Thalassemia Minor (Iron)

[Advice1]

Hi

i have Thalassemia Trait ( minor)

i am a carrier i am female in my 30's ,when i have full blood test

it always skews the result.I recently

had a thyroid test which was fine result.I have had a lot of hair falling out ,but no impact as it grows back no bald areas.I feel fatigue very short hot tempered at the smallest things others would ignore and i also have heavy periods .

I have just had a

Ferritin Folate B12 blood test result and B12

was excellent my GP says this is a normal result but i still have symptoms like iron deficiency hair loss and i have heard that Serum Ferritin result is anything under 40ug/L is usually diagnose of being iron deficient would anyone agree with this answer i got from my post to a Doctor in the US who said it was a low result and anything under 40ug/L would be iron deficiency.

Here is my result for ferritin and folate below: My question was "Is Serum Ferritin result too low? "

12 ug/L. range 12-250ug/L

Serum folate 19.7 range 4-20ug/L

B12 721 range 130-800ng/L

Serum C r protein <1 mg/L. range<7.00mg/L

I would be very grateful for some

advice on this as it would be good

to see what could be causing this.

Thank you.

[fbirder]

You need to discuss with your doctor the desirability (or not) of taking iron supplements. It is not unheard of for thalassaemia minor and iron-deficiency anaemia to be present at the same time - sciencedirect.com/science/a...

But too much iron can be quite dangerous, so it's only your doctor who can decide.

[Advice1 in reply to fbirder]

Hi fbirder

thank you for your kind reply to my post and the very interesting link which is very much appreciated too.

I spoke with my GP who explained

My B12 is normal and not low and i should have a diet which is rich in minerals and on top of that there would be no real concern for iron overloading but on balance if the Serum C R Protein result was normal then you should be pleased with the result.

The serum folate is high which i forgot to ask the GP if this is a good thing.

Although i still have these symptoms it doesn't appear to be connected to iron and may well be

caused by stress or something .

It is a bit confusing though.