Anemia, Low Ferritin, "Normal" Serum Iron

[Dasein88]

Im a 33 year old man with hashimotos thyroiditis, on trt for a few months now. Due to ongoing health problem I decided on my own to have iron and ferritin tested on Monday, revealing ferritin levels of 15ng/ml. This was unexpected. I actually was worried that my iron was going to be too high.

I present symptoms of anemia, such as weakness, shortness of breath, irritabilty, difficulty working out. Brain fog and loss of memory can be due to anemia as well.

I donated blood back in October, which would seem a probable culprit in my low ferritin, but I dont have the labs to prove it, and I cannot know that for sure.

I could have pernicious anemia, which involves a loss of gastric intrinsic factor and low vit B 12. Again, I dont have the tests, only saying this can be a possibility.

If anyone has personal experience with treating low ferritin, please help. I grabbed an iron supplement from walmart, but iron supplementation has its own share of problems, since it may not absorb well or it may cause toxicity. Plus, I dont know to what degree iron supplementation raises ferritin.

I will likely get a B12 shot to cover as many bases as I can. Im trying to avoid getting additional testing unless I have to. For the record, I am searching the internet for answers myself but I am using this forum as a resource.

Apparently doctors have a habit of not testing for ferritin, even when they test seum iron levels. So, even if I had my iron tested, it's probable a doctor would not have ordered a ferritin test on his own.

 

[Gman86]

Do you know by any chance if it’s possible to have anemia with normal/ high hemoglobin levels? I knkw there’s different types of anemia, but pretty much when a doctor refers to anemia, he’s referring to low hemoglobin levels correct?

 

[Dasein88]

Do you know by any chance if it’s possible to have anemia with normal/ high hemoglobin levels? I knkw there’s different types of anemia, but pretty much when a doctor refers to anemia, he’s referring to low hemoglobin levels correct?

From what I have read, it is more complicated than that, which is why a CBC is an inadequate measure for anemia. A CBC is often used to measure, among other things, whether one is anemic, but your CBC levels can be perfect and yet you can have low ferritin, like me.

You can have a lack of gastric intrinsic factor and your body will be anemic. I believe anema ultimately is a matter of not having enough oxygen in the blood, which can cause a host of problems.

 

[Vince]

My experiment with IP6 (Iron chelator)

 

[Gman86]

From what I have read, it is more complicated than that, which is why a CBC is an inadequate measure for anemia. A CBC is often used to measure, among other things, whether one is anemic, but your CBC levels can be perfect and yet you can have low ferritin, like me.

You can have a lack of gastric intrinsic factor and your body will be anemic. I believe anema ultimately is a matter of not having enough oxygen in the blood, which can cause a host of problems.

Interesting. Thanks for the info. So if HGB, oxygen saturation, B12 and MCV are all within range, chances are that person is not anemic? Guess there’s still a chance, but if they have plenty of oxygen in their blood, are absorbing B12, and red blood cell size is normal, they most likely don’t have to worry about anemia, correct? Or is there another marker that I’m not aware of? Just curious.

 

[Dasein88]

I dont know for sure about your suggestion, but my understanding is that the harmful effects of any kind of anemia (there are more than one), are mostly due to lack of oxygen supply. Sickle cell anemia, for instance,

"Hemoglobin allows red blood cells to carry oxygen from your lungs to all parts of your body. In sickle cell anemia, the abnormal hemoglobin causes red blood cells to become rigid, sticky and misshapen."

A person with sickle cell anemia or other forms will experience fatigue, weakness, jaundice, and possibly body pain. Anemia will make working out extremely difficult.

 

[MarcoFL]

Im a 33 year old man with hashimotos thyroiditis, on trt for a few months now. Due to ongoing health problem I decided on my own to have iron and ferritin tested on Monday, revealing ferritin levels of 15ng/ml. This was unexpected. I actually was worried that my iron was going to be too high.

I present symptoms of anemia, such as weakness, shortness of breath, irritabilty, difficulty working out. Brain fog and loss of memory can be due to anemia as well.

I donated blood back in October, which would seem a probable culprit in my low ferritin, but I dont have the labs to prove it, and I cannot know that for sure.

I could have pernicious anemia, which involves a loss of gastric intrinsic factor and low vit B 12. Again, I dont have the tests, only saying this can be a possibility.

If anyone has personal experience with treating low ferritin, please help. I grabbed an iron supplement from walmart, but iron supplementation has its own share of problems, since it may not absorb well or it may cause toxicity. Plus, I dont know to what degree iron supplementation raises ferritin.

I will likely get a B12 shot to cover as many bases as I can. Im trying to avoid getting additional testing unless I have to. For the record, I am searching the internet for answers myself but I am using this forum as a resource.

Apparently doctors have a habit of not testing for ferritin, even when they test seum iron levels. So, even if I had my iron tested, it's probable a doctor would not have ordered a ferritin test on his own.

you donated because? you were worried your iron was going to be high? did you have a blood test saying it was high??? did your doctor tell you to donate??

 

[Dasein88]

you donated because? you were worried your iron was going to be high? did you have a blood test saying it was high??? did your doctor tell you to donate??

Long story short, I was on a different injection protocol before going to Defy. It was one of those bi-weekly injection protocols of 200mg. No AI.

The clinic said donating was necessary from time to time. After a few injections my heart felt like it was "fluttering." This worried me, so I donated blood in october and no longer experienced that "fluttering.

What the "fluttering" was, I do not know. No doubt, I felt many sides from elevated e2. With each injection on that biweekly protocol, I felt worse, which, in retrospect, was exacerbated by crashing my ferritin.

My CBC numbers have always been fine. I did not donate blood based on labs, which may have been a bad idea.

I thought my iron was going to be high because of trt and hemochromatosis. Also, I have been buying this sipping chocolate from Trader Joes that has high iron content. I didnt realize a week ago that the calcium in milk blocks iron absorption. So, I probably dont need to worry about it.

Of course, low ferritin would explain why trt hasnt "worked" for me, but I am having trouble understanding why it has not returned to normal aftet 4 months.

 

[Gman86]

Long story short, I was on a different injection protocol before going to Defy. It was one of those bi-weekly injection protocols of 200mg. No AI.

The clinic said donating was necessary from time to time. After a few injections my heart felt like it was "fluttering." This worried me, so I donated blood in october and no longer experienced that "fluttering.

What the "fluttering" was, I do not know. No doubt, I felt many sides from elevated e2. With each injection on that biweekly protocol, I felt worse, which, in retrospect, was exacerbated by crashing my ferritin.

My CBC numbers have always been fine. I did not donate blood based on labs, which may have been a bad idea.

I thought my iron was going to be high because of trt and hemochromatosis. Also, I have been buying this sipping chocolate from Trader Joes that has high iron content. I didnt realize a week ago that the calcium in milk blocks iron absorption. So, I probably dont need to worry about it.

Of course, low ferritin would explain why trt hasnt "worked" for me, but I am having trouble understanding why it has not returned to normal aftet 4 months.

From my understanding, ferritin takes a really long time to build back up. 4 months isn’t that long. I’ve heard of it taking a year or two to build back up to around 75-100. Are you taking Whole food vitamin C? That will help a lot with iron absorption. The best whole food source of highly absorbable iron is beef liver. I would recommend getting grass fed beef liver capsules. It’s not only the best source of absorbable iron on the planet, but it literally has so many benefits it’s insane. 1st or 2nd highest source of B12 on the planet, amongst high levels of copper, zinc, all the b vitamins. Highest source of Vitamin A on the planet, which is an extremely underrated vitamin. It was the first vitamin ever discovered for a reason. It’s literally natures multivitamin. Everyone should be taking it, imo. Here’s a link to the one I use.

But as far as increasing ferritin rapidly, I’ve heard of people doing it pretty quickly by taking vitamin c with iron, and also using yellow dock extract. Yellow dock is a plant. Apparently it either has iron in it, or helps absorb iron. But either way, I’ve heard of people raising ferritin very quickly by using both vitamin c and yellow dock.

https://www.amazon.com/Ancestral-Su...TF8&qid=1550853125&sr=8-3&keywords=Beef+liver

 

[Dasein88]

From my understanding, ferritin takes a really long time to build back up. 4 months isn’t that long. I’ve heard of it taking a year or two to build back up to around 75-100. Are you taking Whole food vitamin C? That will help a lot with iron absorption. The best whole food source of highly absorbable iron is beef liver. I would recommend getting grass fed beef liver capsules. It’s not only the best source of absorbable iron on the planet, but it literally has so many benefits it’s insane. 1st or 2nd highest source of B12 on the planet, amongst high levels of copper, zinc, all the b vitamins. Highest source of Vitamin A on the planet, which is an extremely underrated vitamin. It was the first vitamin ever discovered for a reason. It’s literally natures multivitamin. Everyone should be taking it, imo. Here’s a link to the one I use.

But as far as increasing ferritin rapidly, I’ve heard of people doing it pretty quickly by taking vitamin c with iron, and also using yellow dock extract. Yellow dock is a plant. Apparently it either has iron in it, or helps absorb iron. But either way, I’ve heard of people raising ferritin very quickly by using both vitamin c and yellow dock.

https://www.amazon.com/Ancestral-Su...TF8&qid=1550853125&sr=8-3&keywords=Beef+liver

That was entirely unexpected. Thank you so much.