Ferritin low and supplements

[Ndobins]

Hi guys been a while since I posted. Have underactive thyroid , TSH is suppressed now ( feeling ok) b12 now sorted ( actually a bit high 1026) so slowing down on the injections now. Was then told I had vitamin D deficiency and now that’s at 135. Was plodding along quite nicely then the tears and low mood came , constant napping , obviously first thought I’d thyroid , I went to the drs and they sent me got full blood count , all came back fine ( always get a copy) except my ferritin came back as 21 range is 15 - 300, dr has put me on 3 months of ferrous fumarate , does anyone else have experience of this ? And Is this low and likely to be causing my problems again , I feel rubbish . Thanks in advance nic

[fbirder]

Did the symptoms return when you cut down in B12 injections? It could be that you do need them more frequently, despite high blood levels.

Mine are always over the top of the range, but I really do notice it if I don’t inject every few days.

naturopathicdiaries.com

[Ndobins in reply to fbirder]

I was 1500 at Christmas and the drs made me come off supliments for b12 and then re test, I’d plummeted down to 300 In 4 months- that was May so I’ve taking a b complex and it’s gone back up to over 1000 that’s since beginning of June.. this tiredness is different it feels exhausting , no dizzy spells really and when I was low b12 before I wasn’t tearful .. I am with this. I just hope the ferrous fumarate helps get my iron up and I feel better. I’m still going to inject b12, trouble is dr is gonna re test my b12 in November when she does the iron , if it’s still high they’ll want to test for liver problems , so I can’t really take b12 now till after November . Tricky one really 🤦‍♀️

[fbirder in reply to Ndobins]

Or you can tell the GP that you’re self injecting.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Iron deficiency will make you feel tired - it makes your red blood cells smaller than they should be and that means they get less efficient at carrying oxygen from your lungs to the cells that need it.

Ferritin is just one measure of iron deficiency - though generally quite a good one - did your doctor also do a full blood count and did that show that your red blood cells were on the small side.

Unfortunately PA can also affect your ability to absorb iron.

If you have hypothyroidism rather than diagnosed PA that can also affect your ability to absorb vitamins and minerals. Generally iron seems to be the first to be affected.

[Ndobins in reply to Gambit62]

They did do a full blood count. She is also letting the haemotoligst look at my results. She’s very good.. ( she’s handed her notice in) 😞 always the way when you find one that listens. Is 21 low enough to feel tired and tearful.. I’m just hoping it’s not my depression coming back Abd these tablets help me. I had low vitamin d and b12 and it’s all since my my thyroid was diagnosed so u make sense saying that.. what would the test say to show the cells were on small side ? I’ll have a look. Thank u v much 🤞😊

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to Ndobins]

The MCV would be below the bottom of the normal range.

[Ndobins in reply to Gambit62]

Don’t think they did that test.. I’ll check now 👍

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to Ndobins]

its one of the results listed under a full blood count - Mean Cell Volume

[Ndobins in reply to Gambit62]

89.8 range 80-100 MCV

10.4 range 2.5 -9999 folate

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to Ndobins]

well, no clear microcytosis as bang in normal range, so not sure what is happening. Sorry

[Ndobins in reply to Gambit62]

I’ve read it can be a gradual decline , my ferritin was 65 then 30 now 21 so hopefully I’ve caught it early enough . My folate has come down from 20 to 10.5 so I’m going to supliment that to as dr is testing everything again in 12 weeks time . Thank u