Newbie to this group (hello!), iron overload and possible PA question :/

[Ebx_design]

Hello all,

I'm new to this group, I have autoimmune thyroid disease, but along with it have been looking at sorting out my iron and B12, so would like to share this here, apologies for the long post... I'm new to dealing with PA, please be gentle

Recently I've been feeling pretty crap - the usual stuff, fatigue, knackered all the time, low mood, no interest in things, hair falling out, but also with a few worsening symptoms - including cognitive decline, and by that I mean like short memory, feeling spaced out, can't concentrate at all and the thing that is getting to me is that it's starting to noticeably affect my work.

I'm positive for Hashimoto’s and I had a routine thyroid and blood panel the other day, and while they only did TSH (standard) my bloods came back a bit odd and now I'm more confused than ever.

(Note I followed all the usual thyroid testi G advice - the test was at 8am, 24hrs before my 100mg levo, no biotin 2 weeks before). TSH came out at 0.86 mu/L (0.2 - 4.0) - although that is not what I'm discussing in this post, just fyi.

Context: I've been supplementing iron since 2021 having been borderline anaemic with really low serum ferritin levels in 2021 ie. 17 ug/L, then 24, then 32 all (10.0 - 291.0) so after so much hard work, it slowly crept up. I'm also an avid meat eater with a varied diet.

The test I had yesterday didn't include serum ferritin owing to a shortage of reagent? (whatever), but other parts of my haematics tests came back as abnormal:

Transferrin saturation Index 52% (<40.0) Outside reference range / abnormal

Transferrin level 2.3 g/L (2.5 - 3.8) Outside reference range / abnormal

To me, both of the above suggests my iron now looks too high (which would have been laughable 2 years ago) but the results have prompted them to give me a phone consultation (date tbc)...

In addition to this they also tested a few other things including my Red Blood Cell count which came back as pretty low: 3.85 (10*12L (3.8 - 5.0).

So, on the one hand it looks like I have iron saturation, and on the other hand possible anaemia / vitamin B12 or B9 deficiency anaemia??

I checked back over my previous labs, and I've consistently had a low red blood cell count - around the same results 3.8 (10*12L (3.8 - 5.0) each time for about 1.5yrs. The same can be said for my Mean Cell Haemoglobin level. My last B12 test was a year ago and was 480ng/L (211-911), and 510 before that, then 422 back in 2021(same ranges).

Do others agree that it is probably B12 that is the issue? the symptoms do match up - cognitive decline especially. Or could there be obvious other things going on here that I've missed?

NB. I'll ask my GP for a B12 test when they eventually get in touch, will see how that goes. But in the meantime I'm a bit worries about taking B12 supplements in case they somehow impact / increase my iron further - is that a possibility at all?

Thanks everyone,

Eb

[Nackapan]

Will be good to have another b12 and folate level done to compare as not having g supplements .Also an Intrinsic factor antibody test??

Your last level very good.

Some are still deficient if in b12 in range . Tricky.

Keep a symptom chart.

So many things overlap.

I personally found my ferritin dropped when my b12 treatment started.

My transferrin our of range ??

I haven't at present got anything else going on .

My serum b12 was 106 ( 200-900)

at the start .

Very ill and I'm assuming ferritin / iron dropped making making new red blood cell and repair work.??

Like yoh say it takes time to bring levels up.

Ferritin now 52 ( 10-

Hb okay

Iron needs to be looked at all together by a medic

I tried to get my tranferrin explained to no avail.

I've nevef heard of b12 raising iron levels.

If treatment needed high b12 can put other things out of whack.

Also if a absorbtion problem found other things will be low too.

I.e

Folate

Vit D

Iron / ferritin

Hope you get some answers .

Plenty of good information on thus forum

[Sleepybunny]

Hi,

Good luck with getting answers soon.

Links to forum threads where I left detailed replies with lots of B12 deficiency info eg causes and symptoms, UK B12 documents, B12 books, B12 films, B12 websites and B12 articles and a few hints on dealing with unhelpful GPs.

Some links may have details that could be upsetting.

Some of the info will be specific to UK.

healthunlocked.com/pasoc/po...

healthunlocked.com/pasoc/po...

healthunlocked.com/pasoc/po...

I am not medically trained.

[Ebx_design in reply to Sleepybunny]

Hello, thaks all for taking the time to reply, there's a lot of info so I'll take some time to digest it all.

I'll be honest and say I'm feeling pretty upset and lot overwhelmed that this might be happening to me, in top of my hashimoto's and other stuff, but knowing where to start does give some comfort.

I'll be on to the GP on Monday. Xx