On my recent blood test the doc told me my Ferritin was low (never heard of this!). He told me to have a retest to check levels again. I have checked online so know roughly what it is but I would be interested if anyone has any experience or info ?
Thanks
Hi
My daughter in law was feeling most unwell, very tired & low in mood.
She lives in France but is from Mauritius, l became concerned as to some of the Tests they were doing but thankfully it wasn’t anything sinister & was in fact Low Ferritin, she had a course of tablets & changed her diet slightly.
Interestingly, she discovered that Green Tea can lower Ferritin Levels & she’d been drinking more of that as they’d run low on their favourite brand of regular tea.
She’s been absolutely fine since & sticks to regular tea ☕️
Help! I have been drinking loads of green tea lately (about 6 mugs today)
Jane. Remember different nationalities have different issues particularly with blood.
Interestingly, l had some blood test results recently that stated the totals had to be multiplied by a certain number if you were of African decent.
When they were testing Mary they wanted her ethnic origins because it could have made a difference to the tests carried out & the results.
I personally love a Cup of Typhoo 😉
I love my green tea with lemon, perhaps I should drink more Typhoo
I must ask, what is Typhoo? As an American, I have not come across that.
Typhoon is a brand of normal black tea
I had low ferritin recently and the GP said “did you know you have anaemia?” Low ferritin means iron deficiency.
I was told my haemoglobin levels had gone down and thought that was anaemia
It does. They are measuring different things but low in either means iron is low.
I think my haemoglobin looked rough too.
Mine too.
My haemaglobin was low on diagnosis and my new doctor since then has measured ferritin. i don't know why. My initial readings were really really low, but "normal" covers a wide range and I am now in the low end of that range. I take liquid iron supplement (Floradix) as it is easily tolerated, otherwise I would probably be a non-compliant patient.
Anaemia is very common with auto immune disease.
Mine has been low as well & I suspect it's sonething to do with the pred or disease. The reason I suspect this, is that I am vegetarian & have had mine checked annually for years, & there has never been a problem until now. The only ion rich food I am now omitting from my diet is black strap molasses because of the sugar, but I had only 1 tbsp a week of that.
About 3 months ago, on my usual GP visit, my doctor told me to take iron supplements for the following 2 months. My iron was not below the range level, however, he noticed a drop on the lab results from 3 months earlier,
Hi Fimckenz,
Yes, I had this happen. My Ferritin( which is iron) was quite low. I was diagnosed with anemia - iron deficiency anemia. The red blood cells have insufficient iron to bind to, and therefore insufficient oxygen is being circulated throughout blood stream and to brain. This made me feel awful, weak and in bad mood. I started taking iron supplementation; I have not as yet had a new blood test since. Eating iron rich foods will also help. My red blood cell count was also high indicating body is trying to compensate, but not too effectively without enough iron.
According to a pamphlet in my rheumatologist's office , anemia is common with PMR. I don't know why, but apparently this is the case. It did not say this was due to steroids, but to PMR. I found a time release supplement on Amazon. Too soon to feel a dramatic difference. For sure anemia will make one feel weak and in a low mood.
Good luck.
I should say that literally 1 month prior to onset of PMR symptoms, routine blood tests absolutely perfect. Now 3 years in, all screwed up; potassium too low; doctor had to prescribe that supplementation, folate too high, chloride too high; B12 was too high so I stopped taking Vitamin B12 ; it has come down , but now folate too high and I don't take that, so I am not sure what it all means yet; I saw a hematologist on recommendation , but the staff in his office were so chaotic ( there seemed to be a shortage of Post It notes, and one staff member literally threw a pack at the receptionist in anger in the waiting area) so I will have to go to someone else; nobody wants to see that in a doctor's office.
My GP has put me on Ferrous Fumarate and we discussed my diet. I have now stopped drinking tea with meals ( slows down iron absorption). Started on high iron cereal with fruit and drink fruit juice high in vitamin c which aids iron absorption. Trying to include more iron rich foods in my diet. She did say if the supplements do not work we could look at infusions. No quick fix but it's a good start. We will see in a few months.
I had forgotten about not drinking tea. Hope it all works for you.🌻
Actually the modern infusions ARE a quick fix - my husband had a very low Hb and ferritin (long term GI bleeding) so the local haemologist gave him an infusion just before we went on holiday. The Hb went up by nearly two points in a month and has made some difference - more improvement would be nice but he resists all attempts to get him to exercise!
Worried about Alendronic Acid and pain
Update on my post of Mixed Feelings following first GP appointment since diagnosis
Spring COVID vaccination
GCA and a visit to the Opthalmist.
Feeling a little desperate 
