Test results

[myanne]

I'll try and get to the point but basically I was having terrible heart palpitations and in desperation thinking that I may be low in iron I took multi vits and minerals. The palpitations went away immediately so I went to my doctor to find out what was going on. He said we needed blood tests ( I told him I had taken multi vits and minerals for about 5 days)

Please help me with the results.

saturation of iron binding capacity = 48%

serum TIBC = 37 umol/L Low

serum iron level = 17.6 umo/L

Haemoglobin A1c level - IFCC standardised = 33 mmol/mol

HbA1c level (DCCT aligned) = 5.2%

serum ferritin =42.6 ug/L HAEMATINIC ASSAY

Also my Vit D was 73 nmol/L

I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what these results mean bearing in mind that I was on vit/min tablets for about 5 days before the test.

many thanks

[Hidden]

Hi Myanne, do you think you could add in the lab ranges? Hampster

[Jill60 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Hampster, the link you gave to Myanne is brilliant, lol I learnt something today...you are so helpful, kind and caring, the info you give us is invaluable, thank you sooooo much for being there for us all.......after reading the link, although I don't want to do a self diagnosis, but seems I have the iron deficiency Anemia, and maybe not PA.....I remember before that you wondered if I could have PA, I'm still confuddled by the technical side of blood tests etc, but will talk with my Gp to discuss the Serum F low levels....got to get to the bottom of it.......getting worried that it might be something 'sinister'?.......thanks again ..Jill

[Hidden in reply to Jill60]

Hi Jill, you could have PA, or B12 deficiency caused by another reason, there are many many reasons for a B12 deficiency. The treatment is the same - usually lifelong injections of B12. Most people with PA or B12 deficiency tend to be deficient in other things, commonly iron, folate and vitamin D, and perhaps other minerals. This could be due to damage to the stomach from Coeliac disease, or some kind of gastritis, or H pylori, etc. etc. Anything that causes malabsorption really. This will give you an idea:

b12deficiency.info/what-are...

So the answer is you are probably deficient in lots of things, or sometimes not quite deficient but sub-optimal.

H x

[Jill60 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Hampster, was so hoping you would reply, just upset that every blood test I have re serum F, it drops again......was tested for coeliac disease! via a colonoscopy( never again) that was clear, they were looking for ulcerative Colitis, but thank God I don't have that..yet, although I do have Proctitis......had blood test for H pylori, came back clear.....probably gastritis.....as I mentioned before in another post! I went into hosp over Easter to have 3 litres of Bile removed...now that was scary

The scan revealed one lymph node infected ? Something like that , was too ill to take it all in, was in for 9 days.......anyway, thanks again, I truly value your opinion

[Hidden in reply to Jill60]

There are people on the PAS forum and the Facebook page with lots more experience of stomach issues than me, if you want to chat with someone more knowledgeable? If you don't want to join PAS at this stage just come on the Facebook page:

facebook.com/groups/1749289...

[myanne]

I'm so sorry but I don't know what these are.

[Hidden]

Difficult without the ranges, but I've looked at my ranges to try and comment although it may not tally.

The Haemoglobin A1c and HbA1c tests look to be for diabetes? And as far as I can tell they're in the normal range although it is a condition I know absolutely nothing about.

The iron tests are more interesting. You say above that TIBC is LOW. Your saturation according to my lab range is HIGH, right at the top of the range. Your serum iron is mid range, and your ferritin is low normal (bottom of the range is usually about 15, and I've been advised that somewhere around 80 is desirable).

I use this link when looking at iron test results, if you scroll down the page there's a table:

labtestsonline.org.uk/under...

According to this, a low TIBC coupled with a high % transferrin saturation can be an indication of Haemochromatosis, which is a hereditary disorder of excess iron. However, your iron and ferritin levels are normal, and you would expect these to be high with this disorder.

Here's another link about this:

haemochromatosis.org.uk/pag...

This suggests that a repeated % saturation over 45% in women is significant, and that ferritin may be normal in the early stages.

Obviously I'm not a doctor and I'm speculating, but perhaps something you could do is email your iron lab test results to the Society and see what they think? You can mention that you took supplements before the test:

[e-mail]

[myanne]

Really helpful stuff Hampster - thank you. I don't feel I ever have excess iron but who knows. I will follow the links and investigate. Thank you for your time.

[johnbarriesmith]

You really must have the ranges , the Laboratorys use various testing equipment and the ranges give min and max forany particular test unit , but as rule of thumb you need to at least half way in the range . The exceptions being some endocrine disorders , Thyroid in particular , TSH needs to be just visible , My P/A needs to be at least 1000 . Doctors do not recognise the importance of being midrange they say if it is within the range it doesnt need adjustment , every patient is different things like Iron are sensitive needing trial and error adustment .

[myanne]

Well I think the Serum TIBC has a range of 45-66 and I am 37 and had a note next to it saying it was low.

The serum iron level was 17.6 and the range is 10-30 I think.

The ferritin was 42.6 ( after 5 days of iron in a multi vit/min tablet) and the range is 15-150 with 70 being about optimum.

My vit D was 73 with a range of 75-200. This also was in the multi vit/min tablet and I have been taking cod liver oil for a n arthritic knee. So I am still under slightly after all that.

I suppose I am in range to a certain extent but i can't make out the low TIBC.

These ranges are from my own research and may be inaccurate.