Iron level

[Advice1]

Some help please ,I am a female in my 30s i have Thalassemia trait which means i am a carrier.

I Visited GP for result of blood test below

And two different GP have given different

Answers to my ferritin folate blood test result one GP says my iron is low because if the ferritin is below 40 ug/L this would be seen as iron deficiency but all the other results are good.The other Doctor i spoke with said it is not far from the mean in a female.And explains to eat healthy diet.and would not be concerned and considers it a good result.

I am left confused as i do have some fatigue and some hair loss that did settle down when i did have low iron result treated in the past with

Ferrous sulphate for everyday a month brought iron to good level.

Recent result:

SERUM ferritin 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 range < 7.00mg/L

[MiniMum97]

You can have symptoms from low ferritin when it is under 50 (similar to Anaemia symptoms). You need to start 210mg ferrous fumerate three times a day. It is very hard to get iron levels up so please ignore the doctor who said just improve with diet. Having said that if you can stomach liver some people can get their ferritin up eating 200g liver once a week.

From experience when my ferritin is below about 30/35 I feel very unwell.

Iron absorption is affected by a lot of foods so try to take supplements on an empty stomach if you can (although your digestive system may not like this!) and take them with 500mg of vitamin c to aid absorption and reduce constipation.

Ferrous glycinate is kinder to the stomach if you can not tolerate fumerate.

[Advice1 in reply to MiniMum97]

Hi MiniMum97

Thank you for all your interesting

Ideas and explanations to my questions

It is a confusing subject.. iron ..thank you for your support .I hope things with your iron

Issues are much better now.

Good luck

[MiniMum97 in reply to Advice1]

This article explains what I have outlined in my post above and thought might be helpful to you. The same information was also provided to me by my GP. Just because you are not anaemic doesn’t mean you won’t have symptoms...

universityhealthnews.com/da...

[Advice1 in reply to MiniMum97]

Hi MiniMum97

Thank you, that is very generous providing the link

It is very helpful i will take the time to read it.

Good Luck and Good Health.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

This forum is actually about a condition that results in B12 deficiency rather than anaemia in general.

Although PA can also affect other vitamins and minerals - particularly folate and iron, it doesn't necessarily lead to an iron deficiency ... and an iron deficient anaemia is different from thalassemia.

ferritin is actually only one measure of iron and a the second GP said - your result is actually a common result for women who have a menstral cycle. If you had a full blood count and that wasn't showing any signs of low haemoglobin then it is unlikely that you have an iron deficient anaemia, as per the second GP.

There have been some well publicised cases of patients who were treated for iron deficiency on the basis of a ferritin only and developed iron toxicity as a result of overdosing.

A low in range ferritin and symptoms would probably warrant a full blood count but at the same time your symptoms could be caused by a number of conditions. Have you had your thyroid hormones tested recently? A significant increase in TSH could suggest that your thyroid is struggling and would warrant a full thyroid panel.

[Advice1 in reply to Gambit62]

Hi Gambit62

Thank you for your kind advice

Very interesting points which are very helpful i have learn't alot from your reply .

My Haemoglobin was fine and

previous Thyroid panel test was normal result.Thyroid test was in connection with some night sweats and even in these cold nights i feel hot inside which makes me feel irritable which i don't understand as i dont get a fever just cold and clamy head on touch and still haven't got to the bottom of this with all the tests so far!

Your advice is something to consider wisely also on overdosing on iron which

I will be careful with .....Could be dangerous .

Thank you for sharing your knowledge

And your generous time.

Good luck.

[JanD236]

I think the reply given by fbirder to your similar post a week ago gives best advice. In view of other health complications this is something that needs to be discussed with your GP.

[Advice1 in reply to JanD236]

Hi janD236

I did make a new post due to being confused.

I will go to discuss this again with GP like you say.It is confusing when 2 different GPs give opposite opinions

Especially as i have Thalassemia.I appreciate you time in replying.

Thank you.