If I'm reading this correctly, serum ferritin is a benign substance in our bodies, as long as it's bound to iron molecules. Without iron it is hypothesized that it becomes toxic. I guess doctors see this in chronic disease states. I know from other articles that when our bodies feel they are under attack they release a substance called hepcidin. Hepcidin shuts down the ingress of iron from the GI Tract and the egress of iron from our bodily stores in an effort to kill the enemy. Every living organism (with the exception of two microbes) love and need iron. So by shutting down the iron, our bodies can sometimes thwart the enemy.
Bottom line is, for anyone who has high serum ferritin (but not hemochromatosis) then make sure to get those blood tests that can actually tell if that ferritin is bound to iron.
Great find!!! I've been hesitant to post on here about maintaining iron in the low to middle ground of normal because the one time I did I was shot full of holes. As I've said on here before, for me, the iron is just an emergency med. I have no intent of getting it as high as I can. And I love Article No 1 that mentions the importance of copper. I know that copper and zinc are necessary for the utilization of iron. I don't think copper is something we want to take at night because it is more "excitatory" of a supplement. But we do need enough of it. And who knows, maybe it's our brain's inability to retrieve or utilize copper that is the problem. I dislike and almost resent it every time I am forced to take iron. That is why I am desperately searching for a way to up-regulate or appease my receptors enough so that I no longer need that night time dose of iron. Plus the iron also helps with the occasional non-RLS insomnia which I think is also related to my pathetic receptors. So all in all, I am taking way too much iron.
Are you going to try to get extra copper in your diet?
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And Dic, now that those articles show how unnecessary extra iron is, I would like to say that I want to scream my head off every time I hear Hopkins or Dr. B state how we need our levels higher than the average bear, like around 200. If our brains can't get enough iron when our stores are at 50 or 75 or 100 I which they would explain what is so magical about 200. First off, if you infuse a non-anemic person with tons of iron their bodies are going to release enough hepcidin to fill a small swimming pool. That means there is going to be no benefit and possibly a worsening of symptoms until that hepcidin is gone. Since our brains don't store iron we really rely heavily on that unbound iron in the blood. Hepcidin prevents the day to day absorption of iron from our food. I really don't know why infusions work at all. The only thing I can figure out and this is pure, unadulterated imagination working here, is that once the hepcidin is gone and your stores are ridiculously high, the body no longer senses the need to limit the availability of iron at night or at least not as much. If that drop doesn't occur then theoretically your RLS should be as good as it is during the day.
I don't know Dic, do you have any idea why the infusions work? Or why getting stores higher works?
I have no idea - iron made my crazy severe RLS - literally go away in days. I did just start a Copper Supplement and I'm down to Iron 18mg just one day per week. Kinda goofy for me - virtually every type of Mg (even taken in the morning) excites me at night - totally wired. I know it's all related just not sure how.
Forgive me if I think the doctors at Johns Hopkins and Dr. Buchfuhrer who have been studying RLS their entire lives do not agree with you and your findings. Again, at Johns Hopkins , they did a proper study on iron and ferritin levels, for 18 months, and also on opiates for 18 months. The 18 months study showed great results in keeping the ferritin level up. But, what do they know, right? lol
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FINALLY found a scientific study that supports my theory about Brain Iron and Serum Iron. Finally!!!
Ever wonder why Vitamin D helps some of us and why the incidence of RLS is much lower in the tropics and higher in cloudy England?
stop wasting TIME , MONEY and SUFFERING Use iron infusions first line for those whose ferritin is suitable
