Do these Iron labs look Ok for my wife?

[ratbag]

She is 60 and looks very hypothyroid and she is on 180mg of Thyroid-S. So I had an Iron panel done and see her Ferritin is over range but her Iron serum and % Saturation look low. I wonder if that would cause her T3 to pool.

Iron Serum 15 (5.83-34.5)umol/L
UIBC 47 (24.2-70.1)umol/L
TIBC 62 (31.2-96.1)umol/L
% Saturation 0.24 (0.12-0.41)F of T
Ferritin 433.5 (13-150)ug/L

 

[ratbag]

So I had her donate blood in an effort to reduce her ferritin. Her ferritin level just before blood donation was 433.5 and a few weeks after blood donation was 202. That is a change of 231.5 ug/L

That's huge and I did not realise that ferritin drops so much after one blood donation. It's so much that anyone with normal ferritin levels may have to consider iron supplementation after a blood donation, or stay hypothyroid until your ferritin rises enough. Of course this is problematic for those trying to reduce HCT but those are the numbers.

 

[Vince Carter]

Did you get an answer to the T3 Pooling question? I'm just now really trying to get up to speed on Iron and Thyroid but unsure how your wifes numbers would impact.

 

[Saul]

Her ferritin was high. Ferritin (a protein) is an indicator of iron stores in the body organs (not the blood). But, other factors such as inflammation and other issues can cause high ferritin (alcohol, fatty liver . .. ). If high ferritin is due to high iron, donating a unit of blood typically drops ferritin by 30 to 50 points. The large drop in your wife's ferritin is likely due to something other than high iron stores. I don't think you need to supplement with iron. Don't start changing a bunch of things until you better understand why the ferritin was high due to factors other than iron levels. In any event, the ferritin levels were not crazy high and are in range now. I would wait a month and retest and get doctor input. Discount labs has a cheap ferritin test that may be helpful. I am not a dr so take what I say with a grain of salt. I have HH so I have researched ferritin. I started around 470 and after about 6 blood draws I am at ~ 300.

 

[ratbag]

I read lots of good info and it's mixed. Some claim high ferritin can cause hyperthyroidism and some say it can still cause hypothyroidism. Without an RT3 lab it's hard to determine so on this part so I'm no further ahead. However my wife feels a little better now so not sure of whats happening

 

[Vince Carter]

I would suggest a PM to Vettester Chris with a link to this thread and ask him to post his opinion. I'm sure though that he'll suggest another complete Thyroid panel, AND, the iron tests again, since a few things have changed since your last tests.

 

[captain]

I have seen this before in a person with an infection. Iron was low and Ferritin was high. The way I understand it is Ferritin is stored Iron and it would be like high bound Testosterone where your total Testosterone would be low. In this case it's the Iron that's low. Your wife looks sick because she probably is and needs some labs to find out if there is an infection of some kind.

 

[ratbag]

I have seen this before in a person with an infection. Iron was low and Ferritin was high. The way I understand it is Ferritin is stored Iron and it would be like high bound Testosterone where your total Testosterone would be low. In this case it's the Iron that's low. Your wife looks sick because she probably is and needs some labs to find out if there is an infection of some kind.

Agreed captain, but all the tests in the world are not helping because her MD is a hospital physician and he see's nothing. Because of all the symptoms she has he only Rx's one thing, some form of depression med. This is what front line physicians do these days. Unless you see a hormone specialist that not attached to hospital administration.

 

[Vince Carter]

I did a little google-fu yesterday on high ferritin and low iron, read something about in the presence of an infection or inflammation the body hoards iron to Ferritin to protect it or something like that.
http://www.irondisorders.org/anemia-of-chronic-disease

 

[Saul]

I did a little google-fu yesterday on high ferritin and low iron, read something about in the presence of an infection or inflammation the body hoards iron to Ferritin to protect it or something like that.
http://www.irondisorders.org/anemia-of-chronic-disease

Vince is correct.
In some cases the body will react to infection or chronic disease by having available iron in the blood be bound to the protein ferritin to reduce the amount of iron around or available to the pathogen. The body is pretty amazing. This is because pathogens need iron to survive and do better in an iron rich environment. This is also why people with HH (high iron) are more likely to get infections and the like and should not eat raw shell fish, which can often contain bacteria.

To the OP, IMO, your wife's ferritin levels likely have little to do with her iron being too high or too low. When my ferritin was at 450 everyone of my other iron markers were out of range . . . my iron saturation was at 92% when the range I s20% to 45%. Your wife's other iron indicators are good. 450 and 200 are not that far out of range although the 450 should be brought down, which has occurred. I would look at other issues that are causing ferritin to jump around. For example, being overweight and having fatty liver, alcohol, cancer, inflammation, infection, . . .. See this article for other possible issues.

http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3692

Good luck and keep us posted.