Few thoughts on elevated iron serum

[Gianluca]

My blood serum comes elevated most of the times. And my ferritin is stuck since 2017 at 75/80, and I haven't donated since then. I see that is a problem that different people have on TRT.

But is having elevated iron serum as bad as having elevated ferritin? is elevated Iron Serum prooxidant? or is the body just trying to pull more iron into the blood for storage and different processes?

I tried last month to stay off my multivitamin which has about 470mg of VitC, I thought that was the answer, but I still have elevated Iron serum, beside, elevated after a meal.

I have been complaining of "flushing" most of the time while I eat, and I'm starting to think is the Iron elevating in my blood.
I'm actually thinking the body may need iron, since Iron serum is always elevated and ferritin always at 75/80. SO best way to lower Iron serum could possibly give extra iron to the body.

thoughts?

 

[captain]

Do you have TIBC level?

 

[Gianluca]

Do you have TIBC level?

this is from March,

Iron and TIBC Iron Bind.Cap.(TIBC) 285 ug/dL 250 - 450
UIBC 90 Low ug/dL 111 - 343 01
Iron 195 High ug/dL 38 - 169 01
Iron Saturation 68 High % 15 - 55



during the month of April I did not use my Multivitamin which has 470mg of VitC, and I thought I would fix the issue with that. After the month off Vit C my Iron Serum came down a little at 187, so VitC didn't have much of an impact if not at all


I understand this has allot to do with hepcidin decreasing with Testosterone. I will try to add Zinc/Copper to my diet. And Maybe daily application of cream could be a better option??

 

[Gianluca]

Knowing now the hepcidin issue with Testosterone, I change my statement in the first post. No need for extra iron for sure

 

[HealthMan]

Knowing now the hepcidin issue with Testosterone, I change my statement in the first post. No need for extra iron for sure

I have the same issue. After certain dosage i guess hepcidin is suppressed too much then causing issues with high iron and high HCT

 

[Gianluca]

I have the same issue. After certain dosage i guess hepcidin is suppressed too much then causing issues with high iron and high HCT

I started supplementing at night with 30mg Zinc 2mg copper at night, and last time my Iron serum came back normal, I'm also giving up whole grains, I have a couple of times a week oatmeal and that's it. these are the changes I have made, oh I also increased my Red Meat consumption at once or twice per week, when before I was at once every 2/3 weeks. I now have 90% of times Grass Fed

 

[HealthMan]

I started supplementing at night with 30mg Zinc 2mg copper at night, and last time my Iron serum came back normal, I'm also giving up whole grains, I have a couple of times a week oatmeal and that's it. these are the changes I have made, oh I also increased my Red Meat consumption at once or twice per week, when before I was at once every 2/3 weeks. I now have 90% of times Grass Fed

I lowered my testosterone dosage and added IP6 and serum iron came back normal. What is your protocol and TT FT levels?

 

[Gianluca]

I lowered my testosterone dosage and added IP6 and serum iron came back normal. What is your protocol and TT FT levels?

It would bother me if I had to lower my test because of Iron Serum. From previous time, my Testosterone dose increased, and I may actually need a bit more. FT now is 24, TT 880, when Iron Serum was elevated FT at 20 at TT at about 700.

Have you checked your Zinc Level?
how is your Diet?

I believe hepcidin stabilize after a while, so I would not blame it for elevated Iron Serum, I believe that comes from something else. Funny how I gave up on Whole Grains which contains antinutrients that binds to minerals such as Iron, and I increased Red Meat consumption and still normal Iron Serum. Probably adding Zinc and Copper did the trick. My thought is that elevated Iron Serum comes from a mineral imbalance rather than hepcidin, and whole grains binds to minerals.

 

[HealthMan]

It would bother me if I had to lower my test because of Iron Serum. From previous time, my Testosterone dose increased, and I may actually need a bit more. FT now is 24, TT 880, when Iron Serum was elevated FT at 20 at TT at about 700.

Have you checked your Zinc Level?
how is your Diet?

I believe hepcidin stabilize after a while, so I would not blame it for elevated Iron Serum, I believe that comes from something else. Funny how I gave up on Whole Grains which contains antinutrients that binds to minerals such as Iron, and I increased Red Meat consumption and still normal Iron Serum. Probably adding Zinc and Copper did the trick. My thought is that elevated Iron Serum comes from a mineral imbalance rather than hepcidin, and whole grains binds to minerals.

I have had this serum iron issue forever everytime i am over certain testosterone dosage. Haven’t tested zinc lately. I have tested my testosterone and iron several times and dosage so far has a 100% correlation with my serum levels. I might test the zinc theory.

 

[HealthMan]

Interestingly enough i just checked one of my bloodworks when i was taking zinc to try to stop using anastrozole and my serum iron was normal despite the fact that my dosage was higher. However i had donated blood 3 months before testing.
Zinc seems to compete with iron absorption so it reduces iron absorption. That might be the mechanism why it worked for you and no because a imbalance. I used IP6 exactly with the intent to hinder iron absorption

 

[Gianluca]

Interestingly enough i just checked one of my bloodworks when i was taking zinc to try to stop using anastrozole and my serum iron was normal despite the fact that my dosage was higher. However i had donated blood 3 months before testing.
Zinc seems to compete with iron absorption so it reduces iron absorption. That might be the mechanism why it worked for you and no because a imbalance. I used IP6 exactly with the intent to hinder iron absorption

Yes, but remember that as Iron compete with Zinc, then we can become Zinc deficient, so in my opinion it is smart to supplement with ZInc, better to have less Iron in the body and more Zinc. I also use NAC which keeps my ferritin at 75/85

Do you measure your Iron serum on a empty stomach or after a meal?

 

[Gianluca]

to mention also, I started taking 2/3gr of Vitamin C as well, although on empty stomach, and still Iron Serum came back normal

 

[HealthMan]

Yes, but remember that as Iron compete with Zinc, then we can become Zinc deficient, so in my opinion it is smart to supplement with ZInc, better to have less Iron in the body and more Zinc. I also use NAC which keeps my ferritin at 75/85

Do you measure your Iron serum on a empty stomach or after a meal?

empty stomach yes. 10hours fasting. Guess i am just a bit more sensitive to lower levels of hepcidin. But for me 100mg vs 140mg of testosterone makes no difference on how i feel. I actually feel a bit better with the lower dosage. So i am just happy to stick to the lower dosage. My FT in trough comes back on the low 20s (22-23)

 

[HealthMan]

to mention also, I started taking 2/3gr of Vitamin C as well, although on empty stomach, and still Iron Serum came back normal

Forgot to ask. Where does your HCT sits? And do you donate blood? If yes how regularly?

 

[Gianluca]

Forgot to ask. Where does your HCT sits? And do you donate blood? If yes how regularly?

HCT is about 52, I stopped donating during the 2017

 

[HealthMan]

HCT is about 52, I stopped donating during the 2017

I have added 15mg with 1mg copper daily before bed. I will retest in 3 weeks. I am taking curcumin, ip6, grapefruit extract and now zinc. Pretty sure iron will come back normal. Then 1 by 1 i will remove all these supplements and see if any is working/needed

 

[Gianluca]

@HealthMan out of curiosity, do you eat whole grains? another change I had made beside adding Zinc, was to eliminate Whole grains from my diet.

Phytic acid(PA) found in Whole grains binds to Iron and Zinc, beside other minerals, my theory is that Phytic acid will bind "normally" to all minerals beside Iron, that because we are on TRT, it will still get absorbed more, and considering Zinc will be absorbed less because PA, this will cause the Elevation of Iron Serum and reduction of Zinc!

 

[HealthMan]

@HealthMan out of curiosity, do you eat whole grains? another change I had made beside adding Zinc, was to eliminate Whole grains from my diet.

Phytic acid(PA) found in Whole grains binds to Iron and Zinc, beside other minerals, my theory is that Phytic acid will bind "normally" to all minerals beside Iron, that because we are on TRT, it will still get absorbed more, and considering Zinc will be absorbed less because PA, this will cause the Elevation of Iron Serum and reduction of Zinc!

I do eat a bit and take IP6 which is basically phytic acid. However IP6 has been shown to reduce serum iron and ferritin. However i take IP6 on an empty stomach at least 2 hours away from meals so i dont think this is the issue. However i tend to agree with your zinc theory. I started supplementing with zinc, reduce my testosterone dosage a bit and i will test my serum iron either tomorrow or next week

 

[Gianluca]

I do eat a bit and take IP6 which is basically phytic acid. However IP6 has been shown to reduce serum iron and ferritin. However i take IP6 on an empty stomach at least 2 hours away from meals so i dont think this is the issue. However i tend to agree with your zinc theory. I started supplementing with zinc, reduce my testosterone dosage a bit and i will test my serum iron either tomorrow or next week

it sounds good, I actually increased again my Test dose last week, I will do labs maybe in a few weeks, I will keep you posted on Iron Serum, and I will keep things the same. I also think because now I eat red meat twice per week, the natural balance Zinc/Iron found in meat helps to balance things out.

 

[HealthMan]

Ok. After 6 weeks of taking zinc 15mg a day (amongst other things that I mentioned in this chat) with 1mg copper my iron serum went from 232 to 174 (range 38-169). So i will up zinc to 30mg a day and retest in 4 weeks.