I have PA atrophic gastritis,Addisons disease and an under active thyroid ..been so tired have put on a few pounds and on occasions my sinus tachycardia seems worse I take a low dose beta blocker .
As my thyroid levels have been checked I’m wondering if I have iron deficiency anaemia …seeing GP next week but would like some idea of what blood tests to ask for please? My ferritin a year ago was 18 but was advised this was normal ,I have no medical knowledge so looking for pointers as I can’t take iron would need an infusion.
Many thanks
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davina70
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The NHS website does not seem to recognize IDWA, only iron deficiency with anemia ... at least that I could find with a quick searh nhs.uk/conditions/tibc-test/
Davina, Yes, check out my post link on IDWA that Jade_s replied.
Just to add that fatigue and weight gain are two of the classic signs of iron deficiency. If you also start noticing heart palpitations and/or restless leg syndrome then those are also related to low iron. The reason for the weight gain, I gained 20 pounds! before I got my iron infusions. That weight gain is because as your iron levels are lower your metabolism tanks.
Just remember that with chronic inflammation (autoimmune gastritis) Ferritin alone is not a valid marker. Anyone with AMAG/PA if Ferritin drops below 100 ng/mL (the normal low end is 30 ng/mL) should then have a full TIBC panel run to include the tests included in Jade_s's reply.
After I received 7 iron infusions I'm now slowly dropping the extra pounds.
Oh I had missed that I will check my DM and have a look! sorry... 🙃
I've just been hiking in local mountains. Going to hike some of the Grand Canyon in September. Can't do the whole thing though because the iron def completely crashed me so I was unable to train for that grueling hike.
Ghound, There is a link to a report on IDWA in my post. Take that to your GP along with your history of gastritis (chronic inflammation) and PA. GPs in UK and in US are not at all trained about iron deficiency without anemia (IDWA). You'll have to educate them. I actually had to go to a second doctor before I was heard. They can be very flippant, even with Ferritin below normal, which mine was, my CBC RBC and Hemoglobin were normal so doc just said "well I see Ferritin is below normal but your bloods look OK so you don't have Anemia! Correct answer if you're looking for anemia. But completely incorrect if your looking for Iron Deficiency, which is what they should be looking for.
davina70 : Iron deficiency is commonly found in patients with Atrophic gastritis (AG), as the parietal cells in the stomach are responsible for the production of ACID which is "required" for iron "absorption". These cells are damaged by (AG), hence production of gastric acid is limited. This is referred to as hypochlorhydria.
People with an underactive thyroid are likely to have low stomach acid levels. It has been suggested that those with an underactive thyroid can contribute to low stomach acid. Also a ferritin level of 18 is consistent with an iron deficiency, per the FB The Iron Protocol (for Iron Deficiency with or without Anemia). You are on the right track and I share the above as your doctor may not be aware of the association between low stomach acid AG & thyroiditis. I would ask for a CBC (complete blood count) & CMP (comprehensive metabolic panel) as well..
davina70: If you are providing lab results you should always supply the ranges as no way to know w/o ranges whether your readings are high, low or normal. The only reason I could speak to ferritin w/o your range was per the Iron FB group: units of ferritin measurement are the same world wide so there is no conversion. When you say Transferrin Saturation (TS) & RBC were red on the scale, are you saying BELOW the range ? , Assuming red on scale means both TS & RBC are below the range, that would be indicative of an iron deficiency. This links briefly speaks to TS.. emedicine.medscape.com/arti...
davina70: Your TS is indicative of an iron deficiency. If this blood test was taken in May of 2022 (you had an iron deficiency then) .. On your next doctor visit have TS run again to get a current picture. Also remember you can have an iron deficiency W/O anemia, meaning your other test results for anemia may be fine. If your TS is still reflecting an iron deficiency I would talk to your doctor abt that. These doctors should know this. ..Doctor should advise how to elevate your iron levels .
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