Ferritin 17 is this low: Unfortunately... - Restless Legs Syn...

Restless Legs Syndrome

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Ferritin 17 is this low

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Unfortunately in my last post, I said that CBD had helped my symptoms. Well, only for a few days. I have also been on Ropinerol from 2mg per night to .5mg per night. I want to come off but just can’t make it past 3 days. Anyway, I had my bloodwork done. My hemoglobin was 13.1, MCH 26.1, RDW 15.2 and Ferritin 17. My doctor doesn’t really feel that I have any iron issues according to my bloodwork. I’ve looked this all up and to me it points to iron problems. He said since my hemoglobin is fine, I’m not deficient. Does this sound right? Here in Jacksonville, Florida, we have the Mayo Hospital which has a Restless Leg Division. I have good insurance and can go. Should this be an avenue I should take?

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Lapsedrunner profile image
Lapsedrunner

Your ferritin is technically just normal, but it’s not good enough for a RLS sufferer. We’re looking for 85-100+. It can make a huge difference to some of us and would be worth trying to increase. There’s a pinned post on the main page re iron

in reply to Lapsedrunner

Thanks so much. I’ll check it out!

By all accounts, I'd say, yes GO.

A ferritin of 15 is (just about) "normal" but probably not good enough for someone with RLS as Lapsedrunner points out.

There's a particular blood test I have every 6 months, for the last 7 years. My GP always says it's "normal" because it's lower than the maximum. This is what we in the UK call "twaddle". Since I had the gland that produces the substance they test for removed it should be zero, but it isn't.

Put another way, it might be normal, but I'm not.

in reply to

My thoughts as well. Just wanted to bounce it off of a few people. Thank you! 😊

Parminter profile image
Parminter

You have iron issues!

17 is way too low!

in reply to Parminter

Thanks! My thoughts too.

Parminter profile image
Parminter

You should be able to get your iron levels up with Gentle Iron (Iron Bisglycinate) to a certain degree, and slowly. (Take on an empty stomach last thing at night with orange juice or Vitamin C). But you may not be able to get much higher than 50 to 75, and you need to get to 100, at least.

But if your RLS is severe it might be better to get IV Iron infusions .

hopkinsmedicine.org/neurolo...

This is from Johns Hopkins University, so your doctor will have to take notice.

rlsfoundation.blogspot.com/...

This is from the RLS Foundation, which is on top of all the new news.

Print out the relevant bits and take them to your doctor. No talk, just science - they cannot ignore that.

in reply to Parminter

Great! Thank you!

Parminter profile image
Parminter in reply to

Look again, I changed a detail that was wrong!

Funny that responses are coming at night. I guess we are all sitting up with the RLS!

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