Iron and ferritin advice requested

[MrVimes]

I have recently had a full set of iron and ferritin blood tests completed and would like some advice on the numbers, please (prior to these tests, only my ferritin levels have been tested).

They result from early morning fasting with no iron supplements for one week. My serum ferritin was 160 µg/L. This was up from 99 µg/L in July 2022 when I started taking iron supplements. So, a good result, I think. My transferrin saturation was 25.0 %.

The Mayo Clinic Algorithm suggests that action is required if serum ferritin is < 75 µg/L AND transferrin saturation is < 45 %. So, given that for me the former is well above the reference level and the latter is well below the reference level, how should I proceed with my Doctor when I see her next week?

My other related results are - transferrin 2.53 g/L, serum iron 16 µmol/L, and iron binding capacity 64 µmol/L. I do not see any guidance within the Mayo Clinic Algorithm for these results. Is anyone able to comment on them, please?

Many thanks!

[Joolsg]

I know that RLS experts like serum iron to be above 60ųg/L and yours is low at 16.Also, many people require serum ferritin to be above 200 or 300ųg/L before they get relief from RLS.

Your GP is likely to say all your results are fine, but it may be worth asking for a referral to a haematologist.

[MrVimes in reply to Joolsg]

Thank you, Jools for responding. The trend for my serum ferritin levels is in the right direction as it has increased by 60 ug/L in just under two years. With the help of your advice, I will keep taking the iron supplements. If the trend continues, I should be above 200 ug/L in two years' time 😀. My serum iron has been measured using the preferred SI units of micros moles per litre. Why those units are different to the serum ferritin units is beyond my logical brain to determine. Anyhow, if I convert the 16 umol/L into grams per litre using an online converter, I get 89.39 ug/dL. Further research tells me that the ideal range is between 60 and 175 ug/dL. So, I am in the lower quartile. Unfortunately, I do not have any historical test results for serum iron and so I do not know if the iron supplements I am taking are improving that number or not. Thank you again, not only for your response to me, but for the incredible amount of effort and care you put into this forum in helping so many others with this hateful disease.

[Joolsg in reply to MrVimes]

Thank you MrVimes. It's sheer rage that keeps me going. Rage that doctors refuse to add RLS to the curriculum, that they refuse iron infusions but keep doling out dopamine agonists and refuse to accept that low dose opioids work and do NOT lead to addiction/tolerance.One day they will apologise to us all.....

[MrVimes in reply to Joolsg]

👍