serum testing, one test cannot be used in isolation to manage the numbers, particularly as one may be asymptomatic and infected simultaneously. A white cell count which was taken from the same sample as the iron panel showing elevated levels can confirm if infection is present in this case, but won't always show it. I'm not a medical person, this is just the understanding I Have of the process from my first hand expereience, rightly or wrongly, but I hope it helps... Cat > > > I thought iron was suppose to be around 90? Im menopausal, > taking > > > all sex hormones, vit c, not to tolerable, 1000 mg. Im on 1/4 > tab of > > > florinel and my adolsterone came back 5. I cant seem to take > more, I > > > swell up with fluid. I havent had a cbc done for awhile but I m > just > > > running out of money and my husband is complaining. > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 how long does ferritin continue to raise after iron supplement is stopped? just couple of days or does it take more than that?Also my total iron binding capacity was at the very top of the limit. Is this fine or indicates a problem? thanks alot. nil Re: iron Supplements Hi, just a thought here, in my experience as someone with iron overload, I need to keep ferritin down, but it's important to get a full fasting iron panel to work out what your transferrin saturation is as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Hi Nil, could you post the entire panel with ranges please? that could help. Iron binding capacity (TIBC) goes up in iron deficiency, that is your capacity to bind iron and store it increases, kind of similar to how the thyroid swells to trap iodine in iodine deficiency (goiter aka goitre), but it needs to be seen in combo with your other results, particularly if there has been any illness. a cheat sheet for the iron panel results: http://www.labcorp.com/datasets/labcorp/html/chapter/mono/pr005600.htm not neccesarily the be all and end all of information, but there is lots of iron info out there thanks to our friend, google :-) As I'm not an iron supplementer, I have iron overload although mildly, I can only go on general consensus which is less than 4 days or so post cessation of supplementation skewing serum testing. I would suggest if you really want to test your stores rather than what has been ingested recently that a week wouldn't be too long to go without prior to testing. Like I said, I don't supplement iron though, so hopefully others with experience will share. Cheers Cat :-) > > how long does ferritin continue to raise after iron supplement is stopped? just couple of days or does it take more than that?Also my total iron binding capacity was at the very top of the limit. Is this fine or indicates a problem? > thanks alot. > nil > Re: iron Supplements > > > Hi, > > just a thought here, in my experience as someone with iron overload, > I need to keep ferritin down, but it's important to get a full > fasting iron panel to work out what your transferrin saturation is as > well. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Thank you very much.I am going to have tooth extraction today.. i will write when when things are over. thanks a lot nil Re: iron Supplements Hi Nil, could you post the entire panel with ranges please? that could help. Iron binding capacity (TIBC) goes up in iron deficiency, that is your capacity to bind iron and store it increases, kind of similar to how the thyroid swells to trap iodine in iodine deficiency (goiter aka goitre), but Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Good Luck with the tooth Nil, speak soon, Cat > > Thank you very much.I am going to have tooth extraction today.. i will write when when things are over. > thanks a lot > nil > Re: iron Supplements > > > Hi Nil, > > could you post the entire panel with ranges please? that could help. > Iron binding capacity (TIBC) goes up in iron deficiency, that is your > capacity to bind iron and store it increases, kind of similar to how > the thyroid swells to trap iodine in iodine deficiency (goiter aka > goitre), but > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Good Luck with the tooth Nil, speak soon, Cat > > Thank you very much.I am going to have tooth extraction today.. i will write when when things are over. > thanks a lot > nil > Re: iron Supplements > > > Hi Nil, > > could you post the entire panel with ranges please? that could help. > Iron binding capacity (TIBC) goes up in iron deficiency, that is your > capacity to bind iron and store it increases, kind of similar to how > the thyroid swells to trap iodine in iodine deficiency (goiter aka > goitre), but > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Good Luck with the tooth Nil, speak soon, Cat > > Thank you very much.I am going to have tooth extraction today.. i will write when when things are over. > thanks a lot > nil > Re: iron Supplements > > > Hi Nil, > > could you post the entire panel with ranges please? that could help. > Iron binding capacity (TIBC) goes up in iron deficiency, that is your > capacity to bind iron and store it increases, kind of similar to how > the thyroid swells to trap iodine in iodine deficiency (goiter aka > goitre), but > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 Hi Cat Thanks for your answer.My test results are as follows this month two years ago iron 93 (35-165) 71 (28-170) TIBC 442 (250-450) 316 (228-400) Ferritin 93 (6.9-323) 32 (13-150) i also read that high TIBC is associated with low iron but my ferritin and iron levels seem to be fine.I am confused. I am also diagnosed with kidney insufficiency. bw nil Re: iron Supplements Hi Nil, could you post the entire panel with ranges please? that could help. Iron binding capacity (TIBC) goes up in iron deficiency, that is your capacity to bind iron and store it increases, kind of similar to how the thyroid swells to trap iodine in iodine deficiency (goiter aka goitre), but it needs to be seen in combo with your other results, particularly if there has been any illness. a cheat sheet for the iron panel results: http://www.labcorp.com/datasets/labcorp/html/chapter/mono/pr005600.htm not neccesarily the be all and end all of information, but there is lots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Hi Nil, hope the dentist went well :-) You have an increase across all three of those numbers - do you have transferrin and transferrin saturation (tsat%) results too? But - different ranges have been used for the two different periods also, so hard to compare apples with apples. As you mention, the TIBC is on the high side for the other numbers, perhaps the TF and Tsat% would help shed some light, sorry I'm not more help here, I mainly deal with too much iron, so can only really point you to sites with info to help you unravel this one. Cat > > Hi Cat > > Thanks for your answer.My test results are as follows > > this month two years ago > > iron 93 (35-165) 71 (28-170) > > TIBC 442 (250-450) 316 (228-400) > > Ferritin 93 (6.9-323) 32 (13-150) > > > i also read that high TIBC is associated with low iron but my ferritin and iron levels seem to be fine.I am confused. > I am also diagnosed with kidney insufficiency. > > bw > nil > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 thanks very much cat! bw nil Re: iron Supplements Hi Nil, hope the dentist went well :-) You have an increase across all three of those numbers - do you have transferrin and transferrin saturation (tsat%) results too? But - different ranges have been used for the two different periods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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